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Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035

2016 Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management

Utilizing Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste as

Recycled Aggregates (RA) in Concrete
Shahiron Shahidana*, Mohamad Azim Mohammad Azmib, Kumanan Kupusamyc
Sharifah Salwa Mohd Zukid , Noorwirdawati Alie
abcde
Jamilus Research Center(JRC), Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,86400 Johor, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author : shahironshahidan@gmail.com

Abstract

Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste constitutes a major portion of total solid waste production in the world, and
most of it is used in landfills. Research by concrete engineers has clearly suggested the possibility of appropriately treating
and reusing such waste as aggregates in new concrete, especially for lower level applications. This study discusses
recycled aggregates (RA) produced from C&D waste and their use in concrete construction. Along with a brief overview
of the engineering properties of recycled aggregates, the study also gives a summary of the effect of recycled aggregates
on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. Recycled aggregates are treated with epoxy resin to reduce the water
absorption. This research, however, shows that the recycled aggregates that are obtained from site-tested concrete
specimen make good quality concrete. The influence of aggregates of varying sizes on the compressive strength, split
tensile and water absorption of concrete is presented in this paper. Recycled aggregate concrete was in close proximity to
normal concrete in terms of split tensile strength and compressive strength. The slump value of recycled aggregate
concrete was low and that can be improved by using saturated surface dry (SSD) coarse aggregate.

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Peer review under responsibility of the organizing committee of GCMM2016
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 13th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management

Keywords: Concrete materials; construction waste; recycled aggregates

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 13th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.01.255
 Shahiron Shahidan et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035 1029

1. Introduction

Concrete demolition waste has now become a source of aggregates for new concrete production [1]. It is
estimated that around 180 million tons per year or 480 kg/person/year of Construction and Demolition (C&D)
waste is generated in Europe [2]. Rapid construction has led to serious construction and demolition waste
disposal [3]. Meanwhile, natural aggregates are swiftly depleting [4]. An alternate way to solve this problem
is to use waste concrete as aggregates.
Recycled aggregates could come from demolished buildings, airport runways, bridge supports, and even
concrete roadbeds [5]. Concrete that is constructed or made using this kind of aggregates is referred to as
recycled aggregate concrete. There are several key factors and strong characteristics of recycled aggregate
concrete that will influence the original concrete. For example, the strength, distribution size and water
absorption capabilities of concrete will be affected [6]. Recycling demolished concrete waste helps to protect
natural resources and reduce environmental pollution [7]. A few tests will be carried out to determine the
aggregate properties before reusing it to produce concrete.
This research mainly emphasizes on the determination of the optimum strength of concrete in fresh and
hardened states using varying aggregate sizes. Therefore, this research is focused on the effectiveness of using
treated or recycled aggregates as a replacement for common aggregates to produce a concrete structure as
there is a lack of research done in regards to the properties of treated recycled aggregates.

2. Recycled Aggregates

Rapid industrial development causes serious problems all over the world such as the depletion of natural
aggregates and creates an enormous amount of waste material from construction and demolition activities [8].
One way to reduce this problem is to utilize recycled concrete aggregates in the production of concrete.
Recycled aggregates are the main component of old concrete and recycling operations have the added benefit
of reducing landfill disposal [8].
The use of RCA for the production of concrete involves breaking, removing, and crushing existing
concrete into a material with specified size and quality [9]. Recycling concrete is important because it helps to
promote sustainable development by protecting natural resources and reducing the disposal of demolition
waste from old concrete. Recycled aggregates normally have higher water absorption and lower specific
gravity [6]. The density of recycled aggregates used is lower than the density of normal aggregates. The
porosity of recycled aggregates is also much higher than those of natural aggregates [10]. After some
mechanical processes, it can be used as aggregates in concrete mixing. The demolished concrete structures are
crushed and sieved according to its required size [11]. Table 1 shows the physical properties of recycled
aggregate and Fig. 1 shows the recycled aggregates.

Fig 1. Recycle Aggregate

1030 Shahiron Shahidan et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035

Table 1. Physical Properties of Recycle Aggregate

Recycled
Physical property aggregates
concrete
Nominal Max.Size (mm) 20
Fineness modulus 6.79
Bulk Density (kg.m-3) 1250
Saturated surface dry specific gravity 2.53
Oven-dry specific gravity 2.48
Porosity (vol. (%)) 5.03
Absorption (wt. (%)) 2.03
Moisture content (wt. (%)) 1.57
Angularity number 9.50
Aggregate impact value(wt. (%)) 12.7

2.1 Resin

Resin was the main binding material for the polymer concrete and was required to be mixed with a
catalyst. It was important that the catalyst and resin were fully mixed together to ensure that the molecular
structure of the mixture was uniform. Recycle aggregates basically have a high level of water absorption.
Resins were used to coat the aggregates surface and minimize the water absorptions. At the same time, the
impact of pollution will be less to environment. Table 2 showed the properties of Epoxy Resin.
Table 2. Physical properties of epoxy resin

Property Epoxy
Viscosity at 250 (cP) 12000-13000
Density (g/cm-3) 1.16
Heat distortion temerature (oC) 100
Elastic modulus (GPa) 5.0
Flexure strength (MPa) 60
Tensile strength (MPa) 73
Maximum elongation (%) 4

3. Material Preparation

3.1 Preparation of Recycled Aggregates

Recycled aggregates are obtained from construction wastes. Recycled aggregates may be sourced from
buildings demolition, broken concrete, pavements, airport runways, and concrete roadbeds. The process of
 Shahiron Shahidan et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035 1031

recycling aggregates is shown in Fig 2.(a) – (c). The concrete wastes were crushed in the machine then the
materials were sieving to classify the size of aggregate.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 2. Process of Crushing and Sieving Recycled Aggregates; (a) Concrete Waste;(b) Crusher Machine;(c) Sieve Method

3.2 Treatment of Recycled Aggregates

Crushed aggregates usually cannot be used directly to produce a new concrete structure since it has a
porous structure. This is due to the high water absorptions rate compare to normal aggregates. Therefore,
recycled aggregates have to be treated using epoxy resin to reduce the water absorption inside the aggregate.
Firstly, the epoxy resins have to mix together before placing the aggregate inside the container. Then the
aggregates were immersing into the epoxy resin and dry it. The process of treating recycled aggregates using
epoxy resin is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Process of resin and hardener mixing applied to recycled aggregates.

3.3 Sample Testing

Sample preparation was done for both fresh and hardened concrete. Meanwhile, about 75 samples were
be made for the tests involving hardened concrete. These samples are used for four different type of testing
which are the ponding test, compression test, split tensile test and water absorption test. Design of normal
concrete method (Building Research Establishment (BRE)) was used for concrete mixing in this research. The
formworks used to prepare the samples were cylindrical size of 150mm x 200mm and cubical size 100mm x
100mm x 100mm. The size of aggregates were used during the experimental works are 5mm, 10mm, 14mm,
20mm and 37.5mm. All the specimens were conducted for 7 and 28 days curing time. Fig 4 (a) – (c) presented
the testing method for fresh (Slump) and hardened concrete (Splitting and Compressive).
1032 Shahiron Shahidan et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 4 Testing method ; (a) Slump Test; (b) Compressive Strength; (c ) Splitting Tensile test

4. Result and Discussion

The analysis results were presented in the form of tables and graphs in this part. The recycled aggregates
were treated with 25% epoxy resin and the remaining 75% constitutes recycled aggregates.

4.1 Fresh Concrete

For fresh concrete, the slump test were used to determine the flow of concrete mixing as presented in Fig
5.The values of the slump test falls within the range of 30mm – 60mm. The highest value recorded
approximately 50mm for aggregate size of 5 mm and 10 mm and the lowest slump value was 40mm for size
of 20mm and 37.5mm. The small scale sizes of aggregates were absorbed less water compared to the larger
size of aggregates. This happened because of the less surface area for small scale size aggregates will be less
water absorption in the aggregates. Furthermore, the large scale size of aggregates have harsher surfaces that
able to withstand the better grip compared to other aggregates during the slump test [12].

50
Slump Value (mm)

40
30
20
10
0
5 10 14 20 37.5
Aggregate Size (mm)
Fig. 5. Slump test result of samples with varying aggregate sizes

4.2 Split Tensile Strength

Based on the results in Figure 6, it can be observed that the strength for size of 10mm aggregates is the
highest at 2.2 MPa and the second highest tensile strength was achieved by sizing of 20mm aggregates
approximately value of 2.14 MPa. Meanwhile, size for 14mm and 37.5mm aggregates recorded tensile
 Shahiron Shahidan et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035 1033

strength of 1.86 and 1.77 MPa respectively. The lowest strength was recorded by 5mm a size aggregate which
is 1.24 MPa. In nutshell, the size of 10mm, 14mm and 20mm aggregates were recorded the highest strength
while it can be seen that there is a drop in tensile strength for the 37.5mm size aggregates. The size of 5mm
aggregates recorded the lowest strength. The larger size of aggregate, the greater is tendency of blocking the
bleed water and thus the weaker the transition zone (higher w/c ratio in the area around the aggregate) [13].
As the void fraction increases as the size of aggregates increases, the chances of failure are extremely high.

2.5
Tensile Strength (Mpa)
2

1.5

0.5

0
5 10 14 20 37.5
Aggregate Size (mm)
Fig 6. Split Tensile Strength

4.3 Compressive Strength

Referring to Fig. 7, the results for compressive strength in 7 days increased dramatically from 14 MPa
(5mm) up to 29.6 Mpa (10 mm). The size of 20mm aggregate was recorded the highest strength at 33.1 MPa,
followed by the second highest strength achieved approximately 32.5 MPa for size of 37.5 mm. The aggregate
size of 14mm was also among the highest ranks in the category at 31.3 MPa. For the specimens cured for 28
days, the compressive strength sharply changed from size of 5 mm (13.8 MPa) up to aggregates size 10 mm
(41.1 MPa). Then, the graph shown fluctuate between the 14mm aggregates at 37.8 MPa, 20mm aggregates at
38.8 Mpa and 37.5 mm aggregates at 37.7 MPa.

45
40
Compressive Strength (Mpa)

35
30
25
20 7 Days
15
28 Days
10
5
0
5 10 14 20 37.5
Aggregate Size (mm)
Fig. 7 : Compressive Strength Graph
1034 Shahiron Shahidan et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035

The bigger the mean size of aggregates (MSA), the greater the compressive strength of concrete [14].
The bigger aggregates result in a larger ITZ (Inter-facial Transition Zone) which refers to the weak binder
zone around the aggregates which is more susceptible to cracks [12]. This increases the chances of cracks
occurring. Internal bleeding can take place when water gets trapped on the underside of large size aggregates.
It will then result in a zone which has poor bonds [15-17]. As the trapped water evaporates, a void is formed.

4.4 Water Absorption

Based on the results shown in Fig. 8, the pattern of line graph for concrete strength in 7 days showing the
steady rise of water absorptions rates but until a certain point it suddenly increases drastically. The highest
rate of water absorption is at about 10.60 % for aggregates size 37.5mm. Meanwhile, the lowest rate of water
absorption is at 2.26 % for the 5 mm size of aggregates. As for the size of 10 mm, 14 mm and 20 mm
aggregates, the results are 3.20 %, 4.00 % and 5.00 % respectively.
For 28 days, the pattern for the line graph slowly increases for the rate of water absorption from the
beginning to the end. The highest rate of water absorption is about 5.98 % for the aggregates size of 37.5 mm.
Meanwhile, the lowest rate value for water absorptions were approximately at 4.50 % with size of 5 mm
aggregate. As for aggregates measuring with size of 10 mm, 14 mm and 20 mm, the results are 4.57 %, 5.07 %
and 5.58 % respectively. The bigger size of aggregates had shown the high rate of water absorptions. [6].

12

10
Water Absorption (%)

4
7 Days
2
28 days
0
5 10 14 20 37.5
Aggregate Size (mm)
Figure 8. Water Absorption of samples

5. Conclusion

The optimum strength of various sizes of aggregates in concrete was recorded. This study found that the
optimum results for the split tensile test, compressive strength test and water absorption test were obtained for
the aggregates measuring 10mm. The aggregate size of 10mm was taken as the optimum result because the
highest figures were recorded for the split tensile test and the compressive strength test after a curing period of
28 days. The rate of water absorption was also among the least compared to larger size aggregates.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, contract grant vot U523 and
FRGS Vot 1576 for its support.
 Shahiron Shahidan et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1028 – 1035 1035

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