Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Sustainability on durability of self compacting concrete from C&D waste

by improving porosity and hydrated compounds: A microstructural
investigation
Puja Rajhans ⇑, Sarat Kumar Panda, Sanket Nayak
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, India

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

Sustainable concrete from C&D

Recycled aggregate

wastes with reference to durability from C&D waste

properties.
Self compacting recycled aggregate concrete by
using NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc mixing approaches

Modified two stage mixing approach

NMA

TSMA

(TSMAsfc) by using silica-fume and fly- TSMAsfc

ash. Drying shrinkage measured by length comparator

instrument.
RCPT by using Giatech PERMA2TM rapid chloride
permeability instrument.

Improvement of microstructures by
adopting modified two stage mixing
approach (TSMAsfc).
Measurement of carbonation depth by keeping
concrete sample in carbonation chamber. Measurement of creep by using creep rig instrument.

Quantitative microstructural
investigation for measuring porosity
Water penetration depth by

and hydrated compounds. subjecting concrete sample with

water pressure of 2 bar.
Sustainable recycled
aggregate concrete from C&D
waste with reference to
durability properties
Binary segmentation of pores by
using EPMA and black mark denotes
the pores in concrete of TSMAsfc.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This research article is on establishment of sustainability with reference to the durability properties of
Received 20 January 2018 self compacted recycled aggregate concrete (SCRAC) by improving porosity and hydrated compounds
Received in revised form 14 April 2018 in concrete. Partial replacement of fly ash by silica fume and virgin concrete aggregate (VCA) by recycled
Accepted 16 April 2018
concrete aggregate (RCA) are taken for preparing the SCRAC by adopting suitable mix design method
Available online 24 April 2018
along with proposed two stage mixing approach (TSMAsfc). This two stage mixing approach makes signif-
icant improvement in durability properties as the slurry of cement and silica fume fills the pores and
Keywords:
cracks and makes interfacial transition zones (ITZs) stronger. Microstructure analysis using the electron
Recycled concrete aggregate
Durability properties
probe micro analyser (EPMA) is carried out to justify the reason of improvement of durability properties
Two stage mixing approach of SCRAC. Image analysis of backscattered secondary electron (BSE) images are carried out for the quan-
Microstructure titative analysis of different compounds (C-S-H, UH, CH and pores) at the ITZ. Image analysis and EPMA
Quantitative analysis analysis confirmed that the ITZ gets stronger by adopting two stage mixing approaches.
Image analysis Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction anticipated to provide sustainable materials for construction. Fur-

ther, modernisation of old construction leads to generate huge con-
In the recent years, due to growth of population and rapid struction and demolition (C&D) waste. These C&D activities
urbanization, the demand on construction industry for infrastruc- contains major amount of wastes from concrete. These concrete
tural development has increased substantially. In the view of pro- wastes can be recycled and can be used as aggregates. As, 70–
viding minimum maintenance, economy and increased life, it is 75% of the concrete contains aggregate, recycling the demolition
waste concrete can solve the issue of disposal problem, reduces
the cost of concrete production and also solve the environmental
⇑ Corresponding author. impact because of aggregate production. This waste concrete can
E-mail address: puja.2014dr0145@cve.ism.ac.in (P. Rajhans). be used as recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) by breaking

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.04.137
0950-0618/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
560 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575
mechanically into small pieces using jaw crusher. The small sized
concrete wastes will be then screened using sieves of standard
sizes and separated into different sizes which is used for preparing
recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). The sustainability of concrete
production using such recycled aggregates can be further increased
by producing self compacting concrete (SCC). The properties of the
recycled aggregate concrete can be optimized for the better perfor-
mance by producing the self compacting concrete with the use of
admixtures like fly ash, silica fume and superplasticizer. The
advantage of producing SCC lies in its ability to flow in its own
weight without any need of compaction or vibration. Extensive
research work [1–9] suggested that the RCA can be used for con-
structing new structures as experimental results presented that
with proper mixing approaches and addition of admixtures, the
RCA can attain the desired strength for both normally vibrated con-
crete as well as self compacting concrete.
Xuan et al. [10] evaluated mechanical properties and durability
properties of RAC prepared with non-carbonated and carbonated
RCA in terms of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). It was indicated
that the incorporation of the carbonated RCA in RAC helps to
reduce the water absorption and permeability of RAC. Zhu et al.
[11] investigated the durability properties of RCA using silane
based water repellent agents. It was found that the durability prop-
erties of recycled aggregate concrete can be improved by using
integral silane treatment, but using this treatment compressive
strength was reduced. Kou and Poon [12] concluded that to over-
come the lower quality of recycled aggregate, class F fly ash was
used in the concrete mix design. Rao et al. [13] found that with
the replacement of coarse natural aggregate (NA) by RCA, the
water absorption capacity of concrete gradually increased. The
water absorption capacity of RCA is 3.5 times higher than NA. Zega
and Di Miao [14] concluded that the replacement of 20% and 30%
by volume of fine NA with fine RCA the carbonation depth was
similar of normal aggregate concrete (NAC) and RAC. Limbachiya
[15] noted that by replacing 30% of VCA by RCA, the creep strain
was almost equal for 30 MPa of design strength. Evangelista and
De Brito [16] observed that the water absorption capacity of con-
crete was 16% and 46% higher than that of conventional concrete
with the replacement of 30% and 100% of fine RCA, respectively.
Manzi et al. [17] investigated the shrinkage and creep behavior
of self-compacting concrete prepared with recycled coarse and fine
concrete aggregates. Results highlighted that the self-compacting
characteristics, shrinkage and creep behavior are maintained when
recycled aggregates are utilized, and their good quality improves
mechanical properties. Matias et al. [18] studied the effects of
superplasticizer on the durability properties (shrinkage, water
absorption by immersion and by capillarity, carbonation and chlo-
ride penetration resistance) of RAC. It was reported that by intro-
ducing superplasticizer, the properties of durability were
enhanced. Gonzalez-Corominas and Etxeberria [19] observed that
the lower quality of the RCA aggregates with higher replacement
ratios has the effect of producing the highest drying shrinkage
value. Somna et al. [20] conducted experimental investigation on
various mechanical properties of RAC. Cement was replaced with
ground fly ash (GFA) and ground bagasse ash (GBA) by various per-
centages (20%, 35%, and 50%). It was concluded that with 20%
replacement of cement by GFA and GBA, durability properties of
RAC were highly effective. Limbachiya et al. [21] noted a marginal
difference in resistance to chloride ingress with the replacement of
30% of coarse natural aggregate by RCA. Significant improvement
in resistance to chloride ingress was observed of RCA by replacing
30% ordinary portland cement (OPC) by fly ash.
Many researchers [22–28] have done extensive work to
enhance the mechanical and durability properties of concrete by
using different mixing approaches. Liang et al. [24] proposed two
mixing method i.e., mortar mixing approach (MMA) and sand
enveloped mixing approach (SEMA) to improve the harden proper-
ties of RAC. Li et al. [25] developed a new technique in which the
surface of RCA was coated with pozzolanic powder (fly-ash, silica
fume and blast furnace slag) which results in better quality of
RCA. It was concluded that the compressive and flexural strength
of RAC were improved after using new technique compared to nor-
mal mixing. The combination of silica fume and fly-ash enhances
the strength of RAC which is due to the higher packing density.
Tam et al. [27] proposed a new mixing approach i.e., the two stage
mixing approach (TSMA) and they observed that TSMA resulted
better compressive strength than that of normal mixing approach
(NMA). Tam and Tam [29] further developed TSMA with the use
of silica fume and cement at premix stage for the improvement
of mechanical properties and microstructure of RAC. It was found
that the addition of silica fume and cement at premix stage
improves the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) around the aggregate
and resulting increase in the strength of RAC. Tam and Tam [30]
evaluated the durability properties in terms of deformation
(shrinkage and creep) and permeability (water, air and chloride
permeability) of recycled aggregate concrete. It was concluded that
after adopting TSMA, the durability properties of RAC were
enhanced than that of normal mixing approach (NMA).
Researchers [1,31–37] have made the efforts to study the
cement hydration products, loose paste and interfacial transition
zone (ITZ) of concrete using electron probe micro analyser (EPMA)
and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique with the acqui-
sition of backscattered secondary electron (BSE) images. Doods
et al. [38] investigated the electrical resistivity, water absorption
by capillary action and SEM analysis of RAC to determine the effects
on concrete microstructure and durability properties. It was
observed that the presence of RCA has negative effect on
microstructure and water ingress of structural concrete. Mukharjee
and Barai [39] evaluated the compressive strength and characteris-
tics of the ITZ of concrete containing RCA and nano-silica. They
observed that the full replacement of NCA with RCA has significant
effect on compressive strength and ITZ characteristics of concrete. It
was also mentioned that the compressive strength and microstruc-
tures of RAC was improved with the incorporation of nano-silica.
From the literature review, it was noticed that the two stage
mixing approach results significant improvement in properties of
RCA for normally vibrated concrete (NVC). In this context, there
is a significant research gap about determination of microstruc-
tural changes and enhancement in durability properties of self
compacting recycled aggregate concrete (SCRAC) due to two stage
mixing approach. Recently, the present research group presented
the work on microstructural changes and improvement in
mechanical properties because of modified mixing approach in
Rajhans et al. [1]. Microstructure and Wavelength dispersive X-
ray spectroscopy (WDS) analysis were performed for justifying
the improvement in mechanical properties of SCRAC. However,
the previous study [1] did not focus about durability properties.
In this context, present experimental investigation is an effort for
improving the durability properties of SCRAC prepared with pro-
posed two stage mixing approach and is justified through
microstructural investigations in ITZ. Image analysis is also carried
out for quantitative analysis of different components (C-S-H, CH,
UH and pores) at ITZ.
2. Experimental details
2.1. Materials used
2.1.1. Cementitious material
Ordinary Portland cement of grade 43, class F fly ash and silica
fume were used in the concrete mixture. Class F fly ash was taken
 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575 561

Table 1
aggregate. The fineness modulus of fine aggregate was 2.48 con-
Chemical composition of cementitious materials.
firming to zone II as per IS 383-1970 [40]. Recycled aggregate
Chemical compounds Cement Silica fume Fly ash was collected from a demolished 30 years old building in Dhanbad,
CaO 63.56 0.2 18.30 India. C&D wastes were collected from the site, first crushed to a
SiO2 17.65 97.05 37.80 size between 5 mm and 20 mm and after that screened manually
Al2O3 12.43 0.2 14.10
to obtain RCA. The specific gravity of RCA is lower than VCA and
MgO 1.43 0.5 3.20
K2O 2.52 0.5 1.75 the value of water absorption of RCA is higher than virgin aggre-
Fe2O3 0.62 0.5 19.84 gate due to old mortar adhered to RCA. The crushing test and
impact test were also conducted as per IS 2386 (Part IV) [41].
The physical and mechanical characteristics of aggregates are
from Bokaro thermal power plant, Bokaro, India. Silica fume is also shown in Table 2 and the grading curve of aggregates is presented
added as cementitious material for enhancing the mechanical and in Fig. 1.
durability properties of concrete. The physical properties of
cement, fly ash and silica fume are available in Rajhans et al. [1] 2.1.3. Admixture and water
and is not presented here for the sake of brevity. The chemical To attain the fresh property of self compacting concrete a mod-
composition of cement, silica fume and fly ash are presented in ified polycaboxylate based superplasticizer (SP) was used. Potable
Table 1. water was used to mix the concrete mixture.

2.2. Mixture proportion

2.1.2. Aggregates
In this study, virgin and recycled aggregates were used as Well accepted Nan Su [42] mix design method was used for
coarse aggregates. Crushed stones were used for producing virgin preparing the mix proportion of M30 grade of SCC with constant

Table 2
Properties of coarse (virgin and recycled aggregate) and fine aggregates.

Sl. no Test property VCA RCA Fine aggregates

1. Specific gravity 2.66 2.60 2.68
2. Water absorption (%) 0.5 4.78 0.82
3. Bulk density (kg/m3) 1450 1250 1500
4. Crushing value (%) 28 33 –
5. Impact value (%) 23 28 –

Fig. 1. Grading curve of fine aggregate, RCA, and VCA.

Table 3
Mix proportion of SCC with different percentage of RCA using Nan Su method [42] of mix design.

% of RCA Mix designation Cement Water Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate Fly ash SP
(kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)
Virgin Recycled
(kg/m3) (kg/m3)
R0 SCVAC 325 182 830 – 930 138 4.5
R20 SCRAC20 325 182 664 154 930 138 4.5
R40 SCRAC40 325 182 498 308 930 138 4.5
R60 SCRAC60 325 182 332 462 930 138 4.5
R100 SCRAC100 325 182 – 770 930 138 4.5
562 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575

amount of cementitious material as presented in Table 3. Five ser-
ies of SCC mixture were prepared with different percentage of
replacement of recycled aggregate i.e. 0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and
100%, respectively. All the aggregates were used after taking into
saturated surface dry (SSD) conditions. Proportions of all the mate-
rial were obtained after conducting number of trials.
2.3. Mixing approaches
Normal mixing was done in a single stage addition of water as
per the flow diagram given in Fig. 2(a). In two stage mixing
approach (TSMA), mixing process was carried out by adding water
in two different stages by dividing into two parts. In first step, sand

Cement + fly ash Water + SP

Fine +RCA
Mixed for Mixed for Mixed for
Final
(30s) (30 s) (120 s)
Mix

(a) NMA

Remaining half water +

Half water + half SP Cement + fly ash half SP

Fine +RCA
Mixed Mixed Mixed
Mixed (60 s) Final
(60 s) (30 s) (120 s)
Mix

(b) TSMA

Proportional Half SP + Half SP + half

RCA (z %) Cement Fine + fly ash half water water
(100-z)% cement

7% silica
Mixed for Final
Slurry mixed Mixed for Mixed for Mixed for Mixed for
30 s 60 s Mix
for30 s 60 s 30 s 120 s

(c) TSMAsfc

Fig. 2. Flow diagram of different mixing approaches (a) NMA, (b) TSMA and (c) TSMAsfc [1].

Cylindrical specimen

Dial gauge

Movable piston
Load cell

Fig. 3a. Test set up for measuring creep strain deformation.

 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575 563

Samples under observation

CO2 cylinder

Fig. 3b. Samples under observation in accelerated carbonation.

Water pressure

Water level indicator

Pressure cylinder

10 cm water pipe

Sample under observation

Fig. 3c. Experimental set up for water penetration depth measurement.

and RCA were added and mixed for 60 s. Then half water and half SP
were added and mixed for 60 s. Thereafter, the cementitious mate-
rial like cement and fly ash were added and mixed for 30 s. Lastly,
the remaining water and remaining SP were added and mixed for
120 s. The flow diagram of two stage mixing approach is shown
in Fig. 2(b). Another proposed mixing approach proposed by the
authors of this article and is available elsewhere [1], i.e., two stage
mixing approach (silica fume, fly ash and cement) TSMAsfc was fol-
lowed, where fly ash was replaced with certain percentage of silica
fume. In this mixing approach, along with silica fume slurry, pro-
portional amount of cement and water were added in premix stage
and the process was followed as presented in Fig. 2(c).
2.4. Tests performed
2.4.1. Fresh property
To confirm the fresh properties of SCC, slump flow test, T500, J-
ring and V-funnel test was conducted for various percentage of
RCA and silica fume as per EFNARC guidelines [43].
2.4.2. Mechanical property
2.4.2.1. Compressive strength. Compressive strength of concrete
was performed according to IS 516-1959 [44] using 3000 kN com-
pression testing machine (CTM). The compressive strength of con-
crete cubes was measured after 28, 56, 90 days of curing.
2.4.3. Durability properties
2.4.3.1. Creep. Creep deformation test was performed after 28 days
of curing of cylindrical samples (300 mm  150 mm) by applying
40% compressive strength of the sample in a creep test rig instru-
ment as illustrated in Fig. 3(a). Two dial gauges were fixed for find-
ing average axial strain and the readings were noted with an
interval of 28 days up to 112 days.
2.4.3.2. Carbonation depth. Carbonation depth was conducted in an
accelerated carbonation chamber. Cubes were first sealed with
epoxy resin on two opposite faces and placed in an accelerated car-
bonation chamber with 10% CO2 concentration, 65% relative
humidity and 50 °C temperature. Fig. 3(b) presents the concrete
564 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575

cubes prepared by using all three mixing approaches and are
placed in accelerated carbonation chamber for 28, 56 and 90 days.
After 28 days of carbonation, these cubes were split into two
halves and phenolphthalein 1% indicator solution with pH 8.2–
10.0 was sprayed on the split face. Because of the application of
the phenolphthalein, the carbonation affected part of the split face
was become colourless whereas the carbonation unaffected por-
tion of the split face was become pink in colour. The carbonation
affected depths at six different positions were measured by calliper
gauge and the averages of all six were calculated as carbonation
depth. The same procedure was followed for concrete cubes which
were placed in accelerated carbonation chamber for 28 days, 56
days and 90 days.
2.4.3.3. Water penetration depth. Water was allowed to penetrate
through one face of the standard cube sample (150 mm  150
mm  150 mm). Fig. 3(c) illustrates the experimental set up for
determining water penetration depth, where a 10 cm diameter
pipe was inserted in a water tight rubber ring and 2 bar water pres-
sure were maintained for specified duration i.e., 28 days, 56 days
and 90 days. After the above mentioned duration, the cubes were
split and the water penetration depth was measured at six differ-
ent points and average depth was noted.
2.4.3.4. Rapid chloride penetration test. Rapid chloride penetration
test (RCPT) was conducted in accordance with ASTM C 1202-91.
RCPT instrument consists of two chamber, one chamber was filled
with 3% sodium chloride (NaCl) and other was filled with 0.3 M
sodium hydroxide (NaOH) Experimental set up of RCPT along with
the sample (100 mm dia.  50 mm thickness) used in the experi-
ment are shown in Fig. 3(d). A potential drop of 60 V was main-
tained in the test set up between the two chambers. The current
passes through the concrete specimen and the temperature
between the cells are noted at every 30 min for up to 6 h and total
charge pass through the concrete specimen was calculated. For
conducting RCPT test, a concrete disc of 100 mm diameter and
50 mm thick was used as specimen after 28, 56 and 90 days of cur-
ing. The concrete sample was fixed between two chambers and the
total charge was calculated to find out the penetrability using this
equation based on Trapezoidal rule,
Q ¼ 900  ðI0 þ 2I30 þ 2I60 þ . . . þ 2I330 þ 2I360 Þ
where, Q is the total charge passes through the concrete disc spec-
imen and I0, I30, I60,. . .,I360 are the current measured after time inter-
val of 30 min.
2.4.3.5. Drying shrinkage. Drying shrinkage of concrete sample was
performed after28, 56 and 90 days of curing by using a prismatic
sample of size 70  70  285 mm as illustrated in Fig. 3(e). Each
specimen was fitted with a stainless stud at both ends. At, the
age of 28 days, the initial length of the specimen was recorded with
the use of length comparator. Then the specimen was placed in a

Data analyser 60 V power

Sample for conducting RCPT

NaOH solution chamber NaCl solution chamber

Fig. 3d. Rapid chloride penetration test set up and sample for conducting RCPT.

Dial gauge

Prismaticsample

Prismatic sample under observation

Stainless steel stud

Fig. 3e. Experimental set up and a test samples under observation for drying shrinkage test.
 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575 565

room for one year at room temperature. The drying shrinkage was
determined by taking the measurements at 1, 3, 7, 28, 56, 90, 180
and 365 days. Taking the average of three specimens are the results
of drying shrinkage of one day.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Fresh properties of SCRAC
Tests on fresh properties for concrete prepared with TSMAsfc are
done for 1000% replacement of RCA [1]. These properties with dif-
ferent replacement percentage of recycled aggregate have been
presented in Table 4.For different percentage of replacement of
recycled aggregate, the fly ash content was replaced with different
percentage of silica fume i.e., 2%, 4%, 6%, 7% and 8%. Silica fume
enhances the water requirement of concrete because the surface
area of silica fume is large and it has extremely fine particle size.
From the test results, it is noticed that the fractional replacement
of fly ash with silica fume shows a loss of workability. The fresh
properties of SCRAC do not fulfil the guidelines of EFNARC [43]
when the content of silica fume is more than 7%. From the fresh
properties tests result, it is observed that up to 7% replacement
of fly ash with silica fume, the fresh properties of SCRAC are within
the range as per EFNARC [43] guidelines. In all further investiga-
tions, the silica fume percentage are taken as 7% of fly ash. The
fresh properties results (slump flow diameter, T500, V-funnel and
J-ring) of SCRAC with different replacement percentage of RCA
using different mixing approaches of SCRAC are presented in
Table 5. Slump flow diameter fulfils the EFNARC guidelines for all
mixing approaches adopted in present investigation i.e., NMA,
TSMA and TSMAsfc. Slump flow diameter was in the range of 660
mm–750 mm for NMA, 695 mm–762 mm for TSMA and 710
mm–768 mm for TSMAsfc. Time required for concrete to spread
over the diameter of 500 mm is noted as T500. It is observed that
for all mixing approaches, the T500 range is well within the EFNARC
[43] guidelines. The V-funnel time ranges are 8.8–11.2 s, 8.5–10.8 s
and 8.0–10.5 s for NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc, respectively and satis-
fied the EFNARC [43] guidelines. From J-ring test, the J-ring value is

Table 4
Fresh properties of SCRAC with different replacement percentage of silica fume in TSMAsfc.

Mixing methods % of replacements of RCA % of silica fume Fresh properties of SCC

T500 (sec) Slump flow (mm) J-ring(mm) V-funnel time(s)
TSMAsfc 0% 2% 3 785 7.0 6.6
4% 3 780 7.4 6.9
6% 3 776 7.5 7.0
7% 3.5 768 7.6 8.0
8% 4.0 750 7.9 9.2
20% 2% 3 775 7.5 7.2
4% 4 770 7.6 7.6
6% 3 760 8.0 7.6
7% 4.0 748 8.4 8.2
8% 4.5 735 8.7 9.8
40% 2% 4 754 8.1 7.4
4% 4 740 8.3 7.9
6% 4 738 8.3 8.0
7% 4.5 730 8.5 8.7
8% 5.2 710 9.0 10.2
60% 2% 4 745 8.3 7.7
4% 5 735 8.5 8.0
6% 4 728 8.5 8.6
7% 4.5 715 8.9 9.0
8% 5.6 700 9.2 11.4
100% 2% 4 740 8.5 8.0
4% 4 730 8.5 8.5
6% 5 705 8.6 9.7
7% 5 710 9.2 10.5
8% 6.0 685 9.5 12.5

Table 5
Fresh properties of SCRAC with different percentage of RCA using different mixing approaches.

Mixing approaches % of RCA Slump flow diameter (mm) T500 (s) V-funnel time (s) J-ring (mm)
NMA 0 750 3.8 8.8 8.1
20 735 4.3 9.3 8.5
40 710 4.9 9.6 9.1
60 680 4.8 10.0 9.5
100 660 5.0 11.2 9.8
TSMA 0 762 3.5 8.5 7.8
20 740 4.2 8.7 8.3
40 726 4.8 9.2 8.8
60 706 4.8 9.8 9.0
100 695 5.0 10.8 9.3
TSMAsfc 0 768 3.5 8.0 7.6
20 748 4.0 8.2 8.4
40 730 4.5 8.7 8.5
60 715 4.5 9.0 8.9
100 710 5.0 10.5 9.2
566 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575

Table 6
Influence of replacement of RCA on durability properties of normally vibrated concrete.

Name of Replacement of RCA % increase in creep % increase in water penetration % increase in carbonation
researchers deformation depth depth
Limbachiya [15] 100% (concrete with 30 MPa design 35.23 – 13.51
(28 days of cur- strength)
ing) 100% (concrete with 35 MPa design – – 9.09
strength)
Limbachiya [15] 100% (concrete with 50 MPa design 39.36 – –
(90 days of cur- strength)
ing) 100% (concrete with 60 MPa design 25 – –
strength)
Kapoor et al. 50% – 7.4 (28 d), 8.3 (56 d), 20 (120 d) –
[45] 100% – 29.6 (28 d), 20.8 (56 d), 33.3 (120 –
d)
100% (with 10% Silica Fume) – 22.3 (28 d), 12.5 (56 d), 26.6 (120 –
d)
100% (With 10% Metakaolin) – 14.8 (28d), 8.35 (56 d), 20.0 (120 d) –
Kou and poon [46] 100% 37.12 – 7.47
100% (25% fly ash by replacing cement) – – 9.04
100% (35% fly ash by replacing cement) – – 11.32
100% (55% fly ash by replacing cement) – – 12.81
Kou and Poon [12] 20% 5.6 – –
50% 11.5 – –
100% 24.6 – –
Present 100% 34.0 20.0 17.0
investigation
(TSMAsfc)

28 days,
TSMAsfc; y = −0.1112 x + 33.214
R 2 = 0.9862
TSMA; y = −0.1158 x + 27.976
R 2 = 0.9494
NMA; y = −0.0932 x + 25.203
R 2 = 0.9664
56 days,
TSMAsfc : y = − 0.0822 x + 46.135
R ² = 0.9642
TSMA : y = − 0.0946 x + 41.962
R ² = 0.9369
NMA : y = − 0.102 x + 39.489
R ² = 0.9314
90 days,
TSMA sfc : y = -0.1022 x + 53.458
R 2 = 0.8878
TSMA : y = -0.0824 x + 48.904
R 2 = 0.9722
NMA : y = -0.0924 x + 43.804
R 2 = 0.9368

Fig. 4. Compressive strength of SCRAC at different curing ages prepared by using different mixing approaches with percentage replacement of RCA.

found to be within the permissible range of 10 mm. The ranges are experimental results regarding the influence of 100% replacement
8.1–9.8 mm, 7.8–9.3 mm and 7.6–9.2 mm for NMA, TSMA and of RCA on properties of normally vibrated concrete. An attempt is
TSMAsfc, respectively. taken to enhance the mechanical and durability properties of
SCRAC by replacing 7% fly ash by silica fume using present mixing
approach (TSMAsfc). Results revealed that mechanical and durabil-
3.2. Hardened properties of SCRAC ity properties are improved by adopting present mixing approach.

Mechanical and durability properties of SCRAC were compared

with the results of other mixing approaches suggested in literature 3.2.1. Compressive strength of SCRAC
[1] with proposed two stage mixing approach (TSMAsfc). Table 6 Compressive strength of SCRAC with different mixing
presents the comparative study of literature results with present approaches (NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc) with variation of RCA per-
 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575 567

(a) NMA (b) TSMA

500

(c) TSMAsfc
Fig. 5. Creep strain deformation of concrete for replacement percentage of RCA using different mixing approaches.

SCRAC 100 : y = 1.904 x + 261.36

R ² = 0.9766
SCRAC 60 : y = 1.4052 x + 260.78
R ² = 0.9768
SCRAC 40 : y = 1.0687 x + 262.34
R ² = 0.9005
SCRAC 20 : y = 1.2649 x + 220.06
R ² = 0.8596
SCVAC : y = 1.1294 x + 203
R ² = 0.9777

Fig. 6. Creep strain deformation of concrete sample prepared by using TSMAsfc with age of concrete.

centage are presented in Fig. 4. It is observed that the compressive
strength of SCRAC is reduced with increase in percentage of RCA.
This reduction of strength is accounted due to the high water
absorption property which is due to adherence of old mortar paste
in the RCA. This water absorption property of RCA even weakens
the ITZ. In two stage mixing approach (TSMAsfc), along with silica
fume slurry, proportional amount of cement and water are added
in premix stage. The silica reacts with the calcium hydroxide crys-
tals and forms the strength contributing cementitious material C-
S-H (CaO:SiO2 :H2 O). The chemical reactions are given below.
CaO þ H2 O ! CaðOHÞ2
CaðOHÞ2 þ SiO2 ! CaO:SiO2 :H2 O
The silica fume creates dense packing and acts as a porefiller of
cement paste because of very fine particle size. It is observed from
Fig. 4, that among all mixing approach, the compressive strength of
SCRAC is maximum for concrete prepared with TSMAsfc for 100%
use of RCA. The reduction of compressive strength of SCRAC than
that of SCVAC by use of 100% RCA is 25.18% for NMA, 21.04% for
568 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575

(a)TSMAsfc (b) TSMA (c) NMA

Fig. 7. Influence of mixing approaches on carbonation depth of concrete having 28 days of curing age.

(a) 28 days (b) 56 days

(c) 90 days

Fig. 8. Carbonation depth of SCRAC using different mixing approaches placed under accelerated carbonation chamber for different days.

TSMA and 17.20% for TSMAsfc after 28 days of curing. The reduction
of strength because of 100% use of RCA is minimum in the case of
proposed mixing approach (TSMAsfc). It is also concluded that com-
pressive strength of SCRAC is improved with age of curing due to
the presence of pozzolanic material like fly ash and silica fume.
The improvement of strength is because of second stage hydration
process between silica and free lime with progress of time. Calcium
silicates hydrates (C-S-H) is formed by the above pozzolanic reac-
tion and results better compressive strength of SCRAC.
3.2.2. Durability properties
Experimental data have also been analysed for each case and it
is established that there is perfect statistical correlation as the R2
value is close to the 1 in most of the cases. The values of R2 are
mentioned in all the graphs for better understanding of the accu-
racy of the experimental results.
3.2.2.1. Determination of creep strain deformation. Creep strain
deformation of SCRAC for different percentage of RCA content,
age of concrete and using NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc are shown in
Fig. 5. Creep strain results are measured with replacement percent-
age of RCA using all three mixing approaches. It is observed that
the creep strain deformation increases with increase in the recy-
cled aggregate content. This is because of lower toughness value
and ductility performance of RCA than that of VCA. The reduced
properties of RCA are because of adhered mortar present in RCA.
 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575 569

SCVAC: y = 0.008 x + 4.8034

R² = 0.9711
SCRAC20: y = 0.0113x + 4.8775
R ² = 0.9993
SCRAC40: y = 0.0144 x + 5.0304
R ² = 0.9857
SCRAC60: y = 0.0145x + 5.291
R² = 0.9999
SCRAC100: y = 0.0129x + 5.6539
R² = 0.9969

Fig. 9. Variation of carbonation depth of SCRAC by using TSMAsfc with age of concrete placed in carbonation chamber.

Table 7
Water penetration depths of concrete mixtures with different percentage of RCA using NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc.

Water penetration depths (mm)

Mixing approaches NMA TSMA TSMAsfc
Days 28 56 90 28 56 90 28 56 90
% of RCA
0 4.6 4.9 5.3 4.4 4.7 5.1 4.1 4.3 5.0
20 5.0 5.6 5.9 4.7 5.2 5.6 4.3 4.5 5.4
40 5.3 5.8 6.4 4.9 5.5 5.9 4.5 4.8 5.7
60 5.4 6.3 6.8 5.2 5.8 6.5 4.6 5.1 6.2
100 5.8 6.5 7.4 5.3 6.0 6.7 4.8 5.3 6.4

(a) TSMA sfc (b) TSMA (c) NMA

Fig. 10. Variations of water penetration depth for different mixing approaches at 28 days of curing.

It is also seen that the restraining effect of VCA is more than that of
RCA which results higher creep in RAC. The paste which is sur-
rounded over aggregate is also responsible for creep deformation.
The experimental results show that two stage mixing approaches
(TSMA and TSMAsfc) reduce the creep strain deformation. The creep
strain deformation of SCRAC using TSMA is higher than that of
TSMAsfc. In TSMA, the pores which are present in the surface of
RCA are filled up by only cement slurry. However, in TSMAsfc the
pores of RCA are filled up by silica fume and cement slurry during
the premix stage. The ITZ in case of TSMAsfc becomes stronger than
that of TSMA because of the above mentioned reason. Creep strain
deformation of SCRAC with 100% replacement of RCA is 44%, 40%
and 34% more than that SCVAC for the three mixing approaches
i.e., NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc, respectively, after 28 days of constant
loading. Hence, the SCRAC with TSMAsfc gives best results in creep
deformation. Fig. 6 presents the linear regression of creep strain
deformation of concrete using TSMAsfc with age of concrete. The
goodness of fit (R2) is close to 1 for all experimental results as there
is a perfect statistical correlation. The obtained results show that
the creep strain deformation of SCRAC increases with increase in
age of concrete placed under a constant load for 28, 56, 90 and
112 days.
3.2.2.2. Evaluation of carbonation depth. Carbonation depths of
SCRAC with reference to different mixing approaches are measured
in accelerated concrete carbonation chamber and the influence of
mixing approaches on carbonation depth of concrete having 28
days of curing age are presented in Fig. 7. It is seen that the carbon-
ation depth of concrete prepared by using TSMAsfc shows mini-
mum carbonation depth as compared to TSMA and NMA. It is
570 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575

NMA

TSMA

TSMAsfc

Fig. 11. Variation of electrical current passing through the concrete sample of different mixing approach with time interval of one minute at curing age of 28 days.

(a) 28 days (b) 56 days

500

(c) 90 days
Fig. 12. Chloride ion penetration of concrete measured for different curing days using all three mixing approaches.

concluded that carbonation depth increases with the increase in
percentage of RCA. This is because of the higher adhered mortar
content in RCA than that of VCA. The adhered mortar of RCA may
have many micro cracks, voids and pores. These pores and cracks
are filled up by using mixing approaches namely TSMA and TSMAsfc
and the experimental results are shown in Fig. 8.The carbonation
depths of SCRAC with replacement of 100% RCA are 25.45%,
23.07% and 20% more than that of SCVAC when concrete is pre-
pared with NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc, respectively. Fig. 9 presents
the carbonation depth of concrete prepared by using TSMAsfc for
the replacement of RCA percentage and age of concrete placed in
accelerated carbonation chamber. It is observed that the carbona-
tion depth of SCRAC increases with the age of concrete up to 90
days.
 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575 571

(a) Concrete with 28 days curing (b) Concrete with 56 days curing

(c) Concrete with 90 days curing

Fig. 13. Variation of drying shrinkage of concrete sample prepared by using TSMAsfc having different percentage of RCA and with different curing age.

NMA; y = − 0.0101x 2 + 2.124 x + 263.72

R ² = 0.995
TSMA; y = − 0.0029 x 2 + 1.4529 x + 240.32
R ² = 0.9841
TSMAsfc; y = − 0.006 x 2 + 1.5048 x + 226.4
R ² = 0.9651

Fig. 14. Drying shrinkage of SCRAC prepared by using different mixing approaches with replacement percentage of RCA at 28 days of measurement.

3.2.2.3. Measurement of water penetration depth. The variations of
water penetration depth of SCRAC for different percentage of RCA
content, mixing approaches and age of concrete placed under
water penetration depth instrument for 28, 56 and 90 days are pre-
sented in Table 7 and the depths are measured by concrete perme-
ability apparatus as shown in Fig. 3(c). The water penetration
depth of SCRAC increases with the increase in percentage of RCA
because of the old porous mortar paste attached on surface of
RCA. It is observed from Fig. 10 that modified mixing approach
(TSMAsfc) is effective in reducing the water penetration depths of
SCRAC among the three mixing approaches. From experimental
results, it is noted that the water penetration depth of SCRAC by
use of 100% RCA is 26%, 20% and 17% more than that of SCVAC pre-
pared with NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc, respectively.
3.2.2.4. Measurement of charge passed by RCPT. The variation of
electrical current passing through the concrete sample of different
mixing approach with time interval of one minute is presented in
Fig. 11. This plot is generated from the Giatech Perma2TM rapid
chloride permeability instrument available at IIT(ISM) Dhanbad,
India, which is shown in Fig. 3(d). It is noted that the electrical cur-
rent passing through the concrete sample with TSMAsfc is mini-
mum and it is maximum for NMA. The obtained electric current
at every 30 min of time interval are used to find the total charge
passed through the concrete sample. The variations of charge
passed through the concrete sample is plotted for different RCA
contents and mixing approaches for different ages of concrete. It
is observed from Fig. 12 that as the age of concrete increases, the
paste becomes dense and the ion penetrability of concrete
572 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575
Loose
Loose
Paste Aggregate
Aggregate
Loose ITZ
Loose ITZ
(a) NMA
Densest
Densest
Paste
Paste
Dense ITZ
(c) TSMAsfc
Fig. 15. Microstructural analysis of loose paste, filled ITZ and dense ITZ of SCRAC for different mixing approaches.
decreases. Therefore, the chloride ion penetrability significantly
affected by ageing of concrete. It is concluded that at all ages, ion
penetrability of concrete is increased with the increase in percent-
age of RCA. The charge passes through the RAC are higher because
of the higher porosity of RCA. The presence of old porous mortar
paste and poor interfacial zone in RAC makes a permeable concrete
internal structure. The resistance to chloride ion penetration of
RAC is improved using modified mixing approaches. TSMAsfc shows
improved resistance to ion penetrability because of the presence of
silica fume, as the silica fume is very effective in reducing chloride
ion penetration in all the mixes. The obtained results attribute to
improve the resistance to ion penetration because silica fume acts
as filler material and all the pores and cracks are filled up with sil-
ica fume cement slurry in premix stage. Silica fume undergoes fur-
ther hydration to form high quality of C-S-H gel which enhances
durability properties of concrete. Fig. 12(a) shows the comparison
of control mix (SCVAC) with the mix containing 20% RCA (SCRAC
20), 40% RCA (SCRAC 40), 60% RCA (SCRAC 60) and 100% RCA
(SCRAC 100). The obtained results shows that the chloride ion pen-
etrability increases by 4.12% (SCRAC 20), 9.41% (SCRAC 40), 20%
(SCRAC 60) and 26.47% (SCRAC 100) in comparison to control
mix (SCVAC), respectively, at the curing age of 28 days. At the cur-
ing age of 56 days, the increase in chloride ion penetration are
3.60% (for SCRAC 20), 8.80% (for SCRAC 40), 13.60% (for SCRAC
60) and 20% (for SCRAC 100) with respect to control mix (SCVAC)
using NMA. Similarly, at 90 days of curing, the increases in ion pen-
etrability are 3.35%, (for SCRAC 20), 7.95% (for SCRAC 40), 10.04%
(for SCRAC 60) and 15.06% (for SCRAC 100) with respect to control
Dense
Dense
Paste
Paste Aggregate
Aggregate
Filled ITZ
(b) TSMA
Aggregate
Aggregate
mix (SCVAC) using NMA. The ion penetrability significantly
decreases after adopting mixing approaches. With 100% replace-
ment of RCA, chloride penetrability is increased than that of con-
trol mix (SCVAC) by 26.47% for NMA, 23.05% for TSMA and
21.79% for TSMAsfc after 28 days of curing. The improved percent-
age of resistance to ion penetration is 4.62% and 13.16% more than
that of NMA after 28 days of curing with 100% replacement of RCA
for TSMA for TSMAsfc, respectively.
3.2.2.5. Measurement of drying shrinkage. The variation of drying
shrinkage of concrete sample prepared by using TSMAsfc having
different percentage of RCA and with different curing age (28 days,
56 days and 90 days) are plotted in Fig. 13 for a time interval of one
year. The drying shrinkage values are measured by the length com-
parator instrument (CONTROLS GROUP) available at IIT (ISM)
Dhanbad, India with time interval of 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, 56, 90, 180
and 365 days for concrete sample having different curing ages.
Drying shrinkage of SCRAC increases with both increase in time
and percentage of RCA. The drying shrinkage of RAC is more than
that of VAC because of high water absorption capacity of RCA
and due to the increase in volume of cement paste and porosity
of RCA. From experimental results it is noted that the drying
shrinkage of SCRAC (with 100% RCA) measured after 28 days is
41%, 46% and 37% more than that of SCVAC (0% RCA) prepared with
NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc, respectively. It is noticed that when the
concrete is cured for longer time the drying shrinkage is reduced.
When the SCRAC (100% RCA) prepared with TSMAsfc is cured for
56 days and 90 days, the drying shrinkage after 28 days of mea-
 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575 573

Greyscale image

UH Pore

CH C-S-H
Fig. 16. Binary segmentation of BSE images of constituents of SCRAC-100 prepared using TSMAsfc.

surement is reduced by 5.3% and 16%, respectively, than that of
SCRAC with 28 days of curing. Fig. 14 presents the variation of dry-
ing shrinkage of SCRAC after 28 days measurement with replace-
ment percentage of RCA prepared by using different mixing
approaches. It is concluded that the modified mixing approach
(TSMAsfc) is effective in controlling the drying shrinkage of SCRAC
because the pores present in surface of RCA are filled up by silica
fume slurry and resulted concrete with better properties.
3.3. Microstructure study
Microstructural study of concrete on ITZ gives a clear picture
regarding the influence of mixing approaches on mechanical and
durability properties of recycled aggregate concrete. EPMA inspec-
tion is a powerful analysis to know the voids, cracks and concrete
paste quality on ITZ through BSE. It is observed from Fig. 15(a) that
the ITZ have more cracks and pores in NMA and these pores and
cracks are reduced after following TSMA and TSMAsfc. The pores
are minimum in case of concrete prepared with TSMAsfc. It may
be interpreted that the pores and cracks present in ITZ are filled
up due to TSMA and the ITZ is strengthened. Similarly, the pores
in concrete paste get reduced because of TSMA and the paste
becomes densest in case of TSMAsfc. Because of the development
of dense ITZ in TSMAsfc, the durability properties of SCRAC get
improved and give enhanced performance. Fig. 15 illustrates that
loose paste and cracked ITZ occurs more in NMA in comparison
to TSMA and TSMAsfc which are observed after using EPMA
petrography.
3.3.1. Image analysis
All the BSE images are investigated quantitatively by using
MATLAB R2012b image processing software. The intensity of BSE
574 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575

Table 8
Mean area percentage of porosity and hydration compounds (C-S-H, CH, UH) of mortar at ITZ using different mix approaches.

Mixing approaches % of RCA Mix designation Mean area percentages of porosity and hydration compounds
(C-S-H, CH, UH)
Porosity C-S-H CH UH
NMA 0 SCVAC 15.76 52.85 17.45 13.94
20 SCRAC20 16.65 50.25 18.05 15.05
40 SCRAC40 17.25 48.28 18.36 16.11
60 SCRAC60 18.32 45.03 19.20 17.45
100 SCRAC 100 19.25 42.69 20.00 18.06
TSMA 0 SCVAC 14.56 55.67 16.23 13.54
20 SCRAC20 15.21 53.27 17.42 14.10
40 SCRAC40 16.36 50.28 18.07 15.29
60 SCRAC60 17.22 48.21 18.95 15.62
100 SCRAC 100 18.12 45.33 20.34 16.21
TSMAsfc 0 SCVAC 13.45 58.48 14.96 13.11
20 SCRAC20 14.37 56.23 15.65 13.75
40 SCRAC40 15.68 54.21 16.11 14.00
60 SCRAC60 16.49 52.00 17.02 14.49
100 SCRAC 100 17.67 49.00 18.10 15.23

images (256 class of shades from dark to bright) are available
depending upon of the gray level of images. Generally, in the gray
level image, the lowest level is verified as 0 which is fully dark and
the highest level is determined as 255 which is fully bright. The
components of mortar i.e., calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H), cal-
cium hydroxide (CH), unhydrated cement (UH) and pores are
determined by the gray level intensity of BSE images. The pores
are at the dark end (intensity = 0) of gray scale because pores are
filled with epoxy resin in the stage of specimen preparation. The
characteristics of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) and calcium
hydroxide (CH) are indeterminate because in the gray scale inten-
sity of BSE images, the CH is marginally brighter than C-S-H [35]. In
present study, the threshold values of each component are calcu-
lated by MATLAB R2012b image processing software based on
the gray scale intensity. After confirming the threshold value of
each component, the threshold value corresponding to each com-
ponent are separated using binary segmentation. The grayscale
image of various components are converted into binary segmenta-
tion of components and shown in Fig. 16. From Fig. 16, it is
observed that the pores are in darker one, UH is the brighter one
and the difference between C-S-H and CH is that the CH are slightly
brighter than C-S-H. The percentage area of each component (C-S-
H, CH, UH and pores) are calculated by dividing the number of
pixel of each component by the total number of pixels. The area
percentage of each component (C-S-H, CH, UH and pores) with
the use of mixing approaches (NMA, TSMA and TSMAsfc) are pre-
sented in Table 8. From Table 8, it is observed that the cement is
not fully hydrated in case of all replacement percentage of RCA
for all mixing approaches after 28 days of curing. These are con-
cluded from the percentage area of remnant compounds in all con-
crete mixes. The remnant cement grains are approximately 13.94
to 18.06% in case of NMA, 13.54 to 16.21% in case of TSMA and
13.11 to 15.23% in case of TSMAsfc concretes. The main hydration
compound is the C-S-H which is an important constituent towards
the strength of concrete. It is also observed that with increase in
percentage of RCA, for every mixing approaches the C-S-H percent-
age decreases and CH content increases. This is because of presence
of old mortar paste adhered on the surface of RCA. These old
adhered mortar paste adjacent of ITZs have lots of cracks and pores
and this absorb more water during the mixing process. Therefore,
there is a lack of water for the conversion of C-S-H from CH. Hence,
higher the percentage of pores more is the percentage of CH as the
pores are directly proportional to percentage of RCA present. The
concrete prepared with 100% RCA shows maximum number of
pores and maximum percentage of CH. Further, modified mixing
approach increases the percentage of C-S-H because of the pres-
ence of silica fume. Silica fume fills the pores and reacts with unhy-
drated cement and produces C-S-H gel. The area percentage of C-S-
H compound in the ITZ of SCRAC-100 using NMA is less than the
area percentage of C-S-H in SCRAC-100 prepared with TSMAsfc.
Hence, the ITZ of SCRAC-100 using NMA is less dense than that
of ITZ of SCRAC-100 using TSMAsfc because of more percentage of
C-S-H gel in former. C-S-H is in the form of gel which binds the
cement mortar and aggregate bond and enhances the density of
ITZ. The porosity mainly affects the strength of concrete. It is
observed from Table 8 that the area of porosity of concrete with
100% RCA prepared using NMA is less because of the dense than
the ITZ of SCRAC-100 presence of old mortar and porous mortar.
The area percentage of porosity made with 100% RCA is minimized
after using mixing approaches.
4. Conclusion
There is a large production of C&D waste in the urban areas
causing environmental and disposal problems. These waste mate-
rials are recycled and can be effectively used in production of con-
crete. Nan Su mix design method is used with number of trials for
obtaining proper mix proportion of SCRAC with admixtures like fly
ash and silica fume. With this proper mix proportion of SCRAC, the
workability of SCRAC (flowability, passing ability, segregation to
resistance) are satisfied the EFNARC guidelines. The experimental
results show that the workability, compressive strength and dura-
bility properties of SCRAC (creep strain deformation, carbonation
depth and water penetration depth) are adversely affected with
increase in quantity of RCA. Addition of silica fume results
improvement in mechanical and durability properties of SCRAC
and it is observed that with 7% silica fume, the fresh properties
of concrete are satisfied the EFNARC codal provision. In TSMAsfc,
the silica fume – cement slurry is used to cover the pores of RCA
and provides a stronger ITZ which results best performance in
terms of mechanical and durability properties. Because of modified
two stage mixing approach (TSMAsfc), the creep strain deforma-
tion, carbonation depth, water penetration depth, drying shrinkage
and chloride ion penetrability properties of RAC (100% RCA) are
improved by 18%, 22%, 25%, 16% and 13.16%, respectively. EPMA
petrography reveals that the loose paste present in NMA gets dense
in TSMA and becomes denser in TSMAsfc. This EPMA analysis con-
firms that the durability properties of SCRAC is improved by adopt-
ing two stage mixing approach. From image analysis, it is
concluded that the C-S-H gel at ITZ are more in TSMAsfc mixing
 P. Rajhans et al. / Construction and Building Materials 174 (2018) 559–575
approach than that of TSMA and NMA. This two stage mixing
approach also reduces the pore in ITZ which is a reason of improve-
ment in all properties. From experimental results, it is observed
that the C-S-H gel content is increased by 12.87% after following
this modified mixing approach (TSMAsfc). Regarding CH, UH and
porosity, these contents are reduced 9.5%, 15.67% and 8.2%, respec-
tively, because of modified mixing approach (TSMAsfc). From all the
above analysis, it is concluded that the SCRAC obtained from 100%
RCA using TSMAsfc gives significant improvement in mechanical
and durability properties.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support for
present work under HSMI/HUDCO R&D plan HSMI/R&D/
ISMA/2015-16.
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