Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Prediction of compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete based

on gray correlation analysis
Lihua Zhu a,b,⇑, Cheng Zhao b, Jun Dai b
a
State Key Laboratory of Green Building in Western China, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, 13 Yanta Road, Xi’an 710055, China
b
School of Civil Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, 13 Yanta Road, Xi’an 710055, China

h i g h l i g h t s

The slump of RAC increased linearly with water–cement ratio at each replacement level.

RAC’s failure modes at diverse replacement levels and water–cement ratios are similar.

Accuracy of Abrams model decreased when different replacement levels were considered.

The modified Abrams model was validated to have a satisfactory prediction accuracy.

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

Article history: Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) specimens with different water–cement ratios and replacement levels
Received 30 June 2020 of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) were prepared. The effects of these two factors on the slump and com-
Received in revised form 5 November 2020 pressive strength of the RAC were analyzed. The Abrams formula was used to predict the compressive
Accepted 16 November 2020
strength of the RAC. The relationships between the regression coefficients and physical properties of
Available online 6 January 2021
the coarse aggregate were analyzed based on the gray correlation analysis (GCA). A method based on
the GCA was proposed to predict the compressive strength of the RAC. The validity of this method was
Keywords:
verified using experimental data that was reported before. The prediction accuracy of the modified
Recycled aggregate concrete
Replacement level of recycled coarse
Abrams model was satisfactory, indicating that the proposed method can meet practical engineering
aggregate requirements.
Compressive strength Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Gray correlation analysis
Water–cement ratio

1. Introduction of concrete [5-7]. Therefore, the prediction of the 28-day compres-

With the rapid development of the construction industry, large
amounts of construction and demolition waste (CDW) are being
generated annually worldwide, particularly in China. The composi-
tion of CDW is very complex. Waste concrete usually accounts for
the largest proportion of CDW [1]. The use of waste concrete as an
aggregate to produce a fresh concrete is a sustainable and environ-
mentally friendly approach of disposing waste concrete, which also
helps reduce the consumption of natural aggregates [2-4].
The compressive strength of concrete is an important mechan-
ical property, which is used as a quantitative measure to estimate
other mechanical properties of normal concrete. The 28-day com-
pressive strength of concrete is a critical indicator to estimate the
strength of concrete and foundation of other mechanical properties
⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Civil Engineering, Xi’an University of
Architecture & Technology, 13 Yanta road, Xi’an 710055, China.
E-mail address: zhulihuaxa@163.com (L. Zhu).
sive strength of concrete is of technical and practical significance.
Generally, the traditional methods for the prediction of the
compressive strength of concrete are based on regression equa-
tions with the appropriate variables and mathematical models,
such as the Bolomey [8] and Abrams [9,10] models. Numerous
studies have shown that the compressive strength of concrete
has been determined by not only the bond strength of mortar
and interfacial adhesion between the mortar and aggregate but
also the cement grade, water–cement ratio and cement–aggregate
ratio in the mix, age of concrete, etc. [11]. Because of the significant
difference on the properties of the materials, conventional predic-
tion models of compressive strength cannot be directly applied for
high-performance concrete, lightweight aggregate concrete, and
fiber-reinforced concrete. In addition, the selection of accurate
mathematical models and variables can be unreliable owing to
the complex mechanism and multi-variable characteristics of con-
crete. Over the past decade, methods based on intelligent algo-
rithms for strength prediction have been widely used. Artificial

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121750
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

neural networks (ANNs) [5,12-15] can be used to predict the com- ture are analyzed to evaluate the accuracy of the modified Abrams
pressive strength of concrete; however, unlike traditional predic- model based on the GCA.
tion model, they require sufficient input–output data. Fuzzy logic
[7] can be applied to linear and nonlinear systems and can handle
2. Experimental methods
complex structural control systems. Genetic algorithms [16] are
based on the Darwin’s theory of evolution and can handle various
2.1. Materials
types of objective functions. Corresponding variants [6,17-19] can
increase the prediction capability and improve the fit with exper-
The cement used in this study was 32.5R composite Portland
imental data. The advantages of these methods are large in terms
cement, produced by Shaanxi Qinling cement plant. The waste con-
of operation and accuracy. However, they are typical black-box
crete used in this study originated from CDW in Xi’an. The concrete
models without explicit equations. Support vector regression [20]
chunks were crushed by a jaw crusher to the required sizes. Fig. 1
and discrete wavelet transform [21] can also be applied to predict
shows the main ingredients of the RCAs, while Table 1 shows the
the strength of concrete. However, the use of the two methods in
percentages of the main ingredients of the RCAs. As shown in
engineering practice has a small limitation because they are rela-
Table 1, the percentage of wrapping mortar of undisturbed stones
tively complex.
was smaller than 10%, while that of secondary aggregate was 10%
Most studies have focused on the properties of recycled aggre-
to 100%. The mortar lump was a pure mortar block with small
gate concrete (RAC) [1-4], while no extensive studies have been
stones completely wrapped with mortar and other ingredients,
carried out on the prediction of the compressive strength of RAC.
including bricks, tile, glass, and wood crumbs. The natural coarse
The variability in compressive strength of RAC is a main engineer-
aggregates (NCAs) used in this study was a crushed granite with
ing concern, which hinders the use of RAC [11,22]. Younis [22]
a maximum size of 25 mm. The fine aggregate used in this study
applied four independent variables (particle density (dry), Los
was natural river sand with a maximum size of 5 mm. The physical
Angeles abrasion, water absorption, replacement level of recycled
properties of the main materials were evaluated according to Chi-
coarse aggregate (RCA)) to predict the compressive strength of
nese code JGJ52-2006 [34]. The results are presented in Table 2.
RAC and achieved a reasonable accuracy. Duan [23] and Dantas
The particle size distributions of the RCA, NCA, and river sand are
[24] proposed an ANN model to predict the strength of RAC, involv-
shown in Fig. 2.
ing as many as 14 and 17 parameters, respectively. Their ANN
model provided a reasonable prediction of the compressive
strength of RAC. Deshpande [25] compared the ANN model, model 2.2. Mix proportions
tree, and nonlinear regression for strength prediction. The former
method achieved the highest accuracy. However, the high accura- The water absorption of the RCA is considerably higher than
cies in these studies were obtained by carrying out a series of con- that of the NCA. It is important to introduce the RCA into the mixer
voluted procedures and using a considerably larger amount of data, under saturated surface dry (SSD) conditions to reduce the impacts
which largely reduces the practical applicability of these methods. of its high water absorption on the concrete workability and com-
The gray correlation analysis (GCA) which requires less data and
fewer computations, is an important method of the gray system
Table 1
theory [26]. So far, GCA has been widely used in decision-making
Composition of RCAs for sizes between (5–25 mm).
problems [27,28], multiple-factor analysis [29,30], measurement
and evaluation [31], and safety risk assessment [32]. It can sur- Undisturbed stones Secondary aggregate Mortar lump Others
(%) (%) (%) (%)
mount the insufficiency of system-analysis method based on
statistics, including the need for large amount of data and compu- 35 50 12 3
tation. One aim of the GCA is to find and compare the main factors
of a system. The used data are not subjected to some typical prob-
ability distribution [33]. Notably, the compressive strength of RAC Table 2
Physical properties of RCA, NCA and river sand.
is influenced by numerous factors. Therefore, the GCA can also be
used to quantify and compare the effects of various factors on Property NCA RCA Sand
the compressive strength of RAC. Apparent density (AD) (g/cm3) 2.658 2.601 2.678
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two major factors on Bulk density (BD) (g/cm3) 1.438 1.314 1.502
the compressive strength of RAC, water–cement ratio and RCA Compact density (CD) (g/cm3) 1.593 1.459 1.647
Stacked porosity (SP) (%) 45.9 49.5 43.9
replacement level. Six groups of RAC cubic specimens are designed
Compact porosity (CP) (%) 40.1 44.0 38.5
to study the effects of the two factors. The GCA is used to analyze Crush index (CI) (%) 10.6 18.3 –
the effects of the RAC composition on the compressive strength. Flakiness particle content (FPC) (%) 5.72 3.98 –
Furthermore, a modified prediction formula for the compressive Clay content (CC) (%) 0.98 0.22 2.24
strength of RAC based on the GCA is proposed, with both practica- Mud content (MC) (%) 0.35 0.18 0.67
Water absorption (WA) (%) 0.69 4.67 0.78
bility and satisfactory accuracy. Experimental data from the litera-

(a) Undisturbed stones. (b) Secondary aggregate. (c) Mortar lump. (d) Others.

Fig. 1. Main ingredients of the RCAs.

2
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai
100
NCA
80 RCA
Passing (%)
60
40
20
0 0
0 5 10 15 20
Seive Size (mm)
(a) Size distribution curves of RCA and NCA.
Fig. 2. Size distribution curves of aggregates and sand.
pressive strength. However, it is difficult to realize the SSD condi-
tions in practice. The RCA under SSD conditions also affects the
bond strength of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) [11]. There-
fore, the RCA in this study was used under the dry conditions. As
shown in Table 3, produced with pure NCA, two specimens in
groups I and IV can be considered as basic specimens (group I
and IV can be considered as the basic groups), whose water–ce-
ment ratios were designed to be 0.55 and 0.41 based on JGJ55-
2011 [35] to achieve strength grades of C20 and C30, respectively.
The water–cement ratios of groups II, III and V, VI were designed
with increments of 0.05 based on the two basic groups,
respectively.
The RCA replacement level was set to 0, 30, 50, 70, and 100% of
the total volume of the coarse aggregates to investigate the effects
of the replacement level of the RCA on the slump and compressive
strength of the RAC. The sand ratios of groups Ⅰ, II, and III were 35%,
while those of groups IV, Ⅴ, and VI were 29%. The RAC mixture pro-
portions are shown in Table 3. For convenience, groups I, II, and III
are denoted as SPE1, while groups IV, Ⅴ, and VI are denoted as
SPE2.
2.3. Test procedures
All specimens were produced according to GB/T50081-2002
[36]. Standard cubic specimens (size: 150 mm) were cast in plastic
molds for each mix. The specimens were vibrated for approxi-
mately 3 min using a table vibrator. Demolding was carried out
24 h after the casting. The specimens were coded and cured in a
curing chamber (20 ± 2 °C, relative humidity: 95%) for 28 days.
Three specimens were used for each mix.
Slump tests were carried out to estimate the workability of con-
crete according to Chinese code JGJ52-2006 [34]. The compressive
strength test with a TYA-2000 electro-hydraulic pressure setup
was carried out according to GB/T50081-2002 [36].
3. Results and discussion
3.1. RCA from CDW
As shown in Table 1, the proportions of the undisturbed stones
and secondary aggregate were higher, which indicates that the RCA
mainly maintained the properties of the raw aggregate. As the
main difference between the RCA and NCA, the RCA was composed
of natural aggregate and attached cement mortar. The other con-
taminants (3%) indicate that the RCA was derived from CDW. A
progressive decrease in variation ratio of effective water–cement
ratios from group I to group VI can be observed in Table 3. It is
Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750
100
80
Passing (%)
60
40
20
25 0 1 2 3 4 5
Seive Size (mm)
(b) Size distribution curves of river sand.
attributed to the progressive decrease of the RCA content at the
same replacement level in the specimen group I to group VI. The
decrease of the RCA content results in the decrease in the differ-
ence of water quantity absorbed by RCA between two certain levels
of RCA content. However, it should be noted that, for groups IV, V,
and VI, the variation ratio of effective w/c ratio when RCA replace-
ment level changed from 0 to 30% seems to be constant, which just
because the calculation error introduced by the limitation of the
decimal digits concealed this difference.
Fig. 3 shows that the decreases in bulk and compact densities in
the RCA were similar to those in corresponding porosities, com-
pared to NCA. However, the decrease in apparent density was only
2.14%, considerably smaller than those in bulk and compact densi-
ties, as the RCA had a rough surface and angular shape. The crush-
ing value of the RCA was higher than that of the NCA, which
indicates that the strength of the RCA was inferior to that of the
NCA. This may lead to a low compressive strength of the RAC. In
addition, the water absorption of the RCA was approximately 5.8
times that of the NCA, as the mortar adhered to the RCA had a high
absorption capacity [37,38]. The flakiness particle content of the
RCA was smaller than that of the NCA owing to mechanical crush-
ing. The clay content of the initial RCA was larger than 4%, which is
not acceptable according to JGJ52-2006 [36]. Therefore, it is neces-
sary to wash the RCA, and the final clay content of the RCA was
only 0.22%.
3.2. Slump of the RAC
The effect of the actual water–cement ratio on the slump of the
RAC is shown in Fig. 4. The slump of the RAC increased with the
water–cement ratio at each replacement level. These results are
similar to those for the common concrete. Notably, a significant
faultage in slump existed between the specimens of SPE1 and
SPE2, induced by the faultage in the cement content because of dif-
ferent sand ratios (35% for the specimens of SPE1 and 29% for the
specimens of SPE2). Fig. 5 shows the effect of the replacement level
of the RCA on the slump. A higher replacement level led to a smal-
ler slump, because the adhered mortar absorbed a large amount of
free water [39,40]. Thus, the slump of the RAC at the low water–ce-
ment ratio and high replacement level was decreased to zero.
A larger amount of water absorbed by the RCA can be deducted
from the actual water consumption to obtain the effective water–
cement ratio to eliminate the effect of different replacement levels
among the specimens on the slump. Fig. 6 shows the effect of the
effective water–cement ratio on the slump of the RAC. A signifi-
cantly linear relationship between the effective water–cement
ratio and slump was observed. Thus, the effective water–cement
3
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

Table 3
Details of mix proportions of RAC.

Classification Group Cement (kg/ Sand (kg/ NCA (kg/ RCA (kg/ Water (kg/ w/c Sand ratio Replacement level of RCA
m3) m3) m3) m3) m3) (%) (%)
Actual Effective
w/c w/c
SPE1 Group Ⅰ 354.53 631.30 1172.41 0 195.00 0.55 0.55 35 0
354.53 628.75 817.37 350.30 195.00 0.55 0.50 35 30
354.53 627.06 582.27 582.27 195.00 0.55 0.47 35 50
354.53 625.38 348.43 813.00 195.00 0.55 0.44 35 70
354.53 622.88 0 1156.78 195.00 0.55 0.40 35 100

Group 354.53 614.77 1141.72 0 212.72 0.60 0.60 35 0

II 354.53 612.29 795.98 341.13 212.72 0.60 0.56 35 30
354.53 610.64 567.03 567.03 212.72 0.60 0.53 35 50
354.53 609.01 339.31 791.71 212.72 0.60 0.50 35 70
354.53 606.57 0 1126.49 212.72 0.60 0.45 35 100

Group 354.53 598.24 1111.01 0 230.45 0.65 0.65 35 0

III 354.53 595.82 774.57 331.96 230.45 0.65 0.61 35 30
354.53 594.22 551.78 551.78 230.45 0.65 0.58 35 50
354.53 592.63 330.18 770.42 230.45 0.65 0.55 35 70
354.53 590.26 0 1096.20 230.45 0.65 0.51 35 100
SPE2 Group 475.30 525.73 1170.18 0 195.00 0.41 0.41 29 0
IV 475.30 523.48 815.62 349.55 195.00 0.41 0.38 29 30
475.30 521.99 580.93 580.93 195.00 0.41 0.35 29 50
475.30 520.51 347.57 810.99 195.00 0.41 0.33 29 70
475.30 585.83 0 1087.97 195.00 0.41 0.30 29 100

Group 475.30 506.21 1126.73 0 218.64 0.46 0.46 29 0

Ⅴ 475.30 504.04 785.33 336.57 218.64 0.46 0.43 29 30
475.30 502.61 559.35 559.35 218.64 0.46 0.41 29 50
475.30 501.18 334.66 780.87 218.64 0.46 0.38 29 70
475.30 564.08 0 1047.57 218.64 0.46 0.36 29 100

Group 475.30 486.58 1083.04 0 242.41 0.51 0.51 29 0

VI 475.30 484.50 754.88 323.52 242.41 0.51 0.48 29 30
475.30 483.12 537.66 537.66 242.41 0.51 0.46 29 50
475.30 481.75 321.68 750.59 242.41 0.51 0.44 29 70
475.30 542.20 0 1006.95 242.41 0.51 0.41 29 100

Effective w/c can be calculated by deducting water absorbed by RCA from the actual water consumption.

Fig. 3. The relative changes of the properties of RCA.

ratio could more correctly reflect the change in slump of the RAC.
The difference in slump between SPE1 and SPE2 was attributed to
the different cement contents. The slump of the RAC with the
higher cement content was significantly higher, consistent with
the common concrete [11].
3.3. Failure mode of the RAC
The failure processes of the RAC specimens were similar to
those of the common concrete specimens. The first visible microc-
rack was parallel to the load direction. With the increase in load,
the crack became longer and wider along the vertical direction of
the specimen. New cracks appeared along the lateral edge and
developed obliquely to the whole loading surface. When the load
was close to the peak load, the final crack zone had a shape
4
of X on the surface of the specimen, regardless of the replacement
level of the RCA and water–cement ratio. The typical failure pat-
terns of the RAC specimens are shown in Fig. 7. The most serious
failure appeared between the aggregate and attached mortar. The
failure modes of the RAC at different replacement levels and
water–cement ratios were similar.
3.4. Compressive strength of the RAC
Fig. 8 shows the effect of the actual water–cement ratio on the
compressive strength of the concrete. The compressive strength of
the normal concrete for SPE1 was decreased by 2.02% when the
water–cement ratio was increased from 0.55 to 0.60 and 17.52%
when the water–cement ratio was increased from 0.60 to 0.65.
The compressive strength of the RAC for SPE1 was decreased by
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

180
180
r=0 r=0
r = 30 % 150 r = 30 %
150 r = 50 % r = 50 %
r = 70 % r = 70 %
120 r = 100 % 120 r = 100 %
Slump (mm)

Slump (mm)
90 90

60 60

30 30

0 r: replacement level of RCA 0

r: replacement level of RCA
0.54 0.57 0.60 0.63 0.66 0.42 0.45 0.48 0.51
Actual water-cement ratio Actual water-cement ratio

(a) Effect of the actual water-cement ratio on slump (SPE1). (b) Effect of the actual water-cement ratio on slump (SPE2).
Fig. 4. Effect of the actual water-cement ratio on slump.

180 Actual w/c = 0.55 Actual w/c = 0.41

Actual w/c = 0.60 150 Actual w/c = 0.46
150 Actual w/c = 0.65 Actual w/c = 0.51
120
120
Slump (mm)

Slump (mm)

90
90
60
60

30
30

0 0

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (%) Replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (%)

(a) Effect of replacement level of RCA on slump (SPE1). (b) Effect of replacement level of RCA on slump (SPE2).
Fig. 5. Effect of replacement level of RCA on slump.

5.14–17.52% and 14.65–28.08% when the water–cement ratio was similar tendency was observed for SPE2 (including the normal con-
increased from 0.55 to 0.60 and from 0.60 to 0.65, respectively. A crete and RAC). These results indicate that the compressive
strength of the RAC was more sensitive to the actual water–cement
ratio than that of the normal concrete. The relative positions of the
180 SPE1
actual water–cement ratio to compressive strength curve at 0%
SPE2
replacement level are not similar between Fig. 8(a) and (b). That’s
because the actual water–cement ratio was used in Fig. 8 while not
150
effective one, which resulted in the variation of effective water–ce-
y = 941.79x-306.82 ment ratios was different under different actual water–cement
120
Slump (mm)

R2=0.95 ratios.
Fig. 9 shows that the compressive strength reached the maxi-
90
mum when the replacement level of the RCA was approximately
70%, as the effective water–cement ratio decreased owing to the
60
high water absorption of the RCA. The low workability of fresh con-
y = 796.33x-343.72 crete or low quality of the RCA may decrease the compressive
30 R2=0.92 strength of the RAC. It should be point out that the variation trend
was obtained based on dry condition of recycled aggregates and
0 actual water–cement ratio. Actually, the trend is reconcilable with
what described in literatures [41,42] which indicated that the
0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 strength decreases with the increase of replacement level of the
Effective water-cement ratio RCA. The SSD and effective water–cement ratio were used in these
literatures when conducting the mix proportion design.
Fig. 6. Effect of the effective water-cement ratio on slump.

5
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

N-SPE1-0.60 R30-SPE1-0.55 R50-SPE1-0.65 R70-SPE1-0.60 R100-SPE1-0.60

N-SPE2-0.46 R30-SPE2-0.41 R50-SPE2-0.51 R70-SPE2-0.46 R100-SPE2-0.46

Fig. 7. The compressive failure mode of RAC.

48 55
r=0 r=0
r = 30 % r = 30 %
44 50
Compressive strength (MPa)

r = 50 % r = 50 %
Compressive strength (MPa)

r = 70 % r = 70 %
40 r = 100 % r = 100 %
45
36

40
32

28 35

24
30
20
0.54 0.56 0.58 0.60 0.62 0.64 0.66 0.40 0.42 0.44 0.46 0.48 0.50 0.52
Actual water-cement ratio Actual water-cement ratio

(a) Effect of the actual water-cement ratio on (b) Effect of the actual water-cement ratio on
compressive strength (SPE1). compressive strength (SPE2).
Fig. 8. Effect of the actual water-cement ratio on compressive strength.

Fig. 10 shows the effect of the effective water–cement ratio on
the compressive strength of the RAC. An approximately linear cor-
relation with R2 = 0.84 was observed between the effective water–
cement ratio and compressive strength of the RAC. The compres-
sive strength of the RAC decreased with the increase in effective
water–cement ratio, which was consistent with the behavior of
the common concrete.
4. Strength prediction model based on the GCA
4.1. Grey correlation analysis
The aim of the gray system theory is to provide theory, tech-
niques, notions, and ideas for the analyses of latent and intricate
systems, e.g., to establish a nonfunction model instead of regres-
sive analysis [26]. The GCA is an important part of the gray system
theory. In addition, the basic idea of the GCA is to determine
whether the correlation is high based on the similarity of the geo-
metric shape of the sequence curve.
The GCA could address the defects caused by the systematic
analysis using mathematical statistical methods by introducing
the correlation degree into the analysis. The GCA is equally appli-
cable to regular and irregular sample sizes. In addition, the calcu-
lation is small and quite convenient [43]. The similarity of the
geometric shapes of the sequence curves can be reflected by the
degree of gray correlation in GCA (calculated by Eq. (6)), which
means that the degree of gray correlation is the quantification of
the similarity of the geometric shape. Therefore, the quantification
result is not inconsistent with the qualitative analysis result in
GCA.

6
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

48
Actual w/c = 0.55 52 Actual w/c = 0.41
44 Actual w/c = 0.60 Actual w/c = 0.46
Actual w/c = 0.65 Actual w/c = 0.51
Compressive strength (MPa)

Compressive strength (MPa)

48
40
44
36

40
32

28 36

24 32

20 28
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (%) Replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (%)

(a) Effect of replacement level of RCA on (b) Effect of replacement level of RCA on
compressive strength (SPE1). compressive strength (SPE2).
Fig. 9. Effect of replacement level of RCA on compressive strength.

55 (4) Calculatiing the correlation coefficients:

N þ nM
50 cji ðkÞ ¼ ; n 2 ð0; 1Þ ð5Þ
Di ðkÞ þ nM
45
Compressive strength

y = -82.71x+74.15 where n is the distinguishing coefficient.

40 (5) Calculating the degree of gray correlation:
R2=0.84

35 1 Xm
cji ¼ c ðkÞ; ði ¼ 1; 2; :::; nÞ; ð6Þ
m k¼1 ji
30
where m is the number of samples and n is the number of related
25 factor sequences.

20
4.2. Abrams model for the RAC
15
0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.7 0 As expected, an approximately linear correlation existed
Effective water-cement between the effective water–cement ratio and compressive
strength of the RAC, as shown in Fig. 10. The hydration reaction
Fig. 10. Effect of the effective water-cement ratio on compressive strength.
in the matrix of the RAC is similar to that of the common concrete.
In addition, the compressive strength of the RAC was still deter-
X i is the factor behavioral sequence and Y j is the system charac- mined by the bond strength of the ITZ [4]. Therefore, the Abrams
teristic behavioral sequence. An operator D is employed to normal- water–cement ratio law for common concrete was considered to
ize the sequences X i and Y j , predict the compressive strengths of the RACs at various coarse
RCA contents of 0, 30, 50, and 70%. The Abrams water–cement ratio
X 0i ¼ X i D ¼ ðxi ð1Þd; xi ð2Þd; . . . ; xi ðmÞdÞ ð1Þ law can be expressed as

Y 0j ¼ Y j D ¼ ðyj ð1Þd; yj ð2Þd; . . . ; yj ðmÞdÞ ð2Þ f cu ¼ A=Bw=c ð7Þ

where xi ðkÞd ¼ xi ðkÞ=xi ð1Þ, xi (1) – 0, k = 1, 2, . . . , n;
yj ðkÞd ¼ yj ðkÞ=yj ð1Þ, yj (1) – 0, k = 1, 2, . . . , n.
The procedures used to obtain the degree of gray correlation
are:
(1) Calculating the initial image of each sequence: X 0i and Y 0j
ði ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; n; j ¼ 1; 2Þ.
(2) Calculating the difference sequence:





Di ðkÞ ¼
Y 0j ðkÞ  X 0i ðkÞ
; ðk ¼ 1; 2; ::: ; mÞ
(3) Calculatiing the maximum difference and minimum differ-
ence between the two poles:
M ¼ max max Di ðkÞ; N ¼ min min Di ðkÞ
i k
The strength data in which the slump values of the mixes were
smaller than 35 mm were excluded considering the practical appli-
cations. The validity of the Abrams model was analyzed, as shown
in Fig. 11. The Abrams model could reasonably well predict the
compressive strength of the RAC under a single different replace-
ment level. Nevertheless, as shown in Fig. 11(e), when four
replacement levels were considered, the goodness of fit obtained
using the Abrams model decreased, which was even inferior to that
ð3Þ obtained using the linear model shown in Fig. 10. The reduction in
forecasting accuracy indicates a limitation of the Abrams model.
The regression coefficients A and B had large variabilities at differ-
ent RCA contents, as shown in Fig. 12. A and B uniformly decreased
ð4Þ with the increase in RCA content. The tendency may explain the
i k decrease in compressive strength of the RAC.
7
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

45 37.5
137.71 105.23
y= y=
16.71w / c 35.0 12.90w / c

Compressive strength (MPa)

40
Compressive strength (MPa)

32.5
R2 = 0.90
35 30.0
R2 = 0.89
27.5
30
25.0
25
22.5

20 20.0
0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65
Effective water-cement ratio Effective water-cement ratio
(a) Replacement level of 0%. (b) Replacement level of 30 %.
40.0 42.5
85.78 64.80
y= y=
37.5 7.29 w / c 3.16 w / c
Compressive strength (MPa)

Compressive strength (MPa)

40.0
35.0
R2 = 0.95 R2 = 0.99
32.5 37.5

30.0
35.0
27.5

25.0 32.5
0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.6
Effective water-cement ratio Effective water-cement ratio
(c) Replacement level of 50%. (d) Replacement level of 70%.
45
105.16
y=
10.65w / c
40
Compressive strength (MPa)

R2 = 0.78

35

30

25

20
0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.7
Effective water-cement ratio
(e) Replacement levels of 0, 30, 50, and 70%.
Fig. 11. Abram model for the compressive strength of RAC.

4.3. Modified formula based on the GCA ing the compressive strength of the RAC could be obtained to
simplify the prediction of the compressive strength of the RAC
The compressive strength of the RAC after 28 days could be based on the GCA.
obtained. However, it is challenging to obtain an accurate infor- According to the above analysis, the regression coefficients A
mation about the status of pores and distribution of the hydration and B instead of the compressive strength of the RAC could be
in the matrix. Furthermore, the gray scale of information is rela- set as the system characteristic behavioral sequence Y j . The prop-
tively large for the target, which is the compressive strength of erties of the RCA were set as the factor sequences X i . X i could be
the RAC in this study. Therefore, the most important factor affect- expressed by

8
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

160 shapes between curves of properties and compressive strength

Regression coefficient A sequences. The RCA may be obtained from different sources and
Value of regression coefficients A and B

140 y = −1.04 x + 137 .28 treated by different methods, the parameters in prediction formula
Regression coefficient B of different RCA may different consequently.
120 y = −0.20 x + 17 .4386 Notably, a gap in prediction accuracy obtained using Eqs. (10)
and (11) existed. As expected, the formula fitting A and B with dual
100
R2=1.00 parameters provided a higher prediction accuracy than that of the
80 formula fitting A and B with a single parameter. As shown in
Fig. 13, R2 between the actual compressive strength and predicted
60 value calculated by Eq. (11) was larger (by 0.02) than that between
the actual compressive strength and predicted value calculated by
40 Eq. (10). As shown in Fig. 13, even though only a single parameter
R2=0.96 was used to fit the regression coefficient A, R2 of Eq. (11) was 0.92,
20 because the gray correlation degree of the clay content to the
regression coefficient A (0.9746) was considerably larger than that
0
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 of the crush index to the regression coefficient A (0.7725), approx-
Replacement level (%) imately 30%. However, the formula using more than two parame-
ters to fit A and B was not considered because the two
Fig. 12. Relationship between replacement level and regression coefficient A and B. parameters are sufficient for practicality. The above analyses show
that the use of dual parameters in the fitting of A and B can provide
a more accurate result than that obtained using a single parameter.
X i ¼ gp0 þ ð1  gÞp; ð8Þ
A parameter having a gray correlation degree 30% smaller than
where g is the replacement level of the RCA, p0 is the physical index another parameter’s gray correlation degree can be excluded to
of the RCA, and p is the physical index of the NCA. The regression simplify the formula. Thus, a modified Abrams model can be
coefficients A and B can be expressed by expressed by

A ¼ f ðX 1 ; X 2 ; :::; X i Þ; B ¼ f ðX 1 ; X 2 ; :::; X i Þ; n ¼ 0:5 ð9Þ 136:50CC þ 3:51

f cu ¼ ; CC  0:12=WA
ð35:13CC  4:16=WA  11:65Þw=c
The gray correlation degree of each factor to the compressive
strength of the RAC is presented in Table 4 according to Section 4.1. > 0:33; ð12Þ
The clay content and crushing index were significant factors affect-
ing the regression coefficient A. For the regression coefficient B, the 4.4. Verification of the modified formula
clay content and water absorption were significant factors. In addi-
tion, the effects of the densities and porosities on the regression Experimental results from the literature [37,44-46] were ana-
coefficients were similar, not significant. According to Eq. (9), lyzed to evaluate the validity of the modified Abrams model based
two types of prediction formulas with different numbers of param- on the GCA. The procedures used to predict the compressive
eters to fit the regression coefficients A and B could be obtained, strength of the RAC are listed below.
136:50CC þ 3:51
f cu ¼ ; ðCC > 0:31Þ; ð10Þ Calculating the properties of aggregates by Eq.(8);
ð26:06CC  8:09Þw=c
Calculating the effective water–cement ratio, and then attaining
the regression coefficients of the Abrams model;
121:16CC þ 255:53=CI  5:22
f cu ¼ ; CC  0:12=WA Calculating the gray correlation of each indicator of aggregates
ð35:13CC  4:16=WA  11:65Þw=c and regression coefficients of the Abrams model by Eqs. (1)–(6);
> 0:33; ð11Þ

where CC, CI, WA, and w/c are the clay content, crush index, water
absorption, and effective water–cement ratio, respectively. In Eq.
(10), a single physical property with the maximum degree of gray 45
correlation was used to fit the regression coefficients A and B, while Eqs. (10); R2=0.90
in Eq. (11), two physical properties with larger degrees of gray cor- Eqs. (11); R2=0.92
relation were used to fit the regression coefficients A and B. It 40 Eqs. (12); R2=0.92
should be noted that these parameters in the prediction formula
Predictive value (MPa)

were selected based on the degree of similarity of the geometric

35
Table 4
Results of grey correlation degree.
30
Property A B
Apparent density (g/cm3) 0.5686 0.6167
Bulk density (g/cm3) 0.5850 0.6106
25
Compact density (g/cm3) 0.5844 0.6102
Stacked porosity (%) 0.5819 0.6084
Compact porosity (%) 0.5868 0.6120
Crush index (%) 0.7725 0.7297 20
Flakiness particle content (%) 0.6555 0.6588 20 25 30 35 40 45
Clay content (%) 0.9746 0.8199
Actual value (MPa)
Mud content (%) 0.7434 0.7100
Water absorption (%) 0.5730 0.7906
Fig. 13. Comparison of the prediction results.

9
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

Table 5
Main experimental data in [37,44-46] and information about prediction.

Source Experimental data Property of aggregates Prediction formula Predicted value

Compressive strength (MPa) w/c RC (%) TC (%) -
Literature [37] 34.5 0.68 98.20 0.60 – y¼ 0:269RCþ9:921TCþ154:685
; 31.7
ð0:050RC5:821TCþ12:165Þw=c
48.3 0.51 98.20 0.60 – 49.4
RC  116:420TC > 243:300
61.6 0.44 98.20 0.60 – 59.3
80.5 0.34 98.20 0.60 – 77.0
35.0 0.68 96.05 0.75 – 33.5
47.6 0.51 96.05 0.75 – 51.6
60.0 0.44 96.05 0.75 – 61.6
78.2 0.34 96.05 0.75 – 79.3
29.2 0.68 99.0 0.20 – 27.8
42.0 0.51 99.0 0.20 – 44.6
53.7 0.44 99.0 0.20 – 54.1
71.2 0.34 99.0 0.20 – 71.4
27.7 0.68 0 0 – 28.3
42.9 0.51 0 0 – 43.3
53.2 0.44 0 0 – 51.5
65.4 0.34 0 0 – 66.1
Source Experimental data Property of aggregates Prediction formula Predicted value
Compressive strength (MPa) w/c RSG (%) APD (nm) –
Literature [44] 58.6 0.40 2.565 122.00 – y ¼ 315:205RSG700:629
w=c ;APD > 57:600
59.3
ð0:025APDþ1:440Þ
56.1 0.45 2.565 122.00 – 55.0
51.2 0.50 2.565 122.00 – 51.0
47.1 0.55 2.565 122.00 – 47.3
43.9 0.60 2.565 122.00 – 43.9
43.3 0.40 2.488 132.55 – 44.9
39.6 0.45 2.488 132.55 – 41.5
38.1 0.50 2.488 132.55 – 38.4
34.5 0.55 2.488 132.55 – 35.5
31.6 0.60 2.488 132.55 – 32.9
46.1 0.40 2.492 130.80 – 45.7
45.8 0.45 2.492 130.80 – 42.3
39.9 0.50 2.492 130.80 – 39.2
36.3 0.55 2.492 130.80 – 36.3
34.7 0.60 2.492 130.80 – 33.6
Source Experimental data Property of aggregates Prediction formula Predicted value
Compressive strength (MPa) w/c AD (kg/ m3) TPD (kg/m3) CI (%)
Literature [45] 23.03 0.66 2722.27 1570.23 10.07 y¼ 0:530AD0:528TPD533:675
; 20.4
ð11:964CIþ0:431AD1285:842Þw=c
28.27 0.49 2722.27 1570.23 10.07 29.0
AD þ 27:759CI > 2983:392
41.69 0.38 2722.27 1570.23 10.07 36.4
22.36 0.63 2665.06 1495.81 12.46 18.9
27.83 0.47 2665.06 1495.81 12.46 28.1
34.72 0.36 2665.06 1495.81 12.46 36.5
20.31 0.59 2607.89 1421.45 14.85 19.1
25.46 0.44 2607.89 1421.45 14.85 29.0
40.65 0.34 2607.89 1421.45 14.85 38.1
22.34 0.56 2550.71 1347.09 17.24 20.2
27.44 0.42 2550.71 1347.09 17.24 31.0
41.81 0.32 2550.71 1347.09 17.24 40.8
25.02 0.53 2493.50 1272.67 19.63 21.9
32.35 0.39 2493.50 1272.67 19.63 33.7
48.02 0.30 2493.50 1272.67 19.63 44.3
Source Experimental data Property of aggregates Prediction formula Predicted value
3
Compressive strength (MPa) w/c BD (kg/ m ) AD (kg/ m3) –
0:277BDþ0:532AD886:698
Literature [46] 28.99 0.50 1210.00 2450.00 – y¼ ; 27.3
ð0:363BDþ0:527AD842:968Þw=c
25.47 0.55 1210.00 2450.00 – 24.4
AD  0:689BD > 1599:560
24.01 0.60 1210.00 2450.00 – 21.9
21.89 0.65 1210.00 2450.00 – 19.6
21.23 0.70 1210.00 2450.00 – 17.6
35.12 0.50 1265.83 2487.89 – 29.3
26.64 0.55 1265.83 2487.89 – 26.3
24.41 0.60 1265.83 2487.89 – 23.6
22.47 0.65 1265.83 2487.89 – 21.2
20.95 0.70 1265.83 2487.89 – 19.0
34.14 0.50 1322.08 2526.06 – 31.5
26.33 0.55 1322.08 2526.06 – 28.3
29.46 0.60 1322.08 2526.06 – 25.5
24.69 0.65 1322.08 2526.06 – 22.9
23.78 0.70 1322.08 2526.06 – 20.6
36.78 0.50 1377.92 2563.94 – 33.7
32.66 0.55 1377.92 2563.94 – 30.4
29.67 0.60 1377.92 2563.94 – 27.4
27.06 0.65 1377.92 2563.94 – 24.7

10
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750

Table 5 (continued)

Source Experimental data Property of aggregates Prediction formula Predicted value

Compressive strength (MPa) w/c BD (kg/ m3) AD (kg/ m3) –
26.19 0.70 1377.92 2563.94 – 22.2
39.35 0.50 1434.17 2602.11 – 36.1
34.43 0.55 1434.17 2602.11 – 32.6
30.10 0.60 1434.17 2602.11 – 29.4
29.08 0.65 1434.17 2602.11 – 26.5
28.08 0.70 1434.17 2602.11 – 24.0
41.46 0.50 1490.00 2640.00 – 38.5
36.07 0.55 1490.00 2640.00 – 34.8
32.67 0.60 1490.00 2640.00 – 31.5
29.95 0.65 1490.00 2640.00 – 28.5
27.88 0.70 1490.00 2640.00 – 25.8

w/c, RC, TC, RSG, APD, AD, TPD, BD, and CI are effective water-cement ratio, rock/concrete, tile content, relative specific gravity, average pore dimension, apparent density, tight
packing density, bulk density, and crushing index respectively.

Fig. 14. Accuracy of the prediction model for compressive strength of RAC.

Selecting the significant factors affecting the regression coeffi-
cients as parameters and linear or nonlinear model to evaluate
the tendency of the regression coefficients.
The main experimental data in [37,44-46] and predicted com-
pressive values are shown in Table 5. The predicted values are very
closed to the actual values with a mean error smaller than 1.3 MPa.
As expected, Fig. 14 shows that the fitting coefficients are sufficient
to satisfy the requirement. Nevertheless, the final explicit equa-
tions of the different studies were different because the type of
density and strength index of the aggregates were measured based
on different standards, while the sizes of the specimens were not
uniform. In addition, considering the restriction of the quantity
of experimental groups in the literature [44], only a single param-
eter can be used in the fitting of the regression coefficients A and B.
The strength prediction was practicable for a particular batch of

11
L. Zhu, C. Zhao and J. Dai
RCA. In practice, more specimen groups including different
replacement levels varying over a wide range can be set to obtain
a forecasting formula with higher accuracy and applicability. It can
be seen from the procedure of the prediction model that different
factor sequences Xi in Eq. (8) are introduced based on various
replacement level of recycled aggregate. Therefore, at least three
different replacement levels with three different water–cement
ratios in each replacement level are needed to obtain the predic-
tion formula. The factor sequences Xi in this model are introduced
by different recycled aggregates content, which means that the
content of admixtures that have the effect on the compressive
strength of concrete such as different kinds of fibers should be con-
stant and aligned with that of the specimens used to determine the
prediction formula.
5. Conclusions
This study investigated the effects of the water–cement ratio
and replacement level on the compressive strength of the RAC.
The compressive strengths of six groups of cubic specimens with
different water–cement ratios and replacement levels of RCAs
were evaluated. Based on the GCA, a method to predict the com-
pressive strength of RAC was proposed and verified.
The mortar attached on the aggregate was a major difference
between the RCAs and NCAs. The properties of the RCAs were infe-
rior to those of the NCAs, particularly the crushing index and water
absorption. The failure pattern of the RAC was similar to that of the
common concrete. However, the fracture surfaces of partial RAC
specimens were truncated. The test results showed that the slump
of the fresh RAC increased with the effective water–cement ratio.
In addition, the slump of the fresh RAC with the high cement con-
tent was considerably higher. Furthermore, the effective water–ce-
ment ratio could more correctly explain the compressive strength
of the RAC than the actual water–cement ratio or replacement level
of the RCAs. The compressive strength decreased with the increase
in effective water–cement ratio.
The Abrams model can be applied to predict the compressive
strength of RAC at a single different replacement level of RCAs.
However, the variabilities in physical properties of RCAs intro-
duced by various replacement levels of RCAs led to high variabili-
ties of the regression coefficients A and B, which limited the
application of the Abrams model for the RAC. The GCA could effec-
tively reflect the variabilities of the regression coefficients of the
Abrams model. Consequently, the modified Abrams model can be
applied to predict the compressive strength of the RAC with a sat-
isfactory accuracy. In practice, more specimen groups including
different replacement levels varying over a wide range can be set
to obtain a more credible forecasting formula with higher accuracy
and applicability.
6. Data Availability Statement
The data used to support the findings of this study are available
from the corresponding author upon request.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Lihua Zhu: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodol-
ogy, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation,
Writing - review & editing. Cheng Zhao: Investigation, Formal
analysis, Software, Validation, Writing - review & editing. Jun
Dai: Data curation, Formal analysis, Validation, Visualization, Writ-
ing - original draft.
12
Construction and Building Materials 273 (2021) 121750
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this
work provided by the project of Shaanxi Province Key Research and
Development Program on Industry Innovation Chain (2018ZDCXL-
SF-03-03-01).
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