Impact of Recycled Concrete Aggregate Parent Concrete Strength on Mechanical Properties

Impact of Recycled Concrete Aggregate Parent Concrete Strength on Mechanical Properties of Recycled Aggregate Concrete
Presented By: Noah Thibodeaux, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Description: Construction and demolition activities account for a significant volume of waste in countries with developed infrastructure. Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is currently an underutilized sustainable construction material due to a lack of available qualification and design standards concerning its use in construction activities. Due to the high volume of concrete waste produced during demolition activities, developing design and qualification standards for RCA is essential in reducing concrete waste in landfills and reducing the impact of concrete production on aggregate quarries. While many of the strength and durability characteristics of various RCA design mixtures have been studied, there are few standards for qualifying and processing RCA for use in new building materials. Previous studies have shown that good quality concrete can be produced using RCA, however there is wide variability in performance among similar mixtures. One area still not well understood that may contribute to variability is the role of the RCA’s parent concrete strength in the end properties of new RAC. The goal of this study is to assess the early and long‐term mechanical property characteristics of various concrete mixtures containing lab‐made RCA of a known parent strength at different coarse aggregate replacement levels. The compressive strength data obtained from these RCA design mixtures will be compared against RCA design mixtures made with the same virgin aggregate, but with field obtained RCA of an unknown parent strength. The results of this study will yield a better understanding of the effect of RCA parent strength and replacement level on the strength of a concrete mixture containing RCA.

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Excellent work!!!