Performance of Recycled Aggregate Concrete in a Real Project

Though a large amount of research has been carried out on recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) during recent years, the application cases of RAC in real structures are still very few in China. This paper reports the application of RAC in a real project. Two beams made of RAC and commercial natural aggregate concrete (NAC) respectively were cast in-situ to carry out the tests. The two beams were subjected to the similar service loading, so that the performance of the RAC beam could be compared with that of the NAC one. Compressive strength, degree of density and uniformity were tested for both types of concrete at representative ages, and concrete strain of the two target beams was monitored regularly from the age from 1 d to 420 d. The results from laboratory tests and on-site monitoring have proved the feasibility and reliability of the application of RAC in real structures though RAC is generally inferior to NAC.