Influence of amount of recycled coarse aggregates and production process on properties of recycled aggregate concrete

in this study recycled coarse aggregates obtained by crushed concrete were used for concrete production. Four different recycled aggregate concretes were produced; made with 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% of recycled coarse aggregates, respectively. The mix proportions of the four concretes were designed in order to achieve the same compressive strengths. Recycled aggregates were used in wet condition, but not saturated, to control their fresh concrete properties, effective w/c ratio and lower strength variability. The necessity to produce recycled aggregate concrete with low-medium compressive strength was verified due to the requirement of the volume of cement. The influence of the order of materials used in concrete production (made with recycled aggregates) with respect to improving its splitting tensile strength was analysed. The lower modulus of elasticity of recycled coarse aggregate concretes with respect to conventional concretes was measured verifying the numeral models proposed by several researchers. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.