Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Mechanical and durability properties of sustainable self-compacting

concrete with recycled concrete aggregate and fly ash, slag and silica
fume
Zhanggen Guo a,⇑, Tao Jiang a, Jing Zhang a, Xiangkun Kong a, Chen Chen a,c, Dawn E. Lehman b
a
School of Civil Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211800, China
b
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-2700, USA
c
JiangSu HongJi energy saving new technology Co., LTD, China

h i g h l i g h t s

Sustainable SCC made with recycled concrete aggregate and fly ash, slag, silica fume.

Using 50% and 100% RCA declined the compressive and splitting tensile strength.

Using a combination of fly ash, slag, silica fume improved the mechanical properties.

Shrinkage of RA-SCC increases with an increase in RCA content.

SCC with high volumes of SCM had higher resistance to freezing and thawing.

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

Article history: This research aims to maximize the content of supplementary cementitious material (SCM) and recycled
Received 25 January 2019 concrete aggregate (RCA) in self-compacting concrete (SCC) by using a combination of fly ash, slag and
Received in revised form 17 September silica fume. A sustainable SCC was proposed by substantially substituting natural aggregates with RCA
2019
and cement with SCM. A total of 23 mixes, including binary, ternary and quaternary mixes were prepared.
Accepted 28 September 2019
Available online 9 October 2019
Binary mixes were prepared with fly ash and ternary mixes were prepared with fly ash and slag.
Quaternary mixes were blended with fly ash, slag, silica fume. The mechanical and durability properties
were studied. The effect of RCA and SCM was investigated as well as using a combination of fly ash, slag
Keywords:
Self-compacting concrete (SCC)
and/or silica fume. The test results indicate that the proposed combination of fly ash, slag and silica fume
Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) can compensate for the detrimental effect of RCA and significantly improve the mechanical and durability
Supplementary cementitious material properties of SCC with RCA, thus optimize the sustainability performance of SCC by minimizing cement
(SCM) and natural resources content.
Mechanical properties Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Durability

1. Introduction On the other hand, construction and demolition (C&D) wastes

have been increased rapidly in China over the past ten years. In
Nowadays, concrete is the most widely used construction mate- 2015, there were approximately 3.9 billion tons of C&D wastes gen-
rial in China. According to China concrete & Cement-based Prod- erated in China, resulting in serious environmental problem [3].
ucts Association, 5.51 billion tons of concrete were produced in Therefore, the sustainable development of concrete in terms of
2017, which consumed 5 billion tons of natural aggregates (i.e., reducing CO2 emissions and C&D wastes, and conservation of
limestone and river sand) and released 0.83 billion tons of CO2, non-renewable natural resources is an imperative of Chinese con-
resulting in serious environmental problems [1]. CO2 emitted from temporary concrete industry and has attracted widespread
the production and transportation of concrete is about 10% of the research interest around the world over the last several decades [4].
total man-made CO2 in the environment. The carbon footprint Recycling C&D wastes as recycled aggregate to produce RAC can
related to concrete production is therefore considerably high [2]. limit the consumption of non-renewable natural resources and
minimize waste and its associated releases, which will contribute
to both environmental and resource preservations. It is thus an
⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Civil Engineering, Nanjing Tech University,
30 Puzhu Road(S), Nanjing, 211800, China.
effective method to foster sustainable development of concrete
E-mail addresses: zhgguo@njtech.edu.cn, guoz5@uw.edu (Z. Guo). industry [5]. The mechanical and durability properties of RAC,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117115
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115

the structural performances of RAC elements and structures have sustainable and green SCC mixes is proposed in this paper by
been extensively studied around the world over the last twenty replacing natural aggregate with RCAs and OPC with SCMs. The
years [6–10]. Majority of previous studies indicated that the replacement of OPC with industrial waste materials and natural
adhered mortars on RCAs lead to a higher porosity and water aggregate with C&D wastes in concrete can not only effectively
absorption capacity as well as lower strength of the RAC, compared decrease the CO2 emissions and the carbon footprint of concrete
to conventional concrete. Recently, several enhancement methods, but also conserve non-renewable natural resources. In addition,
including mechanical grinding, heat grinding, pre-soaking in water, the waste disposal sites created by the demolition of old structures
carbonation treatment and pozzolan slurry, were proposed to and industrial by-products can be reduced as well as their associ-
improve the mechanical and durability properties of RCAs [5]. Nev- ated environmental impacts.
ertheless, a lot of programs have revealed that RAC is feasible for
application in practical engineering and some applications of RAC
in building structures have been successfully conducted in China 2. Research objective
[11,12].
In addition, substitution of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) This research aims to maximize the replacement level of SCMs
with SCMs in the production of concrete can decline carbon emis- and RCAs in SCC with the objective of achieving superior fresh state
sions, thus improve the green footprint in the concrete production and comparable mechanical properties, thus optimize the sustain-
[13]. Several SCMs, such as fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast ability aspect of SCC mixes by minimizing OPC and non-renewable
furnace slag (SL) and silica fume (SF) are waste materials from natural resources content. A total of 23 SCC mixes, including binary
industrial processes, which generally have hydraulic and/or poz- mixes (cement and FA), ternary mixes (cement and FA, SL) and
zolanic properties. A considerable number of programs have been quaternary mixes (cement and FA, SL, SF) were prepared by sub-
carried out to investigate the influence of replacing OPC with SCMs stantially replacing NCAs with RCAs and OPC with SCMs.
on the fresh, mechanical and durability properties of the concrete. The workability of SCC mixtures incorporating high volumes of
It was concluded that when SCMs were used at optimal levels, they RCAs and SCMs has been studied in a preceding paper [27]. The test
can significantly enhance the fresh and hardened state properties results indicated that RCAs slightly impaired the workability of RA-
of the concrete [14,15]. However, concrete incorporating various SCC mixes, due to the adhered mortars, which increased the fric-
SCMs generally have slower strength development compared to tion between aggregate particles and the harshness of SCC mixes.
non-SCM concrete, which is mainly attributed to the reason that In addition, the surface pores of RCAs absorbed a small amount
pozzolanic reaction is much slower than hydraulic reaction of cement paste, resulting in a decrease in the flowability of the
[3,14]. During the past two decades, SCMs have been successfully SCC mixes. Nevertheless, RA-SCC with high volumes of SCMs
and widely used in the concrete production around the world achieved good filling and passing ability, adequate cohesion and
[16–18]. The successful application of SCMs in concrete production maintained sufficient resistance to segregation as well as satisfied
can not only reduce the waste materials and their associated envi- the requirements prescribed by European SCC specification [28] for
ronmental impacts, but also minimize OPC and its associated CO2 workability.
releases, thus consist of environmental and economic benefits This paper investigated the mechanical and durability proper-
towards the sustainability goal of the concrete industry [14]. ties of RA-SCC with considerable content of RCAs (75%, 100%)
More recently, several studies have been conducted to study the and high volumes of SCMs (50% and 75%). The effects of RCAs
possibility of using RCAs to produce SCC. Pereira-de-Oliveira et al. replacement of NCAs and the replacement of OPC with SCMs with
[19] and Grdic et al. [20] investigated the influence of RCAs on the different proportions on the mechanical and durability characteris-
fresh and hardened state properties of SCC and concluded that the tics of SCC were assessed. In particular, the influence of using a
incorporation of RCAs slightly jeopardized the workability and combination of FA, SL and/or SF was studied in detail.
strength of the SCC mixes. It is viable to replace natural coarse
aggregates (NCAs) by RCAs to produce SCC. The effect of RCAs on
the compressive and shear strength of high-strength SCC was 3. Experimental program
assessed by Fakitsas et al. [21] and it was concluded that SCC mixes
made with various RCAs have superior compressive strength. 3.1. Material

Kebaïli et al. [22] found that substituting NCAs with RCAs impaired The materials used in this test were comprised of water, cement, sand, NCAs,
the self-compacting ability of SCC which is mainly attributed to the RCAs, SCMs and chemical admixture. The locally available natural river sand was
angular shape and rough surface texture of RCAs. Kou and Poon used as fine aggregate. The apparent density, water absorption in saturated surface
[23] investigated the fresh, hardened and durability properties of dry (SSD) condition and fineness modulus of river sand is 2610 kg/m3, 1.1% and
2.43, respectively, which were measured according to Chinese code (JGJ 52-2006)
SCC incorporating recycled coarse and fine aggregates (RFAs) and
[29]. Crushed limestone obtained from a local supplier was used as NCA, with a
concluded that both RCAs and RFAs can be successfully used to nominal maximum size of 20 mm. The RCAs were obtained from the tested con-
produce SCC. Gesoglu et al. [24] studied the failure mechanism crete components at our structural laboratory with an original compressive
and the drying shrinkage of SCC incorporating RCAs and/or RFAs strength of 30 MPa. Firstly, the tested concrete components were crushed by dril-
and found that the incorporation of RCAs and/or RFAs increased ling machine and the reinforcements were removed. The aggregates were then
crushed by a jaw crusher. At last, the RCAs were obtained by sieving with the max-
the drying shrinkage of SCC. Carro-Lópeza [25] studied the rheol- imum and minimum particle size of 20 mm and 5 mm, respectively. The gradation
ogy of SCC with RFAs and concluded that SCC mixes made with curves of natural and recycled coarse aggregate were determined and are displayed
RFAs have suitable passing and filling ability, superior compressive in Fig. 1, indicating RCAs exhibited a continuous granulometric curve and fulfilled
strength, with an RFA replacement ratio up to 20%. Khodair and the requirements prescribed by Chinese code (JGJ 52-2006) [29]. Furthermore,
the physical and mechanical properties of NCAs and RCAs were measured and are
Bommareddy [26] tested twenty SCC mixtures with various FA,
illustrated in Table 1. The FA, SL, SF and OPC are commercially available in China.
SL and RCAs and concluded that the compressive and tensile OPC with a 28d nominal compressive strength of 42.5 MPa and SCMs (FA, SL and
strength of recycled aggregate SCC (RA-SCC) mixes decreased with SF) were used as binding materials. The chemical analysis and physical properties
increasing RCA replacement ratio. In addition, partially replacing of cement and mineral admixtures were determined and are summarized in
cement with SCMs reduced the compressive strength, but Table 2.
To achieve high workability, high-range water-reducing admixture (HRWRA) is
enhanced the resistance to chloride permeability of SCC mixes. usually added into SCC mixtures. A polycarboxylate superplasticizer (SP) with a
These previous investigations have indicated that RCAs can be specific gravity between 1.010 and 1.120 reported by the manufacturer was used
successfully used to replace natural aggregate to produce SCC. A as the chemical admixture. The maximum suggested dosage of the polycarboxylate
 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115 3

to each mix to represent the RCA and SCM replacement level and SCM combination
type, which was coded A (B, C)-x-y-1(2,3) (x = RCA replacement ratio; y = SCM
replacement ratio, 1 = binary mixes, 2 = ternary mixes, 3 = quaternary mixes). A-
0-0 is the control specimen and did not contain either RCAs and SCMs. The addi-
tional amount of free water as shown in Table 3 was associated with the higher
water absorption ability of RCAs and was calculated according to the SSD condi-
tions. The total binder content is 520 kg/m3 and was kept constant. The superplas-
ticizer amount is increased as the RCA content increased. The rougher surface
texture and porosity of RCAs are mainly responsible for the increase in superplas-
ticizer demand of RA-SCC mixes.

3.3. Casting, curing and testing

A rotary drum mixer was used to mix the proportioned materials. The mixing
sequence included three steps: first, RCAs, natural coarse and fine aggregate, and
binder materials (SCMs and OPC) were added into the mixer and dry mixed for
about 2 min. Second, 90% of the water was placed into the mixer and mixed for
another 2 min. At last, superplasticizer and last 10% of the water was mixed and
then added into the mixtures and mixed for 3 min until a homogeneous mixture
was obtained. The procedure of mixing was repeated for all mixtures.
All concrete specimens were cast in steel molds without compaction and vibra-
tion. After casting, according to Chinese code (GB/T 50081-2002) [34], all concrete
specimens were kept in a room with a temperature of (20 ± 2) °C and a relative
Fig. 1. The fraction gradation curve of natural and recycled coarse aggregates. humidity of 95% for 24 h before being demolded and were then cured in a room
with standard condition (i.e., an average temperature of (20 ± 2) °C and a relative
humidity of 95%) until the day of testing.
Table 1 The mechanical properties (i.e., cube compressive strength, axial compressive
The properties of coarse aggregates. strength and splitting tensile strength) of hardened SCC mixes were determined
according to Chinese code-Standard for Test Method of Mechanical Properties on
Properties NCA RCA Ordinary Concrete [34]. For each SCC mixture, three 150 mm cubes were produced
Dry bulk density (kg/m3) 1465 1387 to determine cube compressive strength and three prisms with a dimension of
Surface dry specific density (kg/m3) 2698 2594 150 mm  150 mm  300 mm were prepared to measure axial compressive
Void fraction (%) 49.5 46.0 strength. Furthermore, three 150 mm cubes were used to determine the splitting
Water absorption (%) 0.5 4.9 tensile strength. All mechanical properties were carried out on hardened concrete
fragmentation coefficient 1.7 30 mixes at the age of 28 days.
Drying shrinkage tests were implemented according to Chinese code-Standard
for test methods of long-term performance and durability of ordinary Concrete
superplasticizer provided by its manufacturer is 1.43% of cement (by weight). The SP [35]. For each SCC specimen, three prisms with a dimension of
used in this test was determined based on Chinese code GB50119-2013 ‘‘Technical 75 mm  75 mm  285 mm were prepared to measure the drying shrinkage. After
specification for application of concrete admixture” [30] and similar workability. removing the concrete specimens from the standard curing chamber, the initial
length of each SCC specimen was determined. The prisms were then kept in an envi-
ronmental condition with a temperature of (20 ± 2) °C and a relative humidity of
3.2. Concrete mixtures (60 ± 5) % during the entire measurement program. The drying shrinkage measure-
ments were carried out at 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, 45, 60, 90 and 120 days. Two steel discs were
The mix design of RA-SCC mixes was carried out based on EFNARC (2005) [28] placed on each of the longitudinal faces of the prisms to measure the drying
and Chinese code JGJ/T 283-2012 ‘‘Technical specification for application of self- shrinkage.
compacting concrete” [31], Chinese code DG/TJ08-2018-2007 ‘‘Technical code on The 28-day freeze-thaw test of hardened SCC mixtures was carried out in accor-
the application recycled concrete” [32] as well as in conjunction with the method dance with Chinese code [35]. For each SCC specimen, three 100 mm cubes were
proposed by Rajhans et al. [33]. This research focuses on high replacement percent- tested for 25 and 50 cycles, respectively. In a single cycle, the SCC mixtures were
ages for RCAs and SCMs as well as replacing OPC by a combination of FA, SL and SF. frozen in air from 20 °C to 18 °C beyond 4 h and were then thawed in water from
SCC with different combinations of varying percentages of RCA and different binding 18 °C to 20 °C beyond 4 h. The changes in weight and cube compressive strength of
materials were prepared. The replacement ratio of RCA is 50 and 100% (by weight) as each SCC mixture were calculated after 25 and 50 freeze-thaw cycles and the aver-
well as the replacement level of SCM is 50 and 75% (by weight). A total of 23 mixes, age value was calculated too.
including control mixes, binary mixes (cement and FA), ternary mixes (cement and
FA, SL) and quaternary mixes (cement and FA, SL, SF) were developed. In addition, to
get a wide range of calcium oxide (silicon dioxide + aluminum oxide), SCC mixes 4. Results and discussions
with different contents of FA, SL and SF were produced. Binary mixes were devel-
oped by the addition of 50% or 75% FA. Ternary mixes were prepared by the addition 4.1. Mechanical properties
of the same content of FA and SL (i.e., 25% or 37.5%). Quaternary mixes were pro-
duced by the addition of FA, SL and SF, with the same proportion of FA, SL and SF.
The mix proportions and design parameters of all mixtures are summarized in
A summary of the hardened concrete test results, including
Table 3. The mixes were divided into three series, which were named A, B and C, cube compressive strength, tensile splitting strength and axial
based on their water to binder (w/b) ratio: 0.35, 0.40, 0.45. A designation was given compressive strength of all SCC mixes is given in Table 4.

Table 2
Physical properties and chemical analysis of OPC, fly ash, slag, silica fume.

Compounds Cement Fly ash Slag Silica fume

SiO2 20.73 52.79 31.76 95.48
Al2O3 4.78 49.47 14.82 0.40
Fe2O3 3.87 8.58 1.58 0.03
CaO 64.73 5.61 44.01 0.44
MgO 2.05 0.90 5.63 0.40
K2O 0.50 1.37 0.39 0.25
Na2O 0.10 0.66 0.34 0.32
SO3 2.47 0.62 1.47 0.42
Loss on ignition 1.10 3.51 2.27 0.90
specific surface area (m2/kg) 410 3000 520 20,000
Specific gravity (g/m3) 3.12 2.43 2.25 2.08
4 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115

Table 3
Concrete mixtures composition.

Mix series Mix code Binder Water NCA RCA Sand Superplasticizer Additional water
OPC FA SL SF
A 0-0 520 0 0 0 182 867 0 785 4.02 0
w/b = 0.35 50-0 520 0 0 0 182 433 416.4 785 4.16 24.7
50-50-1 260 260 0 0 182 433 416.4 785 5.72 24.7
50-50-2 260 130 130 0 182 433 416.4 785 5.43 24.7
50-50-3 260 104 104 52 182 433 416.4 785 6.76 24.7
50-75-1 130 390 0 0 182 433 416.4 785 5.94 24.7
50-75-2 130 195 195 0 182 433 416.4 785 4.68 24.7
50-75-3 130 156 156 78 182 433 416.4 785 6.80 24.7
100-0 520 0 0 0 182 0 832 785 4.72 32.9
100-50-1 260 260 0 0 182 0 832 785 4.78 32.9
100-50-2 260 130 130 0 182 0 832 785 5.67 32.9
100-50-3 260 104 104 52 182 0 832 785 6.86 32.9
100-75-1 130 390 0 0 182 0 832 785 7.40 32.9
100-75-2 130 195 195 0 182 0 832 785 7.28 32.9
100-75-3 130 156 156 78 182 0 832 785 7.57 32.9
B 100-0 455 0 0 0 182 0 832 785 3.19 32.9
w/b = 0.40 100-75-1 113.7 341.25 0 0 182 0 832 785 4.01 32.9
100-75-2 113.7 170.63 170.6 0 182 0 832 785 1.37 32.9
100-75-3 113.7 136.5 136.5 68.3 182 0 832 785 3.19 32.9
C 100-0 404 0 0 0 182 0 832 785 2.83 32.9
w/b = 0.45 100-75-1 101 303 0 0 182 0 832 785 3.20 32.9
100-75-2 101 151.5 151.5 0 182 0 832 785 1.21 32.9
100-75-3 101 121.2 121.2 60.6 182 0 832 785 3.63 32.9

Table 4
Cube and axial compressive strength, tensile splitting strength of all SCC mixes.

Mix No. fcu,28 (MPa) Mix No. fcu,28 (MPa) Mix No fcu,28 (MPa)
A-0-0 53.45 B-100-0 29.81 C-100-0 19.75
A-50-0 46.54 B-100-75-1 13.89 C-100-75-1 9.63
A-50-50-1 18.04 B-100-75-2 18.35 C-100-75-2 12.07
A-50-50-2 33.51 B-100-75-3 26.23 C-100-75-3 18.86
A-50-50-3 40.31 – – – –
A-50-75-1 7.17 – – – –
A-50-75-2 19.66 – – – –
A-50-75-3 35.54 – – – –

Mix No. fcu,28 (MPa) fts,28 (MPa) fcp,28 (MPa)

A-0-0 53.45 4.39 39.34
A-50-0 46.54 3.49 35.88
A-100-0 43.89 3.32 31.04
A-100-50-1 21.00 1.57 15.50
A-100-50-2 38.38 2.75 26.21
A-100-50-3 49.44 3.66 37.89
A-100-75-1 13.64 0.96 10.45
A-100-75-2 30.84 1.67 22.77
A-100-75-3 42.75 2.89 33.96

It is obvious from Table 4 that the addition of RCAs and SCMs influ- performance. Furthermore, as also can be seen from Fig. 2, the
enced the mechanical properties of SCC mixes. The hardened test reduction in cube compressive strength with the increase of w/b
results are presented along with their graphical figures and analy- ratio for non-SCM SCC mixes is less than that of SCC mixes made
sis. In addition, a comparative analysis of SCC prepared with vari- with SCMs, indicating that SCMs are more sensitive to the w/b
ous RCAs and SCMs is also presented. In particular, the influences ratio.
of RCA replacement level and using a combination of FA, SL and/ The influence of RCA replacement percentage on the cube com-
or SF were analyzed in detail. pressive strength of RA-SCC is shown in Fig. 3, where compressive
strength is plotted against RCA replacement ratio under different
4.1.1. Cube compressive strength SCM replacement levels. It is evident from Fig. 3 that the cube com-
The 28-day cube compressive strength shown in Table 4 is the pressive strength of non-SCM RA-SCC mixtures declined with the
average value of three SCC mixtures each time. Fig. 2 illustrates RCA replacement ratio increasing. The compressive strength of
the effect of w/b ratio on the cube compressive strength of SCC specimen A-50-0 (50% RCA) and A-100-0 (100% RCA) was 12.9%
specimens, where cube compressive strength is plotted against and 17.9% less than that of the control specimen A-0-0, respec-
w/b ratio under different RCA and SCM replacement level. It is tively, which is consistent with the conclusion presented by Etxe-
clearly evident from Fig. 2 that the 28-day cube compressive berria et al. [36] that a reduction of 20%~25% was obtained for RA-
strength of SCC mixtures decreased with an increase in the w/b SCC mixes. This is mainly due to the weaker interfacial zone and
ratio, which is in good agreement with the theoretically expected porosity as well as higher water absorption of RCAs, compared to
 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115 5

Fig. 2. Influence of w/b ratio on the cube compressive strength.

Fig. 4. Influence of SCM content on the cube compressive strength in series A.

74.5% less than that of control specimen A-100-0, respectively,

indicating that substantially replacing OPC with FA in SCC resulted
in considerably lower cube compressive strength. The same trend
was not observed for quaternary mixes. However, it should be
noted that quaternary RA-SCC mixes prepared with FA, SL, SF have
comparable compressive strength to control normal SCC. The cube
compressive strength of specimen A-100-50-3 (50% SCM) is 12.6%
higher than that of the control specimen A-100-0, which indicates
that replacing OPC by a combination of FA, SL and SF resulted in an
increase in the compressive strength. This is mainly attributed to
the pozzolanic reaction and synergy between these SCMs with dif-
ferent particle sizes.
The relationship between compressive strength and SCM com-
bination type is demonstrated in Fig. 5. It is evident from Fig. 5 that
at a given SCM replacement level, replacing the cement by a com-
bination of FA, SL and/or SF has consistently increased the com-
pressive strength of RA-SCC [38,39]. Using 50% or 75% FA
resulted in the lowest compressive strength in comparison with
other mixes for the cases of 50 and 75% RCA. In comparison with
Fig. 3. Effect of RCA replacement ratio on the cube compressive strength in series A. binary mixes, the cube compressive strength of ternary and

natural coarse aggregate. In addition, it is interesting to find that

the compressive strength of RA-SCC mixes with various SCMs
increased slightly with an increase in the RCA content as shown
in Fig. 3, which is in contrast with the results obtained for non-
SCM RA-SCC mixes. As mentioned above, more polycarboxy-
late superplasticizer was added into RA-SCC mixes with higher
RCA replacement ratio (Table 3), which is mainly responsible for
the increase of the cube compressive strength. This is consistent
with the conclusion obtained by Pereira et al. [37] that superplas-
ticizer can effectively improve the mechanical properties of RAC.
The influence of SCM content on the cube compressive strength
is depicted in Fig. 4, where compressive strength is plotted against
SCM content under different RCA replacement levels and different
SCM combination type. It is obvious from Fig. 4 that for binary and
ternary mixes, an increase of SCM replacement with OPC is associ-
ated with a reduction in cube compressive strength, which is
mainly attributed to the limited CaO of FA, resulting in the delayed
hydraulic reaction. In addition, the reduction in cube compressive
strength with the increase of SCM content for ternary mixes is less
than that of binary mixes with FA. Due to the hydraulic activity and
slag activity index of SL, the addition of SL increases the compres-
sive strength of concrete. The cube compressive strength of speci- Fig. 5. Relationship between SCM combination type and cube compressive
men A-100-50-1 (50% FA) and A-100-75-1 (75% FA) is 60.7% and strength.
6 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115

quaternary RA-SCC mixes increased by 83% to 174% and 123% to As shown in Eq. (5), RCA and FA, SL had a negative effect on the
496%, respectively. According to the test results, the conclusion compressive strength of SCC mixes, which is consistent with the
can be drawn that using a combination of FA, SL and/or SF can com- results obtained by Khodair and Bommareddy [26]. The cube com-
pensate for the detrimental effect of RCAs and increase the cube pressive strength of RA-SCC calculated by Eq. (5) and the comparison
compressive strength of RA-SCC mixes. This is mainly attributed with test results are illustrated in Fig. 6. It is apparent that there is a
to several reasons: firstly, several previous programs have con- good agreement between predictions and test results. The relation-
cluded that SL has hydraulic activity with some activators (cement) ship between test results and calculations is almost linear.
in addition to certain pozzolanic activity [40]. Secondly, SF with a
high reactivity can react with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) to form 4.1.2. Axial compressive strength
calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) and densified silica fume with a The 28-day axial compressive strength of RA-SCC mixes in ser-
fine particle can fill the surface pores of recycled concrete (RC) ies A (w/b = 0.35) with various SCMs are summarized in Table 4. As
and the voids between aggregate particles, thus enhance the com- expected, the axial compressive strength of RA-SCC reduced with
pactness of the structure, resulting in an increase in the compres- the increase of RCA replacement ratio as shown in Table 4. Com-
sive strength of RA-SCC mixes. At last, the remarkable synergistic pared to control normal SCC, the axial compressive strength of A-
effect between FA, SL and SF can lead to a higher packing density 50-0 (50% RCA) and A-100-0 (100% RCA) declined by 8.8% and
and denser microstructure, thus contributing to the increase of 20.1%, respectively. The relationship between axial compressive
the compressive strength of RA-SCC. Celik et al. [41] also obtained strength and SCM content is illustrated in Fig. 7. The axial compres-
a similar synergistic effect in SCC mixture made with blended sive strength of ternary and binary RA-SCC decreased as SCM con-
cement containing FA and limestone powder. tent increases as shown in Fig. 7. Compared to specimen A-100-0,
According to the test results, quaternary RA-SCC mixes with the reduction in axial compressive strength for binary and ternary
100% RCA and 75% SCM and a w/b of 0.35 achieved a 28-day cube mixes ranges from 50.1% to 197%, 15.6% to 26.6%, respectively. In
compressive strength over 35 MPa, which is acceptable for certain addition, it should be noted that quaternary mixes achieved com-
engineering applications (i.e., conventional concrete structures parable axial compressive strength to replicate control SCC mixes
(beams, columns, slabs)). Thus, it can be concluded that a less envi- as shown in Fig. 7, which is similar to the cube compressive
ronmentally burdensome product can be developed with more strength. The quaternary mixes A-100-50-3 and A-100-75-3 show
cement replacement by using a combination of FA, SL and SF and axial compressive strength increases of 9.4–22.1% in relation to
more natural aggregate replacement by RCA. replicate non-SCM specimen A-100-0, indicating that using a com-
It is well known that the compressive strength of concrete is bination of FA, SL and SF compensated for the adverse effect of
highly related to water to cement (W/C) ratio and generally can RCAs and significantly increased the axial compressive strength
be calculated as follows [42]: of RA-SCC. The reason is the same as discussed in the case of cube
ðW=CÞ compressive strength.
f c ¼ k1 =k2 ð1Þ
The axial compressive strength to cube compressive strength
In an earlier work, the authors proposed a similar formula to ratio (f cp =f cu ) of RA-SCC was calculated and is displayed in Table 5.
calculate the compressive strength of concrete made with recycled The f cp =f cu of RA-SCC mixes ranges from 0.68 to 0.79 as shown in
coarse and fine aggregate, as a function of W/C ratio [43]. Table 5 and there is no distinct difference between normal SCC
ðW=CÞ and RA-SCC mixes with various SCMs, which reveals that RCAs
f cu ¼ k1 =k2  ð1  k3  W RCA  RRCA  k4  W RFA  RRFA Þ ð2Þ
and SCMs have nearly no influence on thef cp =f cu .
where WRCA and WRFA is the water absorption of recycled coarse and
fine aggregate, respectively. RRCA and RRFA is the replacement per- 4.1.3. Splitting tensile strength
centage of recycled coarse and fine aggregate, respectively. k1, k2, The 28-day splitting tensile strength of RA-SCC mixes in series A
k3 and k4 are empirical constants and were obtained by nonlinear (w/b = 0.35) with various SCMs is presented in Table 4. Each pre-
regression using test results. sented value is the average of three measurements. The splitting
Khodair and Bommareddy [26] proposed a linear regression tensile strength decreased with an increase in the RCA replacement
model to predict the compressive strength of SCC made with RCAs ratio as shown in Table 4. The splitting tensile strength of A-50-0
and high volume of FA, and SL.
f cu ¼ A0 þ A1  RRCA þ A2  FA þ A3  SL þ A4  Age ð3Þ
where A0, A1, A2, A3 and A4 are empirical constants.
Based on Eqs. (2) and (3), an empirical formula was proposed in
this paper to predict the cube compressive strength (f cu ) of SCC
incorporating RCAs and FA, SL, SF.
k1
f cu;28 ¼ w=b
 ðA0 þ A1  RRCA þ A2  FA þ A3  SL þ A4  SFÞ ð4Þ
k2
where RRCA , FA, SL, SF is the RCA, fly ash, slag, silica fume replace-
ment ratio, respectively. A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, k1 and k2 are constants
and were obtained by nonlinear regression analysis using test
results, which is 53.45, 0.02, 0.59, 0.11, 0.57, 17.15, 3772.9
respectively. The correlation coefficient R2 = 0.93. Therefore, the
compressive strength of RA-SCC with SCMs can be calculated as
follows:
17:15
f cu;28 ¼  ð53:45  0:02  RRCA  0:59  FA  0:11  SL
3772:9w=b Fig. 6. Comparison of predicted 28-day cube compressive strength and test results
þ 0:57  SFÞ ð5Þ Note: A-50-50, A-50-75, A/B/C-100-75 including binary, ternary and quaternary
mixes.
 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115 7

Fig. 8. Relationship between splitting tensile strength and SCM replacement ratio.
Fig. 7. Effect of SCM content on the axial compressive strength in series A.

(50% RCA) and A-100-0 (100% RCA) is less than that of normal SCC compressive strength of RA-SCC mixtures are similar to those of
A-0-0 by 20.5% and 24.4%, respectively. The effect of SCM content normal SCC. Chinese code-Design of concrete structures [44] pro-
on the splitting tensile strength is demonstrated in Fig. 8. The split- posed an equation to calculate the relationship between cube com-
ting tensile strength of ternary and binary mixes reduced with the pressive strength and corresponding axial compressive strength of
SCM content increasing as shown in Fig. 8. Ternary and binary conventional concrete:
mixes show strength reduction of 17.2–89% in relation to replicate f cp ¼ 0:76f cm ð6Þ
non-SCM SCC A-100-0. Additionally, it should be noted that a con-
siderable increase in splitting tensile strength is observed for qua- As shown in Table 5, the ratio of measured axial compressive
ternary mixes, indicating that using a combination of FA, SL and SF strength to corresponding cube compressive strength of all RA-
significantly enhance the splitting tensile strength of RA-SCC. The SCC ranges from 0.68 to 0.79, with an average of 0.745, which is just
splitting tensile strength of quaternary mixes A-100-50-3 is 0.015 less than the value of conventional concrete (0.76). Therefore,
increased by 10.2%, when compared to non-SCM mixes A-100-0. the formula proposed to calculate relationship between cube com-
Over all, the effect of RCAs and SCMs on the splitting tensile pressive strength and corresponding axial compressive strength for
strength is similar to that on the cube compressive strength and normal SCC can still be used for RA-SCC, which is in accordance with
axial compressive strength. The reason is the same as discussed the conclusion obtained by Lotfy and Al-Fayez [45].
in the case of cube compressive strength. For conventional concrete, Chinese code [44] and ACI Commit-
The splitting tensile strength to cube compressive strength ratio tee 318 [46] proposed a similar equation to calculate the relation-
(f ts =f cu ) of RA-SCC mixtures was calculated and summarized in ship between splitting tensile strength and corresponding cube
Table 5. As can be seen from Table 5, the f ts =f cu of RA-SCC ranges compressive strength, respectively:
from 0.054 to 0.076. Additionally, the ratios of RA-SCC are less than f ts;150 ¼ 0:19f cu
3=4
ð7Þ
that of control normal SCC, which indicates that although the addi-
tion of RCAs in SCC reduced both cube compressive and splitting 1=2
f ts ¼ 0:49f c ð8Þ
tensile strength, the decrease in splitting tensile strength was more
pronounced than that in cube compressive strength, which is where f ts , f c is the splitting tensile strength and compressive
mainly due to the weak bond between mortar and aggregate and strength of cylinder specimen.
lower quality and porosity of RCAs. The similar result was obtained The formulas suggested by Chinese code [44] and ACI Commit-
in the research conducted by Khodair and Bommareddy [26]. tee 318 [46] both indicated that the splitting tensile strength of
concrete mixes is highly related to compressive strength and can
4.1.4. Relationship between different strength indexes be calculated as follows:
As mentioned above, the ratios of axial compressive strength to b
f ts ¼ af cu ð9Þ
cube compressive strength and splitting tensile strength to cube

Table 5
The comparison between calculated data and measured value.

Mix No. Measured value f ts Eq. (10) Error Measured value f cp predicted f cp Error f ts =f cu f cp =f cu
f ts
A-0-0 4.39 4.14 5.69% 39.34 40.62 3.3% 0.082 0.74
A-50-0 3.49 3.48 0.3% 35.88 35.37 1.4% 0.075 0.77
A-100-0 3.32 3.23 2.7% 31.04 33.36 7.5% 0.076 0.71
A-100-50-1 1.57 1.28 18.5% 15.50 15.96 3.0% 0.075 0.74
A-100-50-2 2.75 2.73 0.7% 26.21 29.17 11.3% 0.072 0.68
A-100-50-3 3.66 3.75 2.4% 37.89 37.57 0.8% 0.074 0.77
A-100-75-1 0.96 0.74 22.9% 10.45 10.37 0.8% 0.070 0.77
A-100-75-2 1.67 2.07 19.3% 22.77 23.44 2.9% 0.054 0.74
A-100-75-3 2.89 3.13 8.3% 33.96 32.49 4.3% 0.068 0.79
8 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115

The relationship between splitting tensile strength and cube was investigated in this paper. Table 6 summarizes the percent
compressive strength of RA-SCC mixtures is proposed in this paper. change in weight and cube compressive strength of all RA-SCC
Eq. (9) was used to fit the relationship between splitting tensile mixtures after 25 and 50 freeze-thaw cycles.
strength and cube compressive strength for RA-SCC mixtures. As shown in Table 6, the compressive strength of all RA-SCC
The coefficient a and b were considered as the main variables mixes decreased with the increased number of freeze-thaw cycles.
and obtained by nonlinear regression analysis using test results In addition, the replacement of natural aggregate to RCAs resulted
obtained in this test is 0.028 and 1.26, respectively. The corre- in a lower residual compressive strength compared to control nor-
sponding correlation coefficient R2 = 0.96. Thus, the relationship mal specimen, which is attributed to the higher water absorption
between splitting tensile strength and cube compressive strength ability and porosity of RCAs compared to natural aggregate. RCAs
of RA-SCC mixtures with various SCMs can be expressed as with additional mortars usually absorb a lot of water and the
follows: absorbed water develops internal stress upon freezing. When the
internal stress exceeds the tensile strength of aggregate, micro-
1:26
f ts ¼ 0:028f cu ð10Þ cracks will be formed inside the concrete. In addition, the compres-
sive strength of RA-SCC binary mixes declined slightly with the
The predictions using Eq. (10) and the comparison with test
SCM content increasing. After 50 cycles, the highest compressive
results obtained in this test and other research [26,47–49] are
strength loss was found for RA-SCC binary mixes incorporating
demonstrated in Fig. 9. There is a good agreement between predic-
75% FA and 100% RCA, namely 29.14%, which did not satisfy the
tions and experimental results, as shown in Fig. 9. However, there
requirement prescribed by Chinese code [35] for strength loss
are limited studies to investigate the sustainable recycled concrete
(i.e., 25%). Nevertheless, the strength of ternary and quaternary
with FA, SL and SF, resulting in limited data. This model will be
mixes with 100% RCA reduced by 18.86% and 12.32% after 50
checked and improved by test results obtained from open litera-
cycles, respectively, which both fulfill the requirement and less
tures in the future.
than that of binary mixes, indicating that RA-SCC made with FA,
SL and/or SF exhibited favorable durability performance and met
4.2. Durability performances the requirement prescribed by Chinese code [35]. At last, it is inter-
esting to find that quaternary RA-SCC mixes have almost the same
4.2.1. Resistance to freezing and thawing strength loss as the control normal SCC. The reason is the same as
Extensive previous research [50] has indicated that the resis- discussed in the case of compressive strength that densified silica
tance to freezing and thawing of RAC is inferior to that of normal fume with a fine particle filled the surface pores and the voids
concrete. The freeze-thaw resistance in terms of percent change between aggregate particles and the synergetic effect between
in weight and cube compressive strength of each RA-SCC mixture these different particle size SCMs was created, resulting in a com-
pact structure and high strength. Similar test results have been
obtained in other studies in which cement was replaced by a com-
bination of SF and FA [49] and FS and SL [51].
As can be seen from Table 6, the weight of normal concrete
decreased after 25 cycles, whilst the weight of RA-SCC mixes
increased slightly. The increase in weight of RA-SCC mixes is prob-
ably due to the reason that at early ages, RCAs absorbed significant
amounts of water. The weight of the absorbed water is higher than
that of spalled concrete, resulting in an increase in the concrete
weight. However, after 50 freeze-thaw cycles, the weight of normal
and RA-SCC mixtures both reduced, which is mainly attributed to
the reason that RCAs were saturated with water, no more water
could be absorbed. The weight of the absorbed water is less than
that of spalled concrete. In addition, the weight loss of RA-SCC
mixes with SCMs is less than that of non-SCM mixes. Theoretically,
the weight loss is related to local surface ‘‘pop-outs”. The pop-out
effect usually results from the expansion of saturated aggregate
near the surface and the consequent disintegration of the surround-
ing cement paste [52]. At last, as shown in Table 6, the weight loss of
all RA-SCC mixes, which is usually less than 0.5%, is almost
neglected and meets the requirement of the maximum acceptable
Fig. 9. Comparison between calculated and measured values of splitting tensile limit of weight loss (i.e., 5%) specified by Chinese code [35].
strength.

Table 6
Loss of weight and strength after 25 and 50 freezing and thawing cycles.

Mixture notation Weight loss Strength loss

25 cycles 50 cycles 25 cycles 50 cycles
m1 (g) m2 (g) Dm25 m1 (g) m2 (g) Dm50 f 1 (MPa) f 2 (MPa) Df 25 f 1 (MPa) f 2 (MPa) Df 50
A-0-0 2295.1 2291.7 0.15% 2314.1 2306.9 0.31% 53.34 51.28 3.86% 63.47 56.17 11.5%
A-100-0 2305.7 2316.9 0.49% 2312.1 2305.3 0.29% 52.97 50.34 4.97% 63.17 57.95 8.26%
A-100-50-1 2187.5 2203.7 0.74% 2123.9 2133.8 0.47% 27.44 24.20 11.81% 26.80 20.40 23.88%
A-100-75-1 2085.0 2089.3 0.21% 1980.1 1980.1 0% 19.87 17.39 12.48% 24.26 17.79 29.14%
A-100-75-2 2220.7 2220.1 0.03% 2173.7 2170.2 0.16% 37.78 35.06 7.20% 40.73 33.05 18.86%
A-100-75-3 2211.0 2209.5 0.07% 2160.0 2156.4 0.17% 49.84 46.96 5.78% 61.84 54.22 12.32%
 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115 9

4.2.2. Drying shrinkage

The drying shrinkage results, which were measured at 1, 3, 7,
14, 28, 45, 60, 90, 120 days, for all RA-SCC mixtures, are presented
in Fig. 10. Each presented value is the average of three measure-
ments. As can be seen from Fig. 10, the drying shrinkage of all
RA-SCC mixtures increased with time and majority of shrinkage
(i.e., 75% of maximum shrinkage) took place during the first
28 days. The shrinkage then slowed down considerably. After
90 days, the drying shrinkage was almost constant and tends to
be stable.
The effect of RCA content on the drying shrinkage of RA-SCC
mixes is demonstrated in Fig. 11, where drying shrinkage is plotted
against RCA replacement ratio at different days. There is a system-
atic increase in drying shrinkage as the RCA replacement percent-
age increases as shown in Fig. 11. The total shrinkage strain
measured at 120 days using prisms made from RA-SCC with 50%,
100% RCA is 2.94% and 12.13% higher than that of the control spec-
imen. This is mainly attributed to the higher porosity and water
absorption of RCAs generated by the additional old cement paste
bonded to the recycled aggregate. Most of the previous studies Fig. 12. Effect of SCM content on drying shrinkage.

have obtained the same results that the addition of RCAs increased
the drying shrinkage of recycled aggregate concrete [26,43].
The effect of SCM content on the drying shrinkage of SCC mixes
is plotted in Fig. 12, where drying shrinkage is plotted against SCM
replacement ratio at different days and different SCM combination
type. It is obvious that the drying shrinkage of RA-SCC mixes pre-
pared with SCMs (binary, ternary and quaternary mixes) is less
than that of mixtures made with high content Portland cement.
The influence of FA, SL and SF on the drying shrinkage of normal
concrete and recycled aggregate concrete has been studied by sev-
eral investigations [2,7,26]. These previous programs indicated
that replacing OPC with SCMs (FA, SL and SF) reduced the creep
and shrinkage of concrete mixes, which is mainly attributed to
the reason that the adoption of pozzolanic materials decreased
the content of cement used, resulting in a reduction in the heat
of hydration. The result obtained in this test is consistent with
the previous research [53].
In addition, Khodair and Bommareddy [26] found that replacing
cement with 50% FA has the most considerable influence in reduc-
ing the drying shrinkage strain. The same trend of free shrinkage
was also obtained in this test for the specimens containing 50%
FA. The magnitude of 120-day drying shrinkage of RA-SCC mixes
Fig. 10. The drying shrinkage of RA-SCC mixes. with 50% SCM is the least as shown in Fig. 12. The reduction in
the drying shrinkage of RA-SCC mixes with 50% SCM ranges from
1.4% to 13.5%, compared to control non-SCM specimen.

5. Conclusions

This paper presents an experimental research to study the use

of RCAs and SCMs as replacement of natural aggregate and cement
in the production of SCC. A total of 23 SCC mixes incorporating
RCAs (50% and 100%) and high volumes of SCMs (50%, 75%) were
prepared. The mechanical and durability properties of RA-SCC
were investigated. The test results and analysis stated in this
research allow the following conclusions to be drawn:

1. The cube and axial compressive strength, splitting tensile

strength of RA-SCC mixes reduced as the RCA replacement ratio
increase, indicating the adverse effect of the addition of RCAs.
2. The use of 50% and 75% FA decreased the compressive strength
of RA-SCC. Nevertheless, quaternary RA-SCC with 20% FA, 20%
SL, 10% SF or 30% FA, 30% SL, 15% SF achieved comparable
strength compared to normal SCC, indicating that using a com-
bination of FA, SL and SF compensated for the adverse effect of
Fig. 11. Effect of RCA content on drying shrinkage.
RCAs and improve the mechanical properties of RA-SCC mixes.
10 Z. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117115

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