Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232

www.elsevier.com/locate/cemconcomp

Assessment of the surface permeation properties of

recycled aggregate concrete
Roumiana Zaharieva a, Francßois Buyle-Bodin b,*
, Fr
ed
eric Skoczylas c, Eric Wirquin d

a
Building Materials and Insulation Department, University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy of Sofia, Blvd Christo Smirnensky 1,
1421 Sofia, Bulgaria
b
LML, University of Sciences and Technologies of Lille, Department of G
enie Civil, Cit

e Scientifique, 59655 Villeneuve dÕAscq Cedex, France
c
LML, Ecole Centrale de Lille, Department of G
enie Civil, Cit

e Scientifique BP 48, 59651 Villeneuve dÕAscq Cedex, France
d
LAMH, University of Artois, Technoparc FUTURA, 62400 B
ethune Cedex, France
Received 21 February 2001; accepted 21 January 2002

Abstract
The water permeability, air permeability and surface permeability of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) are compared with those
of a control concrete made with natural aggregate. The study shows that the permeation properties of RAC depend on mix-design,
conditions of curing and drying of samples. Relationships between permeability and other physical characteristics of concrete such
as water absorption capacity and diffusivity are discussed. According to the criteria existing for ordinary concrete made with natural
aggregate, RAC could be classified as being of moderate quality rather than poor quality. The testing methodology shows that some
of the techniques used to measure the permeability of RAC need to be modified in order with the distinctive characteristics of this
material.

2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Building wastes; Recycled aggregates; Concrete; Permeability; Tests; Durability

1. Introduction must be high, even when using water-reducing ad-

mixtures.
The opportunity for using recycled building waste in (b) Selection of reliable parameters for the characterisa-
concrete construction has been a subject of intensive tion of RAC behaviour, and implementation of
research for many years [1]. Recycled aggregate is pri- adjusted methods for the assessment of these para-
marily used in road construction. The lack of data on meters. An approach at a microscopic level is inap-
the durability of concrete made with recycled aggregates propriate due to the heterogeneous nature of this
is hindering large-scale use of this economic and ‘‘envi- material [2]. The present approach focuses on the as-
ronmentally friendly’’ material in construction industry sessment of parameters at the macroscopic level,
[1,2]. The prediction of the RAC durability depends on representing the porous structure and the flow prop-
two problems: erties of the concrete.

(a) Assessment of the influence on durability induced by The high W =C ratio of RAC results in high values of
the features of recycled aggregate and the overall permeability and porosity. On the other hand, it is
quality of RAC. Recycled aggregate cannot be con- currently accepted that these characteristics provide a
sidered as inert. They are highly heterogeneous and reliable indication (at least on a qualitative level) of the
porous, as well as a high content of impurities. The durability or degradation of this material [3,4].
main drawback of RAC is the difficulty in obtaining Experiments have been conducted over a twenty-year
a good workability. The water–cement ratio (W =C) period [5] and have shown a consistent increase in per-
meability and porosity resulting from the degradation of
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-3-20-43-46-10; fax: +33-3-28-76- the material. Since the early 1930s, the rate of water flow
73-31. through concrete has been of particular interest to civil
E-mail address: francois.buyle-bodin@eudil.fr (F. Buyle-Bodin). engineers, for example in dams and water retaining

0958-9465/03/$ - see front matter
2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 5 8 - 9 4 6 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 1 0 - 0
224 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232

structures [6,7]; however, interest shifted in the 1960s • Because of the mortar coating, recycled aggregate has
when permeability and adsorption were used as indica- lower density and higher porosity than natural aggre-
tors of the quality of concrete [8,9]. Improved testing gate;
methods and new standards are currently available for • High water absorption is the most significant differ-
in-site and laboratory assessments of gas and water ence in the physical characteristics;
permeability of concrete and porous media [10–16]. As a • Recycled aggregate presents a cracked surface which
consequence water, air and surface permeability can be contributes to an increase in water and air flows into
considered as being among the most representative pa- the aggregates and between the cement paste and the
rameters in relation with RAC durability. Air diffusing aggregates;
into concrete can cause carbonation, and is thus com- • Despite satisfying mechanical characteristics (i.e., Los
monly assumed that an increase in air permeability of Angeles abrasion loss percentages ranged from 27%
the concrete is significant for numerous degradation to 35%) in terms of durability properties, such as
processes [17]. frost vulnerability (according to NF P 18-593) and
In order to assess the application of permeability sulphate soundness (according to ASTM C88), recy-
measurements in durability studies, correlation between cled aggregate is less durable [3];
air and surface permeability and flow parameters such • It should be noted that industrially produced recycled
as diffusivity, depth of carbonation, capillarity, and aggregates can contain various impurities which in-
water absorption must be studied. fluence hydraulic concrete production [1–3]. The
weight fraction of impurities for the recycled aggre-
gate used in the current study is about 10%. The
2. Experimental study RMN recycling plant separates the major part of
light impurities (wood, plastics and paper) through
2.1. Materials a floating line. For the heavy impurities, bricks
(7.1%) and asphalt (3.5%) are commonly observed.
Two fractions of recycled aggregates RA were used: Metal appears in very small quantities (0.008%), con-
fines (0–6 mm), called recycled sand, and coarse (6–20 firming the efficiency of the different processes for re-
mm). They are produced by Recyclage des Mat
eriaux du moval used by RMN;
Nord (RMN) located in northern France. • Because of the plaster content (0.6% calculated as
For the current study recycled aggregate of only one SO4 ), recycled aggregate could induce a sulphate re-
lot of production was used. However, since recycled action [3].
aggregate is of heterogeneous origin involving variation
of both composition and characteristics of concrete, its The natural sand (0–4 mm) was used for reference
use requires systematic control. For this reason the re- concrete and obtained from the river Seine. The coarse
cycled aggregate was preliminarily monitored for 12 natural aggregate (6–20 mm) was a siliceous crushed
months [18]. The recycled aggregate produced by RMN rock. The main characteristics of the aggregates are
can be characterised as follows: presented in Table 1. Portland cement (CEM I 42.5),
with 9% of C3 A, was used throughout. The superplas-
• The main part of the coarse fraction corresponds to ticiser Sikament 10 from SIKA Company was used as
the standard grading of concrete aggregates. Recy- water-reducing admixture.
cled sand is occasionally coarser. Its fineness modulus
is equal to 3:78
0:27; 2.2. Mix design
• The distinctive characteristic of recycled aggregate is
that mortar always adheres to original natural aggre- Three types of concrete were produced (Table 2):
gate. The weight fraction of old cement paste is
28%
4:5%. For the recycled sand, the fraction is rel- ii(i) Recycled aggregate concrete denoted RAC1, RAC2
atively higher than for the coarse; and RAC3;

Table 1
Characteristics of aggregates
Type of aggregates Fine RA Coarse RA Fine NA (sand) Coarse NA
Dry density (t=m3 ) 2:16
0:30 2:25
0:40 2.60 2:68
0:02
Porosity (%) – 12:5
1:5 – 0.3
Water absorption (%) 12:0
1:5 6:0
0:5 2.0 0.2
Frost vulnerability (%) – 26:7
6:9 5.6
Sulphate soundness (%) 25:7
1:0 26:4
0:5 – 3:8
0:5
 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232 225

Table 2
Mix proportions and properties of fresh concrete
Mix designation NAC1 NAC2 MAC RAC1 RAC2 RAC3
Cement (kg=m3 ) CEM I 42.5 400 400 400 400 400 400
Superplasticiser Sikament 10 (kg=m3 ) – 4 4 4 4 4
Water of pre-soaking (l) 0 0 0 66 38 0
Water content in the aggregates (l) 20 21 50 63 93 95
Added water (l) 170 147 147 129 129 147
Water in total (l) 190 171 200 260 262 245
Natural sanda (kg=m3 ) 523 685 787a – – –
Recycled sand (kg/m3 ) – – – 629 659 675
Recycled coarse aggregates (kg=m3 ) – – 824 878 846 865
Natural coarse aggregates (kg=m3 ) 1219 1140 – – – –
Superplasticiser Sikament 10 (kg=m3 ) – 4 4 4 4 4

(Total water content/cement) W/C 0.48 0.43 0.50 0.65 0.66 0.61
Slump (cm) 6.5 4.5 5.5 5.0 9.0 5.0
a
Plus coarse aggregates 2.5/8 mm for concrete MAC.

i(ii) Mixed aggregate concrete (MAC) made with natu- mixing water containing 1/3 of the Sikament 10 super-
ral sand and recycled coarse aggregates; plasticiser), then the rest of the superplasticiser. When
(iii) Normal concrete denoted NAC1 and NAC2 made needed, some additional water was added to obtain the
with ordinary aggregates, and used as reference required workability.
concrete.

The common parameters of the mixes were: a similar 2.3. Making, storage and conditioning of samples
aggregate mix density, an equal cement content, and an
equal workability (slump of about 5 cm). The choice Different sizes of samples are used: cylinders (11 cm
resulted from industrial and economic considerations. diameter and 22 cm height) and cylinders (16 cm di-
The coarse surface texture, angularity and high water ameter and 32 cm height), cubes (15  15  15 cm3 ) and
absorption of recycled aggregate have a considerable prisms (7  7  28 cm3 ).
influence on RAC workability. The water requirement is They were stored in an air-conditioned room at
increased, resulting in significantly high (total water)/ 20
3 C temperatures and 85
5% relative humidity
cement ratio (W =C) of RAC, regardless of the use of (R.H.). Four curing conditions are adopted:
water-reducing admixtures.
The total water content is considered for W =C ratio, (1) ‘‘Short’’: 1 day in the mould;
because it is impossible to separate the effective water (2) ‘‘Extended’’: 3 days in the mould;
content [19] (water absorbed by recycled aggregate and (3) ‘‘Favourable’’: 28 days in the mould;
mixing water) from the total water content in the fresh (4) ‘‘Water curing’’: 1 day in the mould followed by 27
concrete, especially in the case of recycled sand. In ad- days in water at 20 C.
dition, during hardening, part of the water absorbed by
the recycled aggregate contributes to the free water After the curing, the cylinders are stored in an air-
content. conditioned room at 20
3 C temperature and
For producing RAC, previous experience of the lab- 65
5% relative humidity. Depending on the tests, the
oratory is used [3,8]. Recycled aggregates are pre-soaked samples are made using a water-cooled diamond saw by
to improve the placing of fresh concrete. This quantity cutting disks from the 28-days-old cylinders with the
of water is calculated as the difference between the water following dimensions:
required for full saturation of aggregates and the water
actually absorbed by the aggregates at the time of • 11 cm diameter and 4 cm height for air permeability
mixing. For producing RAC3, the recycled aggregates and water absorption test;
were not pre-soaked because of their high natural water • 11 cm diameter and 7 cm height for diffusion test;
content (7.6% for fine and 5.1% for coarse), hence the • 6.3 cm diameter and 5 cm height for water permeabil-
reason why the W =C of RAC3 (W =C ¼ 0:61) is lower ity test.
than that of RAC1 (W =C ¼ 0:65) and RAC2 (W =C ¼
0:66). After the cutting off, the samples used for water
The components are placed into the pan mixer in the permeability test are conserved in water, while the other
following order: aggregates, pre-soaking water, cement, ones are stored in an air-conditioned room at 20
3 C
226 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232

and 65
5% R.H. Some samples are tested before and by a high-pressure pump (Gilson type) from calibrated
after drying in an oven at 80 C. capillary tubes (3 mm diameter). Such a device has the
In order to evaluate the influence of pre-treatment advantage that the injected flow can be measured with
temperature on permeation properties of concrete, high accuracy and, as soon as a steady state flow is
samples for air permeability test are dried in an oven at reached, it can be easily recorded. Furthermore, it is a
40 or 80 C. direct measurement of the permeability, under steady
For surface permeability and water absorption tests conditions, which is carried out and based on the entry
the samples are pre-treated in an oven at 40 C up to flow rate Q measurement. As the flow can be assumed to
reach a constant weight. be laminar and the material fully saturated with water,
At the time of the test, the concrete was approxi- DarcyÕs law is applied and leads to:
mately 3 months old for the water permeability and
lQ h
diffusivity tests and 6 months old for the other tests. K¼ ; ð1Þ
S ðPi  P0 Þ
Three samples are tested for each experimental series.
The average value of the measurements is presented. where l is the viscosity of water at the test temperature
(Pa s), Q is the flow rate (m3 =s), S is the cross-sectional
area of the specimen (m2 ), h is the high of the sample
3. Test set-up (m), Pi is the driving pressure (P ¼ 1:5
0:2 MPa), and
P0 is the atmospheric pressure.
3.1. Water permeability test
3.2. Air permeability test
The water permeability of concrete is determined by
using a triaxial permeability cell, accordingly to [20] – An air permeameter, developed in France by Th
enoz
Fig. 1. (1966) [21] and modified at the Laboratoire Mat
eriaux et
As soon as water saturation is achieved, the sample is Durabilit
e des Constructions (LMDC) – Toulouse, is
subjected to a water flow, under controlled pressure used – Fig. 2. The principle of the test is shown in Fig. 3.
conditions. Liquid is injected, at a constant pressure Pi , The vacuum created inside the chamber beneath the

Fig. 1. Water permeability – experimental device.

 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232 227

3.3. Surface permeability test

The method of Sch€ onlin-Hilsdorf – 1987 is chosen to

measure the surface permeability, because this method
is non-destructive and easy to perform [22]. The used
equipment is developed by Laboratoire Central des
Ponts et Chauss
ees (LCPC), France – Fig. 4. The prin-
ciple is the following: with a pump, a vacuum Pini ¼ 1:0
bar is created in the chamber of volume (V ). The vac-
uum induces a pressure gradient that forces airflow
through the concrete with a rate equal to q. The entry of
air increases the pressure in the chamber. The time to re-
Fig. 2. Air permeability – principle of the experiment.
establish the atmospheric pressure ðpa Þ in the chamber,
as shown in Fig. 4, is called the ‘‘response time’’ [23].
Therefore the response time is used as a permeability
criterion: the shorter is the time, the more permeable the
concrete. The pressure P in the chamber is measured
every minute during a period of 15 min.
The value of the pressure in the chamber changes
according to an exponential law [22]. The response time
T is calculated with the equation:

t
T ¼  ; ð3Þ
P
ln Pini

where P is the measured pressure, Pini is the vacuum

applied pressure, and t is the testing time (s).
The investigated depth of concrete depends on the
duration of pumping. Accordingly to the authors of the
equipment, a pumping of 30 s permits to characterise at
least 30 mm depth of concrete cover [23].

Fig. 3. Air permeability – experimental arrangement.

3.4. Water absorption capacity test

The test set-up presented in Fig. 5 evaluates water

sample induces a pressure gradient that forces airflow absorption capacity. The lower side of the sample is
through the concrete sample. The entry of air increases placed in water and periodically removed and weighed.
the pressure in the chamber and is measured by a glass Sorptivity (kg=m2 h0:5 ) is defined as the slope of the
tube filled with water. The time for the level in the tube curve ‘‘quantity of water absorbed by an unit of surface
to move from the starting level h0 (corresponding to versus square root of the elapsed time’’ from 1 to 24 h
pressure P0 ) to the final level h (corresponding to pres- [24].
sure P ) is measured. The coefficient of apparent air
permeability ka (m2 ) is calculated by the following
equation:
  .
lsl h0
ka ¼ ln ; ð2Þ
Sqgt h

where l is the viscosity of air at the test temperature (Pa

.
s), q is the density of water (kg=m3 ), g is the gravity
(m=s2 ), S is the cross-sectional area of the specimen (m2 ),
s is the cross-sectional area of glass tube (m2 ), l is the
length of the sample (m), t is the time for water to pass
from level h0 to h (s). Fig. 4. Surface permeability – experimental arrangement.
228 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232

transferred to the cement paste, thus correcting the loss

of water due to hydration drying.

4.1. Water permeability

According to the values of water permeability of

about 1020 m2 , RAC is weakly water permeable. In
Fig. 5. Water absorption – experimental arrangement. comparison with NAC, the water permeability of RAC
is two times higher. A similar result is obtained by Ujike
[2]. The curing conditions have little effect compared
3.5. Diffusivity test
with the low accuracy of the results – Table 4.
The permeability of RAC3 is higher than that of
The accelerated carbonation test is chosen to assess
RAC1, whereas RAC1 is characterised by a higher po-
the diffusivity of the concrete and is conducted in a cell
rosity resulting from a higher W =C ratio. This can be
filled with a mixture of 50% air and 50% CO2 with a
explained by the higher quantity of recycled sand in
relative humidity of 65%. The depth of carbonation is
RAC3. Other researchers [1,2,18] notice an increase of
measured at 7, 14 and 28 days by the phenolphthalein
the permeability with the proportion of recycled sand.
method. For each sample the average value of three
The average duration of test is about three weeks. So
measurements made on different place is presented.
the effect of self-healing masks the real influence of the
composition and of the curing conditions on the water
permeability [16,23]. The high fraction of old mortar
4. Results and discussion bonded to the original aggregate in the recycled aggre-
gate could amplify the self-healing effect for RAC.
Table 3 shows the basic characteristics of concrete However, it is possible that self-healing also decreases
according to the curing conditions in water and in air the water permeability of concrete in real conditions and
(‘‘water’’ and ‘‘short’’ curing). Compared to the NAC, can be considered as a potential parameter for its
RAC is characterised by a reduction in density, a higher durability assessment [23].
porosity and lower mechanical properties. The mixed The permeability of the conditioned (80 C) NAC
aggregate concrete (MAC) displays intermediate char- and RAC is between one and two orders (30 for RAC3
acteristics. and 10 for NAC2) of magnitude above that of naturally
It should be noted that unlike natural and mixed conditioned samples. This difference can be explained by
concrete, RAC is less affected by a short curing. This the change of the microstructure of the concrete: oven
fact could be explained by the role of water in the re- drying induces micro cracking of concrete, supplemen-
cycled sand: the water absorbed by the sand is gradually tary connections of previously disconnected or ‘‘dead-

Table 3
Basic physico-mechanical properties of concrete according to the curing conditions
Mix designation NAC1 NAC2 MAC RAC1 RAC2 RAC3
3
Density (kg/m ) Water curing 2345 2440 2370 2195 2205 2225
Short curing 2320 2380 2305 2160 2160 2190
Porosity (%) Water curing 11.2 7.2 12.5 22.6 22.0 19.7
Short curing 12.6 8.1 14.2 23.1 22.8 21.1
Compressive strength Water curing 42.6 54.8 43.3 31.5 35.4 39.4
(MPa)
Short curing 37.7 47.7 37.8 29.5 34.2 38.1

Table 4
Water permeability and porosity of concrete 28 days old
Concrete RAC1 RAC3 NAC2
Curing Water Short Water Water Water Water
Oven-drying No No No Drying at 80 C No Drying at 80 C
Permeability k  1020 (m2 ) 1:4
0:3 2:0
0:4 2:4
0:5 77
3 0:8
0:1 8:5
1
Porosity (%) 23.1 22.6 19.7 – 7.2 –
 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232 229

end’’ pores and mineralogical changes of some cement tended’’ and ‘‘favourable’’) smaller effects are noticed on
paste compounds such as ettringite [17,25–28]. natural and mixed concretes. For RAC an increase from
1 to 3 days of the curing leads to a 50% reduction in the
air permeability.
4.2. Air permeability
Results of tests on oven-dried samples confirm the
significant influence of the conditioning on the flow
The replacement of coarse natural aggregate by re-
properties of concrete. Whatever the concrete and cur-
cycled aggregate doubles the air permeability ka of the
ing conditions, the air permeability increases when the
concrete – Fig. 6. The replacement of all the natural
conditioning temperature increases – Fig. 7. The effect of
aggregates by recycled aggregates increases the air per-
oven drying at 40 C increases the air permeability by
meability by a factor of 11 for RAC2 and 22 for RAC3.
30–60%. This could be due to partial saturation of the
However, the value of the air permeability of RAC is
capillary pores. With oven drying at 80 C, the air per-
within the published range for normal concrete not ex-
meability of all the concretes increases by a factor of 4
posed to strong aggressive environment (ka ¼ 1018 –
for the RAC and 6 for the NAC. Obviously, the oven
1017 m2 ) [21,29].
drying modifies the microstructure and induces a sig-
The higher air permeability of RAC3 compared to
nificant increase of the air permeability, which has been
that of RAC2 (short curing conditions) probably results
established for NAC by other researchers [25,26].
from the lack of pre-soaking of the recycled aggregates:
the absorption of water from the cement paste by the
aggregates disturbs the process of hydration. Further 4.3. Surface permeability
evidence for this assumption results from the fact that,
for water curing conditions, the air permeability of RAC presents a more permeable surface (by a factor
RAC3 is lower than that of RAC2. of 10 to 25 times) than the reference concrete – Fig. 8.
The beneficial effect of water curing is also observed The prime reason is the higher W =C ratio of RAC; the
for the other concretes. For the extended curing (‘‘ex- water absorbed by recycled aggregate before and during
mixing is gradually transferred to the cement paste. The
surface evaporation of the excess water results in an
opened porosity in the concrete cover. Nevertheless,
based on the criteria proposed in other studies [23,30],
RAC could be characterised as being of moderate
quality rather than of poor quality. A relationship be-
tween surface permeability and W =C ratio may be de-
rived – Fig. 9:
b
T ¼ aðW =CÞ ; ð4Þ
where T is the response time (s), a and b are the exper-
imental parameters.
The response time T is well correlated with other
Fig. 6. Air permeability of concrete in accordance with the type of physical characteristics of concrete: density – Fig. 10 and
curing. porosity – Fig. 11. Therefore the surface permeability is

Fig. 7. Air permeability as a function of the pre-conditioning temperature.

230 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232

Fig. 8. Surface permeability of concrete (short curing; oven drying at

40 C).
Fig. 11. Relationship between surface permeability and porosity of
concrete.

.
.
.

. . . .

Fig. 9. Dependence of surface permeability on W/C ratio.

Fig. 12. Relationship between surface permeability and water sorp-

tivity of concrete.

Fig. 10. Relationship between surface permeability and density of

concrete.

Fig. 13. Relationship between surface permeability and carbonation of

concrete.
a good indicator of the effects of the replacement of
natural aggregates by recycled aggregates on concrete
properties. – The water sorptivity is significant when the response
It is difficult to relate the response time to the intrinsic time is low – Fig. 12.
permeability, but the surface permeability is well corre- – The carbonation study gives a similar conclusion: a
lated with other durability parameters such as sorptivity more permeable concrete presents a higher depth of
and diffusivity. carbonation – Fig. 13.
 R. Zaharieva et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 25 (2003) 223–232 231

their long-term performance is questionable. The re-

placement of natural aggregates by recycled aggregates
affects the quality of the concrete cover. The carbona-
tion of RAC is faster. This effect limits the use of recy-
cled aggregate in the production of reinforced concrete
elements. Nevertheless, based on the criteria proposed in
other studies, RAC can be characterised as being of
moderate quality rather than of poor quality. A possible
use of admixtures such as fly ash or silica fume could
decrease significantly porosity and permeability of
RAC.
The study shows that the permeability is more de-
Fig. 14. Surface permeability of concrete in accordance to the type of pendent than other parameters to mix-proportions and
curing. curing conditions.
Mixed aggregate concrete is intermediate between
The measurement of the surface permeability can be RAC and NAC. It can be concluded that the main
used to assess the ability of the concrete to resist to problems of durability are caused by the use of recycled
chemical attacks directed by the processes of absorption sand. Therefore, the use of fine recycled aggregate needs
and diffusion. to be restricted. Another way of increasing the dura-
Water curing creates a lower and finer porosity and bility of RAC is to use extended curing using a moist
thus decreases the surface permeability of concrete – environment.
Fig. 14. This positive effect is better observed with RAC
(RAC2 and RAC3) than with mixed (MAC) and natural
(NAC2) concrete.
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