CONCRETE: RECYCLED AGGREGATES

Potential Use of Recycled Coarse

Aggregates in Concrete
Subhash C. Yaragal , Vivek V B , M Padmini , M Jacob,
J Niveditha1, Anil Kumar Pillai2
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
The Ramco Cements Limited

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Abstract: Concrete continues to be the most consumed construction material in the world, only next to water. This fact is
due to its appealing properties of high compressive strength
and the property of mould-ability to any conceivable shape.
Due to rapid increase in construction activities, it is important to assess the amount of construction and demolition
waste being generated and analyse the practices needed to
handle this waste from the point of waste management and
disposal and also with regard to waste utilization in concrete
from the sustainability aspects. Construction and Demolition
(C&D) waste constitutes a major portion of total solid waste
production in the world, and most of it is used in landfills.
Research by concrete engineers has clearly suggested the
possibility of appropriately treating and reusing such waste
as aggregate once again in concrete, especially in applications such as bed concrete and in road beds for pavement i.e.
where works are of less importance as regards to the strength.
The use of such waste as recycled aggregate in concrete can
be useful for both environmental and economic aspects in the
construction industry. This study reports some interesting
results of the utilization of recycled coarse aggregates in
concrete from construction and demolished waste.
Due to high demand for construction activities in recent years in India and all over the world, the natural aggregates resources are remarkably waning day by day. On the
other hand, millions of tonnes of C&D residues are generated. Natural resources are dwindling day by day due to
their extensive use to cope with the increasing demand of
Civil Engineering Projects. Therefore, the use of C&D waste
as an alternative aggregates for new concrete production
gains importance to preserve natural resources and reducing the need for disposal, (S Manzi et al. 2013). The amount
of construction and demolition waste has increased enormously over the last decade in the entire world, (Sami W.
Tabsh et al 2009). Disposal of construction and demolition
waste has also emerged as a problem in India. Therefore,
recycling of waste concrete is beneficial and necessary for
the environmental preservation and effective utilization of
natural resources, (Ashraf M. Wagih et al. 2013). The use of
recycled coarse aggregate obtained from construction and
demolition waste in new concrete is a solution for effective
waste utilization, (M. Chakradhara Rao et al.2011).
The management of construction and demolition waste
is a major concern due to increased quantity of demolition
rubble, shortage of dumping sites, increase in cost of disposal and transportation and above all the concern about
environment degradation. Although a substantial portion of

construction materials could be substituted by re-processed

construction waste material, these options are not exercised
in developing countries due to lack of knowledge and insufficient regulatory frameworks resulting in waste getting piled
up causing disposal problems, (R.V.Silva et al. 2014). The increasing problems associated with construction and demolition waste, have led to a rethinking in developed countries
and many of these countries have started viewing this waste
as a resource and presently have fulfilled a part of their demand for raw material, (Shi-Cong Kou et al. 2012).
Many developed countries have been recycling C&D waste
and using it for construction works. In Scotland about 63% of
the C&D waste was recycled in 2000. The Government there is
working out specifications and code of practice for recycling
of C&D waste. U.K uses 49-52% of the C&D wastes and Australia reuses 54% of the wastes generated. Belgium has a
higher recycling rate (87%) and uses majority of C&D for recycling purposes. Japan is one of the pioneer countries that
recycle C&D waste. 85 million tonnes of C&D waste was
generated in 2000, of which 95% of concrete was crushed and
reused, (Akash Rao et al. 2007).
Using recycled concrete aggregates, will require
checking the quality of the aggregates, since they are collected from different sources, grades of concrete and age,
(A.K.Padmini et al. 2009). Concrete workability is more influenced by the shape, texture and grain size distribution of the
recycled aggregates than by their total amount, (S. Manzi et
al. 2013). The compressive strength primarily depends upon
adhered mortar, water absorption, Los Angeles abrasion, size
of aggregates, strength of parent concrete, age of curing and
ratio of replacement, interfacial transition zone, moisture state,
impurities present and controlled environmental condition
(Isabel Martnez-Lage et al. 2012). Absorption of RCA is one
of the major contributing factors in the strength of concrete,
(K C Panda and P K Bal 2013).
This study reports some important changes in properties
such as compression strength and absorption of recycled
aggregate concrete.
Materials
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) 43 grade was used and
its properties are tabulated in Table 1. Coarse aggregate was
crushed stone with a maximum size of 20 mm. Locally available natural river sand conforming to zone III (IS 383-1970
grading requirements) was used as fine aggregate. Physical
properties of fine and coarse aggregates are presented in
Tables 2 and 3 respectively. Potable quality water is used.

CONCRETE: RECYCLED AGGREGATES

Recycled aggregates were obtained from demolished concrete made in the laboratory with maximum size of 20 mm.
Table 4 shows the properties of recycled coarse aggregates and Table 5 gives mix proportions for OPC based
concrete. The sieve analysis results of natural and recycled
aggregates are shown in Table 6.
No.

Property

Result obtained

Requirements
as per IS code

Specific
gravity

3.12

Normal consistency

29%

Setting times,
minutes

Initial 65
Final 270

Not less than 30

Not more than
600

Fineness,
m2/Kg

330

Not less than

300

Soundness,
mm

2.50

Not more than

10 mm

Comp.
strength,Mpa

Sieve size (mm)

% Finer
NCA

RCA

20

100

100

16

68.5

71.5

12.5

32.1

27.7

10

0.7

0.5

(NCA-Natural Coarse Aggregates, RCA-Recycled Coarse Aggregates)

Table 6 Sieve analysis results of natural and recycled coarse aggregates

Sources and processing of RCA

3d

7d

28d

3d

7d

28d

34

51

61

22

33

43

Table 1 Physical properties of Ordinary Portland Cement

Property

Result

Specific gravity

2.62

Bulk density

Loose: 1463 Kg/m3

Compact: 1661 Kg/m3

Moisture content

Nil

In order to obtain correct assessment of strength of RCA

based concrete, it was thought necessary to produce construction and demolished waste from same quarry virgin
coarse aggregates. To achieve C & D waste, about 30 Nos. of
150 mm concrete cubes were cast and cured for a period
of 28 days. Later all these were compressed to failure, to
produce C & D waste.
A common procedure adopted to recover the coarse aggregates from C & D wastes is as follows. The C & D waste,
was fragmented manually further, and then 10 Kg of C & D
waste was placed in Los Angeles aggregates testing machine
with constant charge and the apparatus was run for 5 minutes.
Later this processed material is removed, and sieve
analysis was carried out. After sieve analysis, the obtained

Table 2 Properties of fine aggregates

Property

Result

Specific gravity

2.73

Bulk density

Loose: 1360 kg/m3

Compact: 1527 kg/m3

Moisture content

Nil

Table 3 Properties of coarse aggregates

Property

Results

Specific gravity

2.59

Water absorption

2.69%

Fineness modulus

6.96

Fig. 1 Compressive strength variation of OPC based concrete with RCA

(Mean data)

Table 4 Properties of recycled coarse aggregates

RCA

FA

CA

RCA

(%)

(kg)

(kg)

(kg)

(kg)

(kg)

Mix 1

400

600

1200

200

Mix 2

20

400

600

960

240

200

Mix 3

40

400

600

720

480

200

Mix 4

60

400

600

480

720

200

Mix 5

80

400

600

240

960

200

Mix 6

100

400

600

1200

200

Mix

(RCA-Recycled Coarse Aggregate, C-Cement, FA- Fine Aggregates, CACoarse Aggregates, W- Water)

Fig. 2 Compressive strength variation of OPC based concrete with RCA

(Full data)

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Table 5 Composition of various mixes for OPC blended concrete

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Sl. No.

CONCRETE: RECYCLED AGGREGATES

RCA (%)

No. of cubes

20

40

60

80

100

Total

18

Table 7 Test matrix for compression on 150 mm cubes

RCA (%)

Comp.
Strength
(N/mm2)

Control

40.44

43.11

20

Average
Comp.
Strength
(N/mm2)

Relative
Comp.
Strength
0.96

42.1

1.02

42.67

1.01

39.11

0.93

40.89

39.3

0.97

37.78

60

37.33

0.89
0.89

34.22

0.81
34.4

0.81

34.67
34.67

0.82

31.11

0.81

0.79

0.76

30.22

0.72
0.74

30.8

31.11

0.73

0.74

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Table 8 Compressive strength of cubes for OPC based concrete specimen

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Results and Discussion

Compressive Strength

0.80
33.5

32.00
100

0.89

0.82

33.77
80

0.93

0.90
37.5

37.33
34.22

1.00

0.90

37.78
40

Average
Relative
Comp.
Strength

(no RCA), 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% (all RCA) by weight
of the total natural coarse aggregates in concrete. So for each
mix 3 Nos. of 150 mm cubes concrete cubes as stipulated by
the code were cast. 18 Nos. of 150 mm cubes were cast and
28 days water cured before testing them for compressive
strengths. Experiments were aimed for achieving workable
slump between 50-75mm without using super plasticizers.
Standard slump cone apparatus is used for measuring the
value of slump. During the slump tests it was found that the
workability of fresh concrete made with 100% replacement
of RCA had slump value close to zero mm. With increase in
percentage of RCA in concrete the workability was getting
lower and lower. This was mainly due to the high absorption rate (2.69%) of the RCA as compared to the fresh coarse
aggregate (0.2%). Adding water to compensate for this absorption was not a good option as exact amount could not be
ascertained. So it was decided to soak the RCA for 24 hours
before use, so that it does not absorb water during the process
of mixing (M. Etxeberria et al. 2007), this method of soaking
helped to attain moderate workability of concrete without use of
plasticizers. The test matrix for compression test is shown
in Table 7.
The concrete samples with RCA are tested for 28 day
strengths and compared with the results of the strengths of
concrete made with virgin natural aggregates.

RCA (%)

Dry weight
(kg)

Wet weight
(kg)

Absorption
(%)

8.232

8.579

4.22

20

8.080

8.470

4.83

40

7.844

8.256

5.23

60

8.093

8.485

4.84

80

7.956

8.371

5.22

100

7.963

8.36

4.99

Table 8 presents the results of the compressive strength

tests for OPC based concrete specimen. It can be noticed
that the compressive strength of the cubes goes on decreasing
as the percentage of the RCA replacement gets increased
from 42.1 MPa for the control mix to 30.8 MPa in the fully
RCA replaced cubes. The drop in strength with increase in
RCA proportion is attributed to the bond strength becoming
weaker and weaker with RCA increase.
From Table 8, it is observed that there is a decrease in
strength from 7% to 27%, when 20% of virgin aggregates is
replaced by RCA, to the case when 100% of virgin aggregates
is replaced by RCA. These findings are in agreement with
other investigators. S.C.Kou et al. (2012) reports a fall in the
compressive strength. Sami W. Tabsh and Akmal S. Abdelfatah (2009) have reported that the decrease in strength is
by about 10-25%. Sumaiya Binte Huda and M. Shahria Alam
(2014) have got a decrease in 15-20% when aggregates
were replaced. Figure 1 shows the normalized compressive
strength variation, with increase in RCA. These findings are

Table 9 Water absorption results for OPC based concrete

RCA, was agitated and washed in a water tank to remove

surface crushed rock fines (dust) and sun dried before their
being used as RCA to cast specimen.
Experimental Methodology
The obtained aggregates are mixed in proportions of 0%

Fig. 3 Variation of percentage of absorption for OPC, with RCA

CONCRETE: RECYCLED AGGREGATES

similar to the results of Wai Hoe Kwan et. al (2012). Shi-Cong

Kou and Chi-Sun Poon (2013) have also reported a decline in
their compressive strength. K.K.Sagoe-Crentsil et al (2001)
have similar results with recycled aggregates replaced concrete. According to the studies by Isabel Martnez-Lage et al.
(2012) the estimated loss for concrete with 100% recycled
aggregate was 23%, with values ranging from 20% to 31%.
There is a reduction from normalized strength factor
of 1.00 to 0.73, when the natural aggregate was completely
replaced with recycled aggregate. Hisham Qasrawi (2014)
has also reported a reduction in concrete strength when replaced with RCA. K C Panda and P K Bal (2013) have reported
that compressive strength, flexural strength and split tensile
strength of concrete decreases with increase in the amount
of RCA.
Figure 2 shows the best fit line, showing the drop in
strength of concrete with increase in percentage of RCA.
The proposed equation can be used to predict the normalized strength of concrete as a function of RCA, with maximum error in prediction of less than 2.5%.
Normalized Strength = 0.9848-[0.0026Xrca(%)]

..(1)

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Water Absorption Test

Water absorption was used to determine the amount of
water absorbed under specified conditions that indicates the
degree of porosity of a material. The results of the water absorption tests are as shown in Table 9. The results indicate
that the water absorption was higher in all the cases when
there is a replacement by recycled aggregate. The percentage of absorption varied from 4.22% to 5.23%. It is clear that
the concrete with RCA has more absorption rate than that of
the control mix. This is mainly due to the high absorption of
the recycled aggregate compared to the natural aggregate
(Isabel Martnez-Lage et al 2012). The residual mortar attached to recycled concrete particles serves as a potential
conduit for moisture transport. Figure 3 shows water absorption in a graphical form. Hence we can say that the RAC
has more porosity when compared to the normal concrete.
Though this may not have a direct relation with the durability
of the concrete, it is affecting the strength of the concrete.
K.K.Sagoe-Crentsil et al (2001) have got absorption rates
ranging between 5-7%. The absorption rate of this investigation ranges between 4-6%.
Conclusions
(1) RCA exhibits similar behaviour like fresh aggregate
in concrete; therefore, RCA could be incorporated into
many concrete structures. However, RCA that has an
unknown origin should be tested to ensure that the RCA
was not from a structure that was suffering from alkali-silica reaction, alkali-aggregate reaction, sulphate attack, or some other harmful reaction. Such RCA could
affect adversely the strength and durability of the concrete and may be harmful.
(2) A maximum reduction of about 27% was noticed in compressive strength when the entire coarse natural aggregate was replaced with RCA. Moreover, environmental
benefits may be able to compensate for the negative
effect of loss in strength to some extent due to the use

of recycled coarse aggregate in concrete leading us to

sustainable development.
(3) Absorption for RCA concrete was more than that for control mix. This may affect the durability of the concrete.
(4) As the degree of processing gets higher the RA tends to
be more similar to NA. Hence RA after processing shows
better results than unprocessed RA.
References
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parent concrete on the properties of recycled aggregate concrete.
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Okba (2013), Recycled construction and demolition concrete waste
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