Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

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

Review

Recycled aggregate from C&D waste & its use in concrete – A

breakthrough towards sustainability in construction sector: A review
Monalisa Behera ⇑, S.K. Bhattacharyya, A.K. Minocha, R. Deoliya, S. Maiti
CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee 247667, India

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

 Usage of RAC will possibly help the C&D Waste

global community towards Crushers Durability performance

sustainable development.
 The strength and durability
performance of RAC are
comprehensively documented.
 ITZ of RAC is porous, presence of
cracks and fissures are commonly Recycled aggregate concrete -
Review
found due to the residual mortar. Crushing process Microstructure
 The deficiencies observed in RAC can
be significantly overcome by the
incorporation of mineral additives to
the concrete.
Recycled aggregate Hardened properties

Recycled aggregate concrete Workability

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

Article history: The issues of sustainability are of prime concerns these days as we use large amount of natural resources
Received 24 March 2014 for producing materials such as concrete. Depletion of natural resources is one of such sustainability
Received in revised form 27 June 2014 issues which we need to address in an efficient manner. The recent trend in construction industry is to
Accepted 2 July 2014
use the alternative source of construction materials which can substitute the use of virgin materials in
order to reduce environmental impact in terms of energy consumption, pollution, waste disposal and
global warming. On the other hand, the waste generated from the demolition of old structure and con-
Keywords:
struction activity is a matter of concern all over the world. Thus, recycling and reuse of these wastes
Construction and demolition waste
Recycled aggregate
may reduce the usage of natural resources and it can also serve towards the demand of environment.
Recycled aggregate concrete The present paper gives a brief status of recycled aggregate concrete made out of recycled aggregate,
Strength summarizes and critically analyses some of the most important research findings over the past few years
Durability regarding the material aspects. It also attempts to elucidate the approaches for the better performances,
Interfacial transition zone identifies the gaps in the existing knowledge and underlines the reasons why this promising technology
Microstructure has not become widely accepted by the construction industry. The practical problems with application of
recycled aggregate in concrete are also discussed.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 1332283317, +91 9045379496.

E-mail address: monalisabehera7@gmail.com (M. Behera).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.07.003
0950-0618/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
502 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
1.1. Essence of recycling of Construction & Demolition (C&D) wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
2. Recycled aggregate (RA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
2.1. Recycling process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
2.2. Physical and mechanical properties of recycled aggregate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
3. Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
3.1. Properties of recycled aggregate concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
3.1.1. Green state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
3.1.2. Hardened properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
3.1.2.1. Compressive strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
3.1.2.2. Split tensile strength and flexural strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
3.1.2.3. Drying shrinkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
3.1.2.4. Creep and modulus of elasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
3.1.2.5. Bond strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
3.2. Microstructure of recycled aggregate concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
3.3. Techniques for improving properties of recycled aggregate concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
3.3.1. Incorporation of mineral admixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
3.3.2. Impregnation of RA in cement slurry or other mineral admixture solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
3.3.3. Modifying mixing process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
3.4. Durability properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
3.4.1. Techniques for improving durability properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
4. Summary and conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
5. Future aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

1. Introduction developing new concrete. This paper includes a brief information

Concrete is a composite material, basically consisting of
different constituents such as binding materials, water, aggregates
and admixtures. Among these ingredients, aggregate plays a very
crucial role in concrete which occupy the largest volume of about
60–75% of total concrete volume [1]. It is indispensable for any
construction work. The versatility of concrete as a construction
material for large construction work lies in its high strength, low
maintenance cost, resistant to weathering effect, economical over
other construction materials and its excellent structural
performance.
Moreover, the extensive increase in the rate of industrialization
and urbanization due to the parallel growth in economy and pop-
ulation has made the use of concrete as the most non-sustainable
material as it is consuming the maximum amount of natural
resources. Concrete has a very important role in the economy
development of a country due to its large volume utilization. It
uses approximately 20 billion tons of raw materials (coarse aggre-
gate) each year. According to Mehta and Meryman [2], the current
usage of concrete is approximately 20 billion metric tons per
annum. However, from the forecast of the research group of Fredo-
nia, it was mentioned that the global consumption of aggregate
used in construction may exceed 26 billion tons by 2012 [3]. With
this increase in rate of consumption, it is expected that the demand
of aggregates will be doubled in the next two to three decades [4].
Amongst different countries, India has occupied a place in the top
ten users of the leading countries to use natural resources.
Thus, the concrete industry consumes a large amount of natural
resources that cause substantial environmental, energy and eco-
nomic losses as it exploits 50% raw material, 40% of total energy,
as well as generates 50% of total waste [5]. So, minimizing the envi-
ronmental impact, energy consumption and the increase in CO2
intensity for the concrete to be used for construction have become
more evident for construction industry which can lead towards
sustainable development.
The present review paper accounts for the state-of the art report
on the usage of recycled aggregate (RA) as construction material in
regarding the properties of RA and its effects on different proper-
ties of fresh and hardened concrete (mechanical, durability etc.).
It also emphasizes on different processing techniques of RA.
1.1. Essence of recycling of Construction & Demolition (C&D) wastes
In recent years, the large investment in construction sector and
the increasing requirement of habitats in urban areas due to the
growth in economy and the high growth rate in population have
created a large demand of conventional building materials. Again,
the depletion of good quality aggregates along with the increase
in aggregate requirement makes the availability of raw materials
scarcer. In addition to this, the materials tend to become more
expensive due to the increase in transportation costs accompanied
with the increasing haulage in some regions. As a result, there is an
increase in the cost of construction materials. Further, rapid rate of
modernization and industrialization have also led to the genera-
tion of sheer amounts of debris from construction and demolition
(C&D) wastes. Major volume of these wastes emerges from demo-
lition of old construction work. New construction works also gen-
erates waste almost to a smaller volume from the left over concrete
of ready mix concrete plants, precast concrete plants, shot crete
operations and the tested samples in compliance to laboratory
applications. These C&D wastes are the largest waste streams of
solid waste in many countries all over the world. In addition to
these, large amounts of industrial and mining by-products such
as fly ash, slag, and limestone powder are being generated annu-
ally. These large quanta of debris or by-product materials from
industry are simply used as back filling material for low laying
areas or illegally dumping material for vacant lands and their
quantity has been increasing with time. All these have led to an
increasing dearth of landfill areas; useful lands becoming dumping
yard, increase in the price of land in recent years and highly
increased dumping costs at landfill sites. So, handling of such deb-
ris has become one of the important issues in developed countries
and it has become a global concern that requires sustainable solu-
tion. Moreover, the global concern about the reduction of carbon
 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
Fig. 1. Benefits of recycling of C&D waste.
Fig. 2. Schematic representation of recycling technique.
footprint is also playing a crucial role during the extraction process
of RA than virgin aggregate. Because, extracting and crushing of
virgin aggregate cause use of substantial amount of energy and
more emission of CO2 [6]. Apart from these major problems
mentioned above, there are some other minor issues, promoting
the recycling of C&D waste [7–15].
Therefore, the use of RA in construction work as structural
grade concrete may yield as a means of economic viability and
environmental consciousness along with bulk reduction of waste
materials. The benefits of recycling of C&D waste have been shown
schematically in Figs. 1 and 2. In the recent past, extensive research
works have been carried out to evaluate different properties of
concrete by using RA. Previous studies have indicated that RA
could successfully be used as a substitute of natural aggregates
to produce concrete, meeting required performance of normal
structural concrete [16,17]. Now a days recycled aggregate
concrete (RAC) is being used for both structural and non-structural
applications. It has been established that its use is viable both com-
mercially and technically.
2. Recycled aggregate (RA)
RAs are extracted through the processing of the debris
generated from the demolition of concrete structures and other
construction debris such as waste concrete, rejected precast con-
crete members, broken masonry, concrete road beds and asphalt
pavement, leftover concrete from ready mix concrete plant and
the waste generated from different laboratories [18]. RAs may be
of different types such as brick aggregate, glass aggregates, asphalt
and bitumen aggregate, concrete aggregates, tiles and marbles
recycled from flooring, finishes and ceramic products. Aggregate
typically processed by the crushing of parent or old concrete such
as demolished waste concrete is regarded as recycled concrete
aggregate (RCA). Generally RCAs are mixed with bricks, tiles, met-
als and other miscellaneous such as glass, wood, paper, plastic and
other debris [18,19]. The concept of use of RA from demolished
503
concrete structures was introduced into practice dates back to
the time of world war II in Europe [18,21]. Earlier it had been used
as unbound sub base materials for pavement. Now-a-days it is
being used for construction purposes also.
2.1. Recycling process
Recycling is the act of processing the used material for further
use in developing new value added products. The integral
technique behind recycling process includes the breaking of
demolished concrete to produce smaller size fragments by subject-
ing to a series of performances such as removal of contaminants
(reinforcement, wood, plastic etc.), different stages of screening,
and sorting. Higher quality aggregates can also be processed in
steps with time and effort involved in stock piling, crushing, pre-
sizing, sorting (pre-crushing and post crushing), screening and
contaminant elimination depending upon the level of contamina-
tion and the application for which the recycled materials will be
used [18].
Demolition debris can be crushed by several crushers such as
jaw crusher, hammer mill, impact crusher, and cone crusher or
manually by hammer [22]. Different crushers have different
consequences on the physical and mechanical properties of RAs
depending upon the effectiveness of crushing processes [23] and
consequently it affects the concrete performance also. Jaw crushers
are mainly used for primary crushing as it can crush oversized con-
crete pieces into comparable size for secondary crushing. Impact
crushers are preferred for secondary crushing as they produce a
better quality of aggregate with less adhered mortar content
[24]. Desirable grading for RAs can be achieved by crushing
through primary crushers successively through secondary crushers
[15]. The selection of crushers at various stages depends on several
factors such as maximum feed size, quality of output, desirable
particle size and shape of the various fractions, and amount of fines
produced. These days with the help of mobile crushing plants and
some portable equipment, recycling facility can be established on
site for immediate use of product and also the freight distance
can be reduced [2]. Along with the above mentioned dry processes,
wet processing technique for RA provides better quality aggregate
with less organic and inorganic impurity. However, in some devel-
oped countries like Japan, China, USA and Netherland, the
researchers have developed some advanced processing techniques
to minimize the adverse effect of RA. By adopting these methods,
high quality aggregates can be produced by removing the adhered
mortar without losing the integrity of original coarse aggregate.
Some of these techniques are nitric acid dissolution method [25],
presoaking treatment [26], freeze–thaw method [27], thermal
expansion method [28], microwave heating method [29], heating
and rubbing method [30–32], mechanical grinding method [33]
and ultrasonic treatment method [34] etc.
2.2. Physical and mechanical properties of recycled aggregate
RA, derived from C&D waste generally consists of natural coarse
aggregate and adhered mortar. The old clinging mortar mostly
contains fine aggregate, hydrated and unhydrated cement parti-
cles. The quality of RA mostly depends on the methods of recycling
process to be adopted but the properties of RA mainly depend on
the water/cement (w/c) ratio of the original concrete from which
it is obtained [35,36]. The most distinguished feature of RA is its
old adhered mortar which makes it porous due to high mortar con-
tent, inhomogeneous and less dense [8,34,37–40]. The volume of
the residual mortar in RA varies from 25% to 60% according to
the size of aggregate [35]. Some researchers have reported in their
studies that around 20% of cement paste is found attached to the
surface of RA for particle size range from 20 to 30 mm [41,42].
504 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
Whereas Poon et al. [38] reported that RA extracted from crushing
of waste concrete consists of 65–70% natural coarse and fine aggre-
gate and 35–30% of cement paste by volume.
The amount of adhered mortar signifies strength characteristics
of original concrete, effectiveness of crushing procedure, method of
crushing and the particle size of RA. There is always a reciprocal
relationship between this adhered mortar and the quality of RA.
The presence of attached mortar is greatly responsible for its
anomalously high water absorption capacity [39,43–47]. The por-
ous nature of RA is responsible for the higher water absorption
capacity of RA as these pores allow to absorb more water [48].
The water absorption capacity of RA is 2–3 times higher than nat-
ural aggregate and it may range up to 12% for coarse and fine RA
[34,37,38,49]. Poon et al. [38] in their study mentioned that it
may vary up to 15%. The water absorption capacity of RA is more
for smaller particle size; since greater is the specific surface area
so greater is the mortar content [35]. Water absorption capacity
of RA varies depending on the amount of cement paste attached
to the surface of the aggregate particles [50]. According to the rec-
ommendation by some international committee, coarse RA having
water absorption capacity more than 7% and fine aggregate more
than 13% is not desirable to be used in concrete [51]. The water
absorption capacity of RA also reflects the water absorption of
RAC. The density and specific gravity of the attached mortar is
quite less and accounts for the low specific gravity, bulk density
and SSD density of RA [19,41,44–46,52,53,47]. Limbachiya et al.
[54], from the experimental investigation concluded that the rela-
tive density of RA or surface saturated density (SSD) is approxi-
mately 7–9% lower than that of natural aggregate. The porosity
of RA also determines its specific gravity consequently the density
[15].
RA is generally poorly graded due to its poor particle size
distribution [47]. It may be too coarse or too fine as a result of
the processing and crushing through various types of crushers.
The quantity of finer fractions in RA is more. It has an old interfa-
cial transition zone (ITZ) due to the presence of the old adhered
mortar or cement paste surrounding it. This is weak in nature
because of the presence of minute pores in the clinging mortar,
continuous cracks and fissures developed inside the aggregate in
consequence to the crushing process [55,56]. These basic features
of RA are presented schematically in a pictorial format in Fig. 3.
It has rough surface texture and irregular shape, mostly rounded
in nature due to the wrapped mortar. RA is having inferior
mechanical properties such as low crushing strength, low impact
resistance and low abrasion resistance than natural aggregate
[19,53,54,57]. It may be contaminated with organic impurity such
as textiles, fabrics, polymeric materials [15] and inorganic impuri-
ties due to the internal chemical reaction such as alkali aggregate
Fig. 3. Pictorial representation of physical characteristics of recycled aggregate.
reaction, high alumina cement, silt, clay, sulphate, chloride and
increased quantity of dust particles [19,58,59]. Although the poten-
tial for the use of RA has now been acknowledged, there are some
factors which hinder the large use of RA in concrete as it affects the
performance of concrete in terms of workability, strength and
durability. Thus, some salient properties of RA such as particle size
distribution, shape and size of aggregate, porosity, absorption,
toughness, hardness, strength and the impurity level, are necessar-
ily to be assessed before its use in concrete. So, the above men-
tioned inferior qualities and the weaknesses present in RA shown
in Fig. 3 hinders the use of RA in concrete and the lack of proper
specification also discourages the recycling technique.
3. Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC)
The use of RA in concrete has generated interest in civil
engineering construction regarding sustainable development as it
is the means of achieving more environment friendly concrete.
Concrete made up of RA in terms of fine or coarse or both, pro-
cessed from C&D waste either as a partial or 100% replacement
of conventional natural aggregates is known as RAC. RAC mainly
consists of three phases such as the aggregate phase, mortar phase
and the interfacial transition zones between the coarse aggregate
and the matrix and the adhered mortar as another matrix. Fig. 4a
and b shows the schematic diagrams of natural aggregate concrete
and RAC respectively, showing the basic difference of matrix in
between two concrete. These three phases are responsible for lim-
iting the properties of RAC. So it needs more attention regarding
the performance of concrete when RA is to be used in concrete.
In practice, RA is obtained from different types of construction
and demolished structure as a result the properties of these RA
obtained from various sources also vary from structure to struc-
ture. Since the early 1980s, European countries have endeavored
to use RAs for new concrete structures. A diversified study on
RAC demonstrates the feasibility of the use of RA in concrete and
it can be an alternative source to natural aggregate that has been
explained later.
3.1. Properties of recycled aggregate concrete
3.1.1. Green state
Fresh properties of concrete such as workability and wet
density are greatly affected by a number of factors such as w/c
ratio; the characteristics of the constituent materials of concrete,
especially the aggregate i.e. type of aggregate, maximum size of
aggregate, water absorption of aggregate etc. Workability of con-
crete also gets affected by other physical parameters of aggregate
 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
(a)
Fig. 4. Difference between matrixes of (a) natural aggregate concrete and (b) recycle aggregate concrete.
such as surface texture, aggregate size, and shape of aggregate. In
case of RAC, the slump loss is more than natural aggregate concrete
and it is difficult to meet the required workability [60–63]. Being
porous in nature, it requires more water than conventional con-
crete to obtain the same workability [64]. Tabsh and Abdelfatah
[65] in their study concluded that RAC demands 10% extra water
to achieve the same slump when RA is used instead of natural
aggregate. Even if keeping w/c ratio constant; aggregate type and
the quantity of RCA can also affect the slump of RAC mixes [66].
Moreover, concrete made from RA, generally has a harsher and
granular texture due to the adhered mortar which causes a higher
water demand and more energy for compaction due to inter
particle friction [24,45,67,68]. Similarly Sagoe-Crentsil et al. [47]
identified that commercially produced RA showed better workabil-
ity performance than laboratory produced RA as it produces com-
paratively smoother aggregate. The angular shaped aggregate also
demands more water than rounded shape [69]. As the size of RA
decreases, water demand increases due to more adhered mortar
quantity. This higher water demand leads to difficulties in control-
ling the properties of fresh concrete and consequently influences
the strength and durability properties of hardened concrete [64].
If coarse RA is used in dry condition, then the workability of con-
crete gets hampered to a great extent depending upon the quantity
of RA used. The loss in workability or slump in RAC is quite prom-
inent at higher percentage replacement especially when it
exceeded 50% [49].
RA absorbs free water from the mixture during mixing process
due to its reduced water content in adhered mortar phase of aggre-
gate, which causes high water demand of mix to maintain the same
workability. In order to compensate the low workability problem
with RA, some researchers have adopted some novel procedures
by using presoaked aggregate instead of using dried one [24].
The presoaked aggregates are used in surface saturated dry (SSD)
condition. When RA was used in SSD condition, an increase in ini-
tial slump has been observed with the increasing amount of RA.
This is associated with the high absorption capacity of RA leading
to larger amount of initial free water [62,47]. Sometimes this
may lead to bleeding of concrete [62], as a result the w/c ratio of
the matrix can be slightly increased. But later on, the workability
declines. The initial moisture state of RA also affects the fresh prop-
erties of RAC. The initial moisture state of RA mainly depends on
the type of dried condition of aggregate such as air dried, oven
dried or SSD condition. Again, the water absorption capacity of
RA increases with the increase in strength of parent concrete they
are derived from. Higher the strength of parent concrete, more is
the quantity adhered mortar due to strong bond between
505
Old mortar
Matrix
Cracks
(b)
aggregate and matrix. So, it results in the higher water absorption
capacity that will affect the workability of the mix. Even with tech-
nical and environmental advantages, the wide spread use of RA
may be limited due to its influence on the workability of the
concrete, which turns out to be smaller when compared with the
conventional concrete [61,63,70–73]. From literature, it has also
been found that the slump loss of RAC can be overcome by the
incorporation of some mineral admixtures, chemical admixture
or super plasticizers or by adding extra water corresponding to
the absorption of aggregates [49]. By the use of super plasticizers,
water demand of aggregate can be compensated to maintain the
desired workability [23]. According to Saravana Kumar and Dhi-
nakaran [74], the water demand could be reduced by 12.5% by
the use of RAs admixed with fly ash (20%) and superplasticizer
than that of without fly ash and super plasticizers.
Similarly the bulk density of green RAC is significantly lower
than natural aggregate concrete due to low density RA
[34,75,76]. The lower density is also a consequence of the lower
specific gravity of the RA.
3.1.2. Hardened properties
The hardened properties of RAC include the mechanical proper-
ties such as compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural
strength, modulus of elasticity, creep, and bond strength. These
properties of concrete depend upon many parameters such as w/
c ratio of mix, engineering and physical properties of RA to be used
in concrete and the microstructure. From the literature, it has been
observed that, RA are less resistant to mechanical action due to its
poor bond between old mortar and the RA, presence of transverse
cracks and fissures in RA during recycling processes and the pres-
ence of weak porous mortar around RA. The potentially inferior
mechanical properties of RAC raise concerns regarding the proper
assessment of the properties of RA before its use. In addition to
this, the response of RAC towards mechanical action will also
depend upon the level of replacement by RA, w/c ratio and the
moisture condition of the RA [13,47]. In RAC, w/c ratio also plays
a very important role as it depends on many factors such as water
absorption of RA, free moisture content of aggregate, and quantity
of adhered mortar. Despite that the wide variation in results of RAC
may be due to the variation in w/c ratio and the variability in the
quality of RA also. The most important conclusion drawn from
numerous studies is that the cement mortar adhered to the aggre-
gate surface influences the performance of RAC, basically the
strength characteristics. In the recent past, researchers have
worked on different hardened properties of RAC which revealed
506 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
that concrete properties get affected by the increase of RA content.
These properties have been discussed briefly in the following.
3.1.2.1. Compressive strength. Compressive strength of RAC depends
on many parameters like replacement level of RA, w/c ratio [13,47],
moisture condition of RA etc. [38,62]. It is also influenced by the
physical and the mechanical properties of RA basically the crushing
strength of aggregate as crushing and impact strength of aggregate
governs the resistance towards compressive load. It has been
observed from a number of experimental investigations that the
compressive strength of RAC is greatly influenced by the increment
in the replacement percentage (%) of RA using the same w/c ratio
[77,78]. As widely reported, the reduction in compressive strength
is up to 30% as compared to natural aggregate concrete at 100%
replacement [35,39,59,62,79–83]. Similarly some researchers con-
cluded that the reduction in strength is in between 12% and 25%
with 100% replacement of RA [19,24,43,44,46]. In some other stud-
ies, it has been reported that the compressive strength of RAC with
100% RCA varies like 60% [70], 76% [34] of conventional concrete.
Katz [34] reported that age of parent concrete from which RA has
been derived is an influential factor on the strength development
of RAC. In compliance with this, the hydration stage of old matrix
i.e. the residual cementing capacity of unhydrated cement present
in old matrix governs the strength properties of RAC. Numerous
experimental investigations showed that the reduction in com-
pressive strength is not much prominent, when the RA replace-
ment is up to 30% [12,21,78,83,84]. The possible reasons for this
may be due to the lower strength of RA, increased concrete poros-
ity, weak interfacial bond between the aggregate and matrix [85]
and the presence of micro cracks and fissures which may reduce
the bonding with the surrounding matrix. Tam et al. [86] modeled
on the optimum RA substitution level and reported that the opti-
mum replacement level is to be 25–40% for two stage mixing
approach. Thus, the influence of replacement of RA on 28 days
compressive strength of RAC as reported by several authors has
been presented in Fig. 5.
From earlier studies it has been observed that the same trend is
followed by RAC as there is a decrease in strength with the increase
in w/c ratio as that of conventional concrete. The study by Hansen
reported that the compressive strength of RAC depends on the
combination of w/c ratio of original concrete and w/c ratio of
RAC, when other factors are kept almost identical [8]. The strength
of RAC made out of 100% RA can be more than or equivalent to
source concrete if the w/c ratio of parent concrete is less than or
60
50
40
Strength (MPa)
30
20
10
0 have also been carried out to achieve similar compressive strength
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
RA content
Fig. 5. Variation in 28 days strength compressive strength w.r.t. RA replacement
percentage by various researchers (1) Rao et al. [12], (2) (3) Elhakam et al. [21], (4)
Kwan et al. [96], (5) (6) (7) Kou et al. [92], (8) (9) (10) Poon et al. [62], (11)
Limbachiya et al. [17], (12) (13) (14) Limbachiya et al. [84], (15) Etxeberria et al.
[24], (16) Kou et al. [56].
42
Compressive Strength (MPa)
100% RA 70% RA 50% RA 30% RA
37
32
27
22
17
12
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6
Fig. 6. Variation in compressive strength of RAC w.r.t different w/c ratio [52,83].
equal to the strength of RAC intended to be prepared [35].
However, Li et al. [52] from their investigation reported that the
compressive strength decreased with the increase in w/c ratio for
all replacement level except in case of concrete with 50% RA which
is shown in Fig. 6. The reason for this non-linearity between
strength and w/c ratio at 50% replacement is not clear. In contrary
to this, some authors have observed that compressive strength of
RAC is sometimes higher than natural aggregate concrete [69,87].
It may be due to the lowering of effective w/c ratio in RAC with
high rate of water absorption of RA from concrete, which in turn
leads to increase the strength. Some other experimental investiga-
tions showed that the compressive strength of RAC is equal to the
strength of natural aggregate concrete at higher w/c ratio such as
0.40, 0.55 and 0.70. However, the strength is less at lower water
cement ratio of 0.25 [88]. It is attributed to the new ITZ which gov-
erns the strength performance of RAC at higher w/c ratio, whereas
the old ITZ governs the strength performance of RAC at lower w/c
ratio. Yet in some other cases, it has been reported that when the
RA are used in dry condition the compressive strength of RAC
increases with the increase in substitution percentage [89]. It is
due to the higher water absorption capacity of dry RA that causes
the reduction in effective w/c ratio. Furthermore, the use of super
plasticizers also contributes towards the increase in compressive
strength as it compensates the total water demand. Rather than
this in some literature it is reported that the early strength gain
rate (up to 7 days) in case of RAC is more than natural aggregate
concrete [24,90]. Basically it is accomplished with the high water
absorption capacity of the adhered mortar and also the rough tex-
ture of RA which leads better bonding and interlocking properties
between the mortar and RA surface [81]. The early strength gain
rate also depends upon the percentage replacement of RA. How-
ever, later age strength gain of RAC from 21 days to 28 days is quite
less than that of natural aggregate concrete [12]. The strength
reduction in RAC is also associated with the reduction in the den-
sity of RA. In addition to this, Poon et al. [38] from their investiga-
tion stated that RAC made up of RA derived from high strength
concrete has higher rate of strength gain than conventional con-
crete. Ultimately, it is observed that the strength properties of
RAC are associated with the quality of RA, strength of RA and the
microstructural properties of ITZ. Furthermore, Poon et al. [62] in
their studies reported that the moisture level of RA has also influ-
ence on the strength of RAC. Oven dried samples showed higher
strength than air dried and surface saturated samples. Few studies
and slump equivalent to natural aggregate concrete by using 100%
RA [91]. Many researchers have reported that the desired compres-
sive strength can be achieved by using RAs in concrete by adjusting
the w/c ratio (4–10% lower) [24], by using more cement content
(5–10% extra) than normal concrete [24] or by incorporating some
alternative cementitious materials. It is also possible to achieve
more strength than conventional concrete by doing some
 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516 507

adjustments to the paste content and to the w/c ratio with the aid
of super plasticizers [20]. However, the drawbacks of RAC from

Split Tensile Strength (MPa)

strength point of view may be improved by adopting some novel
techniques such as modified mixing approach, by the incorpora-
tion of alternative cementitious materials such as silica fumes, fly
ash, and GGBS. Apart from this, Saravan and Dhinakaran [74]
reported that a compressive strength of 5% lower than conven-
tional concrete could be achieved by the combined use of super
plasticizer and fly ash (20%). Thus their influences on different
properties have been discussed in details in the latter sections.
Hence, the results obtained from literature are not comparable to
each other due to a large non homogeneity in the quality of RA,
the w/c ratio deployed and the type of cement used.

3.1.2.2. Split tensile strength and flexural strength. The other poten-
tially inferior mechanical property of RAC is the split tensile
strength which exhibits similar behavior as compressive strength
with the increase in RA quantity. Several past investigations on
RAC showed that the effect of RA content on split tensile strength
is less than that on compressive strength. Some authors in their
RA content
Fig. 7. Variation in 28-days split tensile strength w.r.t RA replacement percentage
by various researchers (1) Rao et al. 2011: w/c-0.43 [12], (2) Xiao et al. [97], (3)
Etxeberria et al. [24], (4) (5) (6) Kou et al.: TKOS, TKOL, KTS respectively [92], (7)
Elhakam et al.: w/c-0.45 [21], (8) Kou et al.: w/c-0.45 [77], (9) Kou et al.: w/c-0.55
[77], (10) Elhakam et al.: w/c-0.60 [21].

study have mentioned that the decrease in split tensile strength

is up to 10% w.r.t different RA replacement percentage.
[13,19,44,61]. However, Rao et al. [12] from their experimental
study reported that the reduction in split tensile strength is up to
24% at 100% replacement by RA. Generally, it has been found that
the split tensile strength and flexural strength of RAC mainly
depend on the quality and surface characteristics of RA regardless
the replacement level of RA [3,61]. Contrary to this, in some cases
RAC showed similar [47] or better performance [24,91] than
conventional concrete with respect to split tensile strength [24].
Etxeberria et al. [24] mentioned that the higher split tensile
strength of RAC is due to the water absorption capacity of clinging
mortar which developes a proper bonding between aggregate and
matrix. Matias et al. [23] concluded that the increase in split tensile
strength is due to the rough surface of RA which provides better
adherence to matrix. Concrete with RA which is derived from high
strength concrete shows better split tensile performance than that
with RA derived from normal strength concrete. However, in some
other cases significant differences up to certain limit have been
noticed in the split tensile strength of RAC and conventional con-
crete [12,70,76]. McNeil and Kang [48] mentioned in their review
paper that the adhered mortar acts as a weak point to fail under
compressive load which results in lower split tensile strength. In
order to improve the performances, it needs to create a smoother
zone near ITZ. However, Kou et al. [92] in their study mentioned
that the split tensile strength of RAC increases on long term basis
than natural aggregate concrete. It can be explained by the modi-
fication of pore structure of RAC [93]. So it can be summarized that
bond strength between aggregate surface and matrix has a very
greater influence on split tensile strength of RAC which increases
Topçu and Sengel [63] found that flexural strength of RAC
decreased with the increase in percentage of RA. In different
literature, it has been found that the flexural strength of RAC
decreased up to 10% [13,19,61,44]. Bairagi et al. [70] also observed
a significant difference in the flexural strength of RAC at different
w/c ratio than conventional concrete. Some other researchers
observed that flexural strength of RAC varied in the range of 16–
23% with different percentage replacement ratio of RA [3,49]. The
test results for flexural strength of RAC obtained by some research-
ers are presented in Fig. 8. The figure reveals that, as the RA content
increases, the flexural strength decreases.
3.1.2.3. Drying shrinkage. Drying shrinkage is a very prominent
feature of RAC which is related with decrease in volume or contrac-
tion of hardened concrete due to loss of capillary moisture that
results in the development of capillary tension developed inside
the meso-pore structure of cement matrix. The total amount of
water in fresh concrete and drying shrinkage is directly related
to each other. Incorporation of RA into concrete exhibits more
drying shrinkage and it is significantly higher than that of conven-
tional concrete [44]. It may be due to, RA having lower modulus of
elasticity, offers less resistance to the potential shrinkage of
cement paste. Yang et al. [44] reported that the stiffness of aggre-
gate significantly contributes to the amount of concrete shrinkage.
It increases with the increase in RA quantity and with w/c ratio of
Fexural strength (MPa)

age due to more hydration. Though it is possible to achieve the

equivalent target strength by modifying the w/c ratio and paste
content as those in case of natural aggregate concrete, but a notice-
able difference has been observed in the split tensile strength of
RAC by using 100% RA [91]. The influence of replacement of RA
on 28-days split tensile strength of RAC as reported by different
researchers has been presented in Fig. 7. From the figure, it can eas-
ily be visualized that the influence of RA quantity on split tensile
strength is quite less. Rather it is related to the RA quality and
the w/c ratio deployed.
Similarly, several attempts have been made on the modulus of RA replacement (%)
rupture of RAC and the results have shown that the replacement
level of RA has only marginal influence on the flexural strength Fig. 8. Variation in 28-days flexural strength w.r.t RA replacement percentage by
various researchers (1) Rao et al.:w/c-0.43 [12], (2) Limbachiya et al. [84], (3)
of RAC [83]. Some authors have reported that there was no signif- Limbachiya et al.:GEN 3 [17], (4) Limbachiya et al.:RC 30 MPa [17], (5) Limbachiya
icant difference found in flexural strength of RAC even if containing et al.:RC 35 MPa [17], (6) Limbachiya et al.:RC 40 MPa [17], (7) Sonawane et al.:M30
100% RA in comparison to that of conventional concrete [12,94]. [3], (8) Sonawane et al.:M40 [3].
508 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
RAC [77]. Drying shrinkage characteristics of RAC can be explained
with the higher water absorption characteristics and highly porous
nature of RA. Additionally the old mortar adhered to RA surface
contributes to increase in volume of total paste content which
contributes more to the shrinkage of cement paste than natural
aggregate concrete [6,17,22,56,77]. A number of experimental
investigations revealed that the shrinkage and creep of RAC is quite
higher than conventional concrete due to the higher water absorp-
tion of RA. Sanchez de Juan et al. [46] from their experimental
investigation reported that the shrinkage value lied in between
15% and 60%. Domingo-Cabo et al. [89] reported that shrinkage
in RAC was 20% higher with a substitution level of 50% and this
reached up to 70% with 100% RA after a period of 180 days. They
also identified that RAC showed a shrinkage value equivalent to
conventional concrete at lower substitution level (20%) at early
age. Some researchers stated that the increase in drying shrinkage
can be up to 50% [37,61,89]. However, Sagoe-Crentsil et al. [47]
revealed that the drying shrinkage of RAC was about 25% higher
than that of natural aggregate concrete. Whereas Limbachiya
et al. [17] stated that RA has no major effect on the drying shrink-
age up to 30% replacement and after that it increases significantly
with the increase in RA content. The variation of drying shrinkage
of RAC (100% RA) with respect to natural aggregate concrete
reported by some researchers is shown in Fig. 9. From the figure
it is prominent that drying shrinkage of RAC with 100% RA is prom-
inently higher than conventional concrete. The short comings of
RAC due to the use of RA such as drying shrinkage, creep can be
minimized by incorporating fly ash whether as addition or replace-
ment [56,77,114]. Zhu and Wu [78,95] reported that the drying
shrinkage of RAC can be minimized with the use of fly ash and
super plasticizer in concrete. The reduction in creep of RAC due
to the addition of fly ash attributes to the reduction in w/c of the
mix and the dilution effect of fly ash particles [56].
3.1.2.4. Creep and modulus of elasticity. A series of investigations on
deformation characteristics of the RAC specimens revealed that the
creep increases with the increase in content of RA. This is due to
the increased volume of total mortar content in case of RAC as
compared to the conventional concrete. Creep of concrete is also
directly proportional to the content of the paste or mortar present
in concrete as drying shrinkage. In RAC, the residual mortar of RA
contributes towards more mortar content which results in consid-
erable higher creep. Some researchers from their investigations
reported that the creep of RAC can be increased up to 50% than that
of conventional concrete [37,89]. Furthermore, Domingo-Cabo
et al. [89] concluded that the creep deformation was more than
50% at 100% use of RA. On the other hand, Ajdukiewicz et al. [13]
suggested that the general tendency of the development of creep
Drying shrinkage (micro strain)
Fig. 9. Influence of RA on Drying Shrinkage (1) Kou et al. [56], (2) Limbachiya et al.
[84], (3) Limbachiya et al. C20 [6], (4) Limbachiya et al. C30 [6], (5) Limbachiya et al.
C35 [6], (6) Limbachiya et al. GEN3 [17], (7) Limbachiya et al. RC30 [17], (8)
Limbachiya et al. RC35 [17].
in RAC was found to be reversed by the use of RA derived from high
strength concrete. It can be attributed to the higher water absorp-
tion rate of RA, obtained from high strength concrete, which
reduces the effective w/c ratio of the matrix. However, it was also
found from their study that the creep development in RAC was
only 20% lower than conventional concrete after a period of 1 year
[13]. The potential drawbacks associated with the creep strain
development in RAC can be reduced with the use of fly ash as a par-
tial replacement of cement or as addition to cement [55,77].
Modulus of elasticity is another important mechanical property
which signifies the stiffness of concrete. Modulus of elasticity of
concrete gets affected by so many parameters such as porosity of
aggregate and matrix, dense nature of aggregate and the transition
zone characteristics. This is because the aggregate’s porosity and
density determines the stiffness of bulk matrix. Substitution of nat-
ural aggregate by RA also affects the modulus of elasticity. How-
ever, RA content has more has pronounced effect on the modulus
of elasticity than that of compressive strength due to its porous
nature, low density and weak bond between old ITZ and new ITZ
due to presence more capillary voids and cracks. Like compressive
strength, similar trend has also been observed for modulus of elas-
ticity with degree of substitution of RA. Modulus of elasticity of
RAC decreases considerably than normal concrete and it reduces
with the increase in degree of substitution of RA [12,13,64]. Varia-
tion of results of modulus of elasticity as reported by various
researchers with natural aggregate and RA (100%) are presented
in Fig. 10. It is found that the modulus of elasticity of RAC with
100% RA can be lowered up to 45% than that of natural aggregate
concrete [12,13,43,44,52,61,78,96,97]. However, Kheder and Al-
Windawi [98] reported that it was lowered by 20–25% and Bairagi
et al. [70] from their study mentioned that it was reduced by 39%.
Despite that Tpocu et al. [75] reported that the reduction was up to
80% at complete replacement by RA. From the failure pattern of
RAC, it is found that RAC behaves in a more brittle manner than
the conventional concrete. Limbachiya et al. [6] reported that the
lower values of elastic modulus of RAC may attribute to strength
characteristics of RA and its inferior quality compared to the natu-
ral aggregate. Despite that Xiao et al. [78,83] reported that the
decrease in elastic modulus is due to the old adhered mortar to
the surface of RA which is comparatively of low elastic moduli than
the aggregate. RA has adverse influence both on longitudinal and
transverse modulus of elasticity [99]. The reduced elastic moduli
of RA is particularly responsible for the increase in the peak strain
and ultimate strain of RAC [99] which leads to large deformation.
Limbachiya et al. [6] in their empirical studies also concluded that
with the use of 100% RA, approximately 35% reduction in modulus
of elasticity was observed. Similarly, Corinaldesi [100] reported
that 15% less elastic modulus could be achieved by using only
35 0% RA 100% RA
Modulus of Elasticity (GPa)
30
25
20
15
10
0
1 2 3 4 5
Fig. 10. Variation in modulus of elasticity (28-days) w.r.t RA replacement by
different researchers (1) Etxeberria et al. [24], (2) Rao et al. [12], (3) Xiao et al. [97],
(4) Kou et al. [92], (5) Li et al. [52].
 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
30% RA. The incorporation of RA into concrete reduces the stiffness
of concrete and increases the brittleness as a result modulus of
elasticity decreases [40].
So, from the results obtained from various research works, it
can be well summarized that the influence of content of RA on
shrinkage, creep and especially on the modulus of elasticity is sig-
nificantly higher than other strength properties [40,101]. Basically
the strength properties of RAC have an inverse relationship with
RA content. Despite that all these properties depend more or less
on the w/c ratio of RAC and the variability in properties of
aggregate.
3.1.2.5. Bond strength. While considerable results are available on
the other strength properties of RAC, relatively few information
is reported on the bond strength between matrix and steel
reinforcement. Some of the experimental investigations revealed
that the influence of RA and its quantity on the bond strength is
quite smaller than other mechanical properties. RA content does
not have much influence on the bonding between concrete and
reinforcing bar. However, the factors which contribute to the bond
strength are type of rebar and rebar surface profile in case of RAC
[102]. From literature, it has been observed that the bond strength
may reduce up to 10% at a replacement level up to 100% [13,102].
Xiao et al. [103,104] studied the bond behavior of RAC with differ-
ent types rebar by pull out test and reported that the bond strength
decreased by 12% and 6% at 50% and 100% replacement level of RA
than natural aggregate concrete respectively for plain rebar. And
for deformed bar it was quite similar to each other irrespective
of different level of replacement. The possible reason might be that
in case of deformed bar, the bond is due to mechanical anchorage
and friction, whereas in case of plain bar, it is due to the bonding
between the rebar and concrete [22,104]. The influence of the
bar profile on bond strength development in between rebar and
concrete is shown in Fig. 11. However, Zuhud [105] in his study
reported that the bond strength between deformed bar and con-
crete increased with the increase in RA content. It was up to
32.4% and 46.1% more than conventional concrete for a replace-
ment percentage of 30.0% and 60.0% respectively. The increase in
bond strength attributed to the increase in friction due to rough
surface of RA and deformed bar. Similarly, Xiao et al. [104] from
their study also reported that the bond strength of RAC with
100% RA found to be more than conventional concrete. The higher
bond strength of RAC is due to the internal curing effect of RAC due
to more hydration of cement paste by the use of SSD aggregates
which could be attributed to the improved contact zone between
RA and matrix by the use of SSD aggregates [106]. Valeria et al.
[20] studied the influence of fly ash on the bond strength of RAC
and concluded that the bond strength increased with the
incorporation of fly ash. The improvement in strength can be
explained through the pore structure improvement due to
Fig. 11. Influence of bar profile on bond strength.
509
secondary C–S–H gel formation. In their study they reported that
the bond strength was more for RAC for both plain and deformed
bar than conventional concrete and it was 6% and 15% higher than
conventional concrete in the absence and presence of fly ash
respectively. So it can be summarized that bar profile has more
influence on bond strength than the RA replacement.
3.2. Microstructure of recycled aggregate concrete
The microstructure of RAC is a very different and complicated
structure than that of conventional concrete especially in the inter-
facial transition zone (ITZ). Unlike normal concrete, it has two ITZs,
one is new ITZ lies between RA and new matrix and another is old
ITZ lies between RA and old adhered mortar [59] which is shown in
Fig. 12c. So the mechanical performance of RAC is a consequence of
dual performance of both the ITZs as ITZ significantly influence the
strength property. Many studies have revealed that the ITZ of RAC
is very weak in nature [38,77,107]. This ITZ forms the weakest link
and strength limiting phase in RAC as it acts like a wall between
the matrix phase and the coarse aggregate phase in concrete
[59,88,108] and acts as a barrier to transfer the load as the cracks
form first near the ITZ. It acts like a gradual transition zone whose
thickness is associated with degree of hydration and the adhered
mortar content of RA. In many studies, it is reported that for nor-
mal cement concrete the thickness of ITZ may range up to 50 lm
around the aggregate. It consists of less unhydrated particles,
highly porous and greater concentration of Ca(OH)2 and ettringite.
Moreover, from SEM analysis it is found that the ITZ of RAC is com-
posed of many minute intrinsic pores, cracks and fissures [59].
Poon et al. [38] investigated the microstructure of ITZ through
SEM analysis and reported that the ITZ of RAC consists of loose
and porous hydrates which are granular in nature. Thomas et al.
[76] studied the surface morphology of RAC through SEM which
is shown in Fig. 12a, and observed that it is composed of loosely
adhered mortar. The porous nature of ITZ causes the reduced elas-
tic modulus and lower strength in that particular area relative to
the surrounded mortar matrix [109–111]. Due to its poor micro-
structure, the stiffness of the concrete may be low, which does
not withstand the stress transfer across this.
Khalaf and DeVenny [15] concluded that the pores and cracks
present on the surface and inside the RA respectively may vary
in size. Hence the cement paste cannot penetrate into these pores
due to more viscous whereas water can easily penetrate. It may
result a poor bond between old ITZ and new ITZ. In addition to this,
some amount of fine flake-like and whisker-like crystals were also
found in the voids of ITZ. Some studies on the ITZ of natural aggre-
gate concrete have revealed that, the formation of large flat
Ca(OH)2 crystal perpendicular to the surface of aggregate grain
results in the formation of a highly porous structure in the ITZ
due to accumulation of water film in vicinity to aggregate surface.
510 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
Fig. 12a. Micrograph of RAC structure [76].
Fig. 12b. Microstructure of RA mortar matrix [76].
Fig. 12c. Sectional view of RAC [115].
The presence of this weak ITZ makes the strength properties of RAC
inferior to those of natural aggregate concrete [59,62]. In order to
characterize the strength of ITZ, micro hardness test showed that
Fig. 12d. Microstructure of RAC [38].
the strength characteristic of both the ITZs depends on the w/c
ratio of both the ITZs [88]. The micro hardness of the interface
between the RA and new mortar matrix is very low in comparison
to other areas [83,112]. Rao et al. [113] from their study stated that
Vickers micro hardness increases with the increase in distance
from the surface of aggregate. Numerous studies on microstructure
of RAC revealed that the durability performance of RAC is directly
related to its porous microstructure (Figs. 12b and 12d). It is asso-
ciated with its porous nature, high absorption capacity and the
loosely attached old mortar i.e. old ITZ. This porous nature of ITZ
is due to the incomplete hydration product Ca(OH)2, which
remains perpendicular to the surface of aggregate. In spite of this,
the high water absorption property of RA causes the accumulation
of water film close to the aggregate surface, as a result weaker ITZ
forms between the cement paste and RA [107]. Similarly, Thomas
et al. [76] from their study on porosity of RAC revealed that acces-
sible porosity of RAC is more than conventional concrete. The open
porosity of RAC increases with the increase in w/c ratio of concrete
and the replacement level of RA [76]. Therefore, modification of the
porous nature has been one of the great concerns to improve the
strength and durability properties of RAC.
3.3. Techniques for improving properties of recycled aggregate
concrete
The potential benefits and drawbacks of using RA in concrete
have been investigated extensively. Taking all these into consider-
ations, several approaches have been proposed in order to enhance
the performance of RAC. These approaches can be grouped in to
three broad aspects which have been explained in details as follows:
3.3.1. Incorporation of mineral admixture
In order to improve the properties of RAC, it is necessary to
enhance the quality of concrete by modifying the weak ITZ of
RAC and the bulk matrix of concrete. The microstructure of RAC
can be improved by incorporating mineral admixtures such as fly
ash, meta kaolin, silica fume, ground granulated blast furnace slag
(GGBS), and Nano silica. These mineral admixtures act as micro fil-
ler, filling the ITZ between the aggregate surface and the matrix.
The filler effect by pozzolanic reaction of these minerals has shown
in Figs. 13c–13e. Incorporation of these mineral admixtures into
concrete led to the enhancement of its compactness through the
formation of secondary C–S–H gel that fills up the open pores
and empty capillary spaces within the hardened concrete and
consequently decreased the porosity of the concrete and helped
in enhancing the strength and durability [6,56,114,116,120].
 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
Fig. 13a. Filled cracks in RA by two stage mixing approach [59].
Fig. 13b. Unfilled cracks in RA by normal mixing approach [59].
Fig. 13c. Without surface treatment (in pores) [107].
3.3.2. Impregnation of RA in cement slurry or other mineral admixture
solution
Some other approaches like surface coating of RA with low w/c
ratio paste or by impregnating RA in silica fume solution or in other
511
Fig. 13d. Without surface treatment (on surface) [107].
Fig. 13e. Surface microstructure of RA with fly ash [107].
mineral admixture solution also helped in healing the pores or
cracks present in RA [107,117]. Impregnation of the RA with a solu-
tion of silica fume or any other mineral admixtures helps in pene-
trating the silica fume particles into the cracked and loose layer of
this aggregate [118]. Due to the filling effect of silica fume, it helps
in improving the ITZ during the hardening process of concrete. Fur-
thermore, the pozzolanic reaction of silica fume with Ca(OH)2 pro-
duces secondary C–S–H gel which in turn strengthened the weak
structure of the RA to form an improved zone, penetrates from
the RA through the residues of the old cement paste into the
new cement matrix. Silica fume treatment at early age has a stron-
ger effect on filling than the pozzolanic reaction, which is known to
develop more slowly. The similar effect is also shown by other poz-
zolanic substances like GGBS, fly ash etc. This ultimately helps in
improving the performance of RAC regarding strength and durabil-
ity. The improvement in the surface of the RA by surface treatment
is shown in Figs. 13c and 13d).
3.3.3. Modifying mixing process
Investigations have been carried out by some other researchers
by doing trials with several new approaches in order to limit the
short comings of using RA in RAC. It has been noticed that the neg-
ative effects can be mitigated up to certain extent by adding differ-
ent ingredients of the concrete in a modified manner. So, the new
512 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516

Table 1
Different approaches adopted for the improvement of properties of RAC.

Authors Proposed methodology Significance

Otsuki et al. Double mixing method  Compressive strength increased up to 12.6% than normal mixing
[88]  Chloride penetration depth reduced to 22.7%
 Carbonation depth was up to 12.3%
Tam et al. Two stage mixing approach  28-Days Compressive strength increased up to 21.19% at different percentage
[59] replacement
 Developed a stronger ITZ by filling the cracks and pores in RA
Corinaldesi Additions of fly ash or silica fume into concrete to replace  Improvement of pore structure by reducing the volume of pores
et al. fine aggregate  As a result mechanical performance such as compressive strength, tensile and bond
[20] strength could be improved
Limbachiya 10% silica fume was used as a partial replacement of  Enhanced compressive strength and compactness
et al. Portland cement  Target strength could be achieved with 100% RA
[17]  Showed less resistance towards carbonation. Causes pore refinement, as a result
lower chloride ion ingression
Kou et al. Incorporation of 25-35% class F fly ash as well as partial  Strength gain was more in between 28–90 days
[56] replacement of cement  Increase in strength was up to 19.4%, 36.1% and 47.6% from 28 to 90 days for concrete
containing 0, 25, 35% fly ash respectively for 100% RA
 Drying shrinkage, creep and chloride ion penetration reduced to a certain extent
 Replacement of cement caused reduction in strength
Elhakam Self-healing of RA,Modified two stage mixing method  Unhydrated cement particles on RA got hydrated by self healing method thus
et al. Addition of 10% silica fume as cement enhanced its properties
[21]  Two stage mixing approach showed better split tensile strength, bond strength and
enhanced porosity of RAC
 Addition of silica fume improved the porosity of RAC
Kong et al. Surface coating of RA by pozzolanic substances. A novel  A thin layer of pozzolanic particles formed around the aggregate which helped in
[107] triple mixing method improving the ITZ through filler effect and pozzolanic reactive effect
 Improved compressive strength and chloride ion penetration resistance
Katz [118] Pre-treating of RA with silica fume solution (10 wt%)  Compressive strength increased up to 30% and 15% at ages of 7 days and 28 days
respectively
 ITZ between RA and matrix could be improved
Kou et al. Incorporated different mineral admixtures such as fly ash  Silica fume and GGBS contributes to both short term and long term properties
[115] (FA) (35%), silica fume (10%), meta kaolin (15%), GGBS (55%)  FA and GGBS showed their beneficial effect on long term properties
 Contributions of mineral admixtures to the performance improvement of RAC are
higher than that to natural aggregate concrete
Zhihui et al. Pre coating of RA surface with thin cement paste  28 days compressive strength of concrete increased up to 16%
[119]  With the use of pre coated recycled fine aggregate with sulpho aluminate cement, the
compressive strength of mortar increased by 34.8% and with sodium silicate
increased by 32.4%
Ann et al. Use of 35% pulverized fuel ash (PFA) and 65% ground  Showed equivalent performance with conventional concrete for long term compres-
[114] granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) sive strength (180 days), ion penetrability in terms of chloride ion and corrosion
resistance (corrosion free life)
Somna et al. Ground fly ash was used by 20, 35 and 50% by weight of  Result showed that it slightly improved the compressive strength only at 20% use of
[120] cement to replace cement and to improve properties of RAC fly ash in RAC than concrete without fly ash
 For all replacement% of fly ash compressive strength was less than conventional
concrete
 Did not show any effect on modulus of elasticity at all% replacement
 Ground fly ash had significant influence on reducing the water permeability
coefficient

approaches tried by different researchers along with the above
mentioned approaches and their beneficial effects have been sum-
marized in Table 1.
These can be easily understood from the following SEM images
obtained from different sources as given below. Figs. 13a and 13b
show the influence of two stage mixing approach on filling the
cracks and fissures present on the surface of RA. Similarly
Figs. 13c–13f represents the surface microstructure of RAC which
has been densified by the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash. Fig. 13f
represents surface improvement of RA filled with silica fume.
3.4. Durability properties
Generally durability performance of concrete is a measure of
permeation characteristics of concrete, as well as integrity of con-
crete against aggressive agents in the environment like sulphate,
chlorides, acids, carbon dioxide, oxygen, etc. Investigations of the
RAC have revealed that, the durability performance of RAC is
poorer than conventional concrete. The poor durability perfor-
mance of RAC is associated with the inferior quality of RA due to
the presence of numerous cracks and fissures and pores present
inside the aggregate, thus making it more susceptible towards
permeation [55,56]. In addition to this, microstructure of ITZ also
plays a significant role as it strongly depends on the nature of
aggregate, its porosity and its water absorption characteristics.
However, microstructure of RAC is porous in nature due to the
presence of old adhesive mortar around the RA, high water absorp-
tion characteristics of RA, which also contributes towards the per-
meability characteristics of RAC. This porous ITZ has a large
influence on permeation characteristics of concrete, especially if
the individual ITZ regions are connected with each other across
the three dimensional microstructure. Apart from this, permeabil-
ity of RAC also depends upon the w/c ratio [77] and curing period
[55]. So, more is the curing duration, denser is the microstructure
due to more hydration; hence better is the durability performance
[55]. Thus, porosity of RA is the controlling factor for better dura-
bility performance of RAC. So it needs special treatment to block
the open path for foreign agents. On the other hand, one of the
major difficulties with RA is the variability in their properties
due to processing, composition, contents and proportions largely
linked to the original source of debris, which consequently results
in the variability of concrete properties.
From literature, it has been observed that the permeability of
concrete can be measured through different methods such as
 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
Fig. 13f. surface treated RA in silica fume solution [118].
water permeability, capillary water absorption, air permeability,
and oxygen permeability. On the basis of results obtained, it has
been observed that permeability of RAC is more than that of con-
ventional concrete [76] and it increases with the increase in RA
content and w/c ratio. The movement of various foreign agents
(permeation) through the concrete occurs not only by the flow
through porous system but also by diffusion and sorption. There-
fore, evaluation of water absorption of concrete is the first essential
step to study the durability of concrete made with RA. In case of
RAC, water absorption of concrete is directly related to the water
absorption of RA. Thus, higher water absorption value of RA
imposes a high risk towards the durability of RAC. From various
research works, it is found that the water absorption of RAC is sig-
nificantly higher than natural aggregate concrete [12,56,121,122].
Water absorption of RAC also depends on the quantity of adhered
mortar and the substitution level of RA.
Some of the most known aspects of RAC related to its durability
are carbonation and chloride ion resistance. In general, it has been
observed that the carbonation and chloride ion penetration resis-
tance of RAC is poorer than the conventional concrete due to the
presence of intrinsic porosity. In particular, regarding carbonation
process it has been observed that the carbonation depth of RAC
was 1.3–2.5 times of the conventional concrete [47,102,123]. Cui
ZL et al. [124] reported that the carbonation process of RAC is 3
times that of the conventional concrete. Otsuki et al. [80] in their
study observed that carbonation depth of RAC was slightly higher
than that of natural aggregate concrete. Similarly, Crentsil et al.
[47] reported that carbonation rate was found to be 10% more than
the conventional concrete. The carbonation depth increases with
the increase in RA content [56] and also increases with the increase
in w/c ratio [47]. Abbas et al. [125] reported that rate of carbon-
ation depends on the alkalinity of binding medium. Similarly from
previous investigations, it has been reported that RA has a negative
effect on chloride ion penetration resistance of RAC and resistance
declines with the increase in RA quantity [12,22,56]. Olorunsogo
and Padayachee [55] reported that the RAC containing 100% RA
showed 73.2% increase in chloride conductivity at 28 days.
Similarly Kou et al. [126] in their study using different grades of
RA (100%) reported that the chloride conductivity in terms of
coulombs of charge increased up to 55%, 40%, 32% than that of con-
ventional concrete.
In contrary to these, from a number of studies, it has been
noticed that concrete made up of RA shows better freeze and thaw
resistance than the conventional concrete though RA is more
porous [127,128]. Gokce et al. [129] reported that the adhered
mortar does not have much influence on freeze and thaw resis-
tance of RAC if the quality of rubble in RA is good. Some other
513
authors also reported that RAC made up of RA derived from air
entrained concrete showed very good frost resistance
[90,102,130]. Abbas et al. [125] studied the durability aspects of
RAC by a novel approach known as equivalent mortar volume
(EMV) method and they reported that the freeze and thaw perfor-
mance of RAC was good for both conventional mix design method
and EMV method. The concrete produced through EMV method
showed better resistance than conventional mix design method
as the mortar volume in EMV method was less.
RAs may be contaminated with several types of contaminants
such as sulphate, chloride and carbonates. Generally sulphate
attack causes severe deterioration in concrete by spalling, soften-
ing and expansion of concrete. Expansion of concrete occurs due
to the formation of calcium sulphate formed due to chemical reac-
tion of calcium hydroxide and sulphate and due to ettringite which
leads to the formation of crack leading to disruption [15,120].
Hence, some of the researchers have studied the resistance of
RAC to sulphate exposed environment. Limbachiya et al. [6,17] in
their study reported that concrete containing higher amount of
RA content showed lower resistance towards sulphate attack. They
also reported that incorporation of fly ash into RAC provides a bet-
ter resistance towards sulphate attack than ordinary Portland
cement containing RAC. Similarly, Hua and Song [22,130] from
their empirical studies reported that RAC has poor resistance
towards sulphate attack as the loss in concrete mass increased
with the increase of the RA in sulphate resistance test.
3.4.1. Techniques for improving durability properties
Modification of the porous nature has been one of the great con-
cerns to improve the durability properties of RAC. Some of the
studies have revealed that the durability properties can be
improved by modifying the microstructure of RAC by incorporating
mineral admixtures like silica fume, fly ash, GGBS, Nano silica etc.
into concrete [56,77,92,93,114] which has already been mentioned
in Section 4.4. In contrary to this, the addition of fly ash to RAC
shows a negative response towards carbonation resistance
[56,125]. Incorporating these admixtures or modifying the aggre-
gates with these pozzalanic materials leads to the enhancement
of its compactness and the formation of secondary C–S–H that fills
up the empty capillary spaces within the hardened cement paste
and consequently refines the pore size distribution and pore shape
of concrete [17]. Hence, it increases the strength of concrete as well
as the durability performance. As the durability properties like
chloride penetration resistance, carbonation resistance depend on
the strength of concrete, improving the strength can improve these
resistances. Basically, the properties like drying shrinkage and
modulus of elasticity have been improved to a great extent in com-
parison to other properties with the incorporation of alternative
cementitious materials like fly ash [6]. Furthermore, the reduction
in w/c ratio also makes the concrete more impermeable towards
these agents. Moreover, Abbas et al. [125] in their empirical studies
reported that by adopting equivalent mortar volume (EMV)
method, a novel mix design procedure, the different durability
properties such as freeze and thaw resistance, chloride ion pene-
tration resistance, carbonation resistance could be improved.
4. Summary and conclusion
This review paper presents a comprehensive summary regard-
ing the production and the use of RA in concrete and an overview
on its effect on different properties of RAC. It will help for the
future research progress in this field. Though it has been found that
the mechanical and durability performance of RAC are generally
inferior to conventional concrete, in the recent years many studies
have revealed that RA is gaining wide spread attention day by day
514 M. Behera et al. / Construction and Building Materials 68 (2014) 501–516
to be used as a construction material both from material and
structural point of view. Thus, the use of RA is from C&D waste is
contributing towards a sustainable development in construction
industry. However, to use RA as a structural material, its quality
and properties need to be characterized very precisely as the
quality of RA has significant influence on the performance of
RAC. Thus, instead of saying C&D debris as waste, it can be termed
as ‘‘raw material to produce economic resources for future’’. These
materials have been extensively used in some developed countries.
However, in India, its use is limited to non-structural application
and to research purpose due to limited knowledge and experimen-
tation is on to use for structural application. Thus, more focused
research needs to be conducted in this area for the efficient use
of RA as a structural material in India. The use of RA, in particular
aggregates from C&D waste or precast concrete residues, seems to
be a promising contribution towards the sustainability of the con-
struction industry. Some of the future research aspects are listed as
follows:
5. Future aspects
 Long term behavior (mechanical and durability performance) of
RAC is not well known. Thus more research needs to be con-
ducted in this area.
 Long term behavior and modification of microstructure needs to
be studied. Nano scale study of ITZ should be done.
 Durability of RAC needs to be assessed both from material and
structural aspect.
 Limited knowledge on the use of RA in other concrete such as
high performance concrete, geopolymer concrete, and precast
concrete.
 Proper modeling relationship should be established between
compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural
strength.
 Optimal mix proportioning is to be formulated and proper mix
design procedure has to be established.
 Numerical modeling on the behavior of RAC is to be is to be
investigated for better understanding.
 Even though researchers investigated some properties of RAC,
more detailed studies on structural behavior of RAC is necessary
for its mass use in building.
 Moreover, a lack of reliable information on corrosion behavior
of reinforced RAC has to be established.
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