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Microstructural Features of Recycled Aggregate Concrete: From Non-Structural to High-Performance Concrete

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2019

Diogo Pedro ,
Mafalda Guedes ,
Jorge de Brito  and
Luís Evangelista Open the ORCID record for Luís Evangelista [Opens in a new window]
Diogo Pedro
Affiliation:
CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Mafalda Guedes*
Affiliation:
CDP2T and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Setúbal, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, 2910-761 Setúbal, Portugal CeFEMA, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Jorge de Brito
Affiliation:
CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Luís Evangelista
Affiliation:
CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal Department of Civil Engineering, ISEL-IPL, Rua Conselheiro Emídio Navarro, 1, 1959-007 Lisbon, Portugal
*
*Author for correspondence: Mafalda Guedes, E-mail: mafalda.guedes@estsetubal.ips.pt
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Abstract

The use of concrete-recycled aggregates to produce high-performance concrete is limited by insufficient correlation between resulting microstructure and its influence on mechanical performance reproducibility. This work addresses this issue in a sequential approach: concrete microstructure was systematically analyzed and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and results were correlated with concrete compressive strength and water absorption ability. The influence of replacing natural aggregates (NA) with recycled concrete aggregates (RCA), with different source concrete strength levels, of silica fume (SF) addition and of mixing procedure was tested. The results show that the developed microstructure depends on the concrete composition and is conditioned by the distinct nature of NA, recycled aggregates from high-strength source concrete, and recycled aggregates from low-strength source concrete. SF was only effective at concrete densification when a two-stage mixing approach was used. The highest achieved strength in concrete with 100% incorporation of RCA was 97.3 MPa, comparable to that of conventional high-strength concrete with NA. This shows that incorporation of significant amounts of RCA replacing NA in concrete is not only a realistic approach to current environmental goals, but also a viable route for the production of high-performance concrete.

Keywords

compressive strengthconcrete microstructuredensified silica fumenatural aggregatesrecycled concrete aggregateswater absorption
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , June 2019 , pp. 601 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2019 

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