Material Design for Concrete Using Low-Quality Recycled Aggregate

Abstract

Since the 19th century, concrete has been a fundamental construction material. It is the most popular manmade material in the world because of its more reliable workability, greater durability, and lower cost compared with other construction materials. However, because of its durability, demolishing or renovating old structures generates a huge amount of concrete waste, which, if not properly treated or reused, can adversely affect the environment. Therefore, the development of concrete-recycling technology is a necessary and pressing requirement for all the countries. This study concerns material design with concrete using low-quality recycled aggregates prepared via an aggregate replacement method. To evaluate the quality of the aggregates in recycled aggregate concrete, experiments were conducted using specimen groups characterized by various mix proportions. Accordingly, when low-quality recycled aggregate is used, by employing the relative quality index method for material design, the manufacturing of recycled aggregate concrete with required performance could be achieved.