Flexural behavior of reinforced recycled aggregate concrete beams under short-term loading

• Published in: Materials and structures Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 1045 - 1059
• Main Authors: IGNJATOVIC, Ivan S, MARINKOVIC, Snežana B, MISKOVIC, Zoran M, SAVIC, Aleksandar R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.06.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aggregates and other concrete constituents; Applied sciences; Building construction; Building Materials; Buildings. Public works; Cement concrete constituents; Civil Engineering; Concretes. Mortars. Grouts; Engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials; Materials Science; Original Article; Processes; Recovery materials; Reinforced concrete; Solid Mechanics; Strength of materials (elasticity, plasticity, buckling, etc.); Structural analysis. Stresses; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Flexural behavior; Recycled aggregate concrete; Short-term loading; Reinforced concrete beams; Short term; Material composition; Construction materials; Cracking; Concrete mix design; Experimental study; Beam(mechanics); Reinforced concrete; Bending strength; Recycled material; Loading test(mechanics); Comparative study; Aggregate(materials)
• ISSN: 1359-5997; 1871-6873
• DOI: 10.1617/s11527-012-9952-9

Recycling of waste concrete is one of the sustainable solutions for the growing waste disposal crisis and depletion of natural aggregate sources. As a result, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is produced, and so far it has mostly been used in low-value applications such as for the pavement base. But, from the standpoint of promoting resource and energy savings and environmental preservation, it is essential to study whether a concrete made of recycled aggregates—recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) can be effectively used as a structural material. The experimental research presented in this paper is performed in order to investigate the flexural behavior of RAC beams when compared to the behavior of natural aggregate concrete (NAC) beams under short-term loading and consequently the possibility of using RAC in structural concrete elements. Three different percentages of coarse RCA in total mass of coarse aggregate in concrete mixtures (0 %—NAC, 50 %—RAC50, and 100 %—RAC100), and three different reinforcement ratios (0.28, 1.46, and 2.54 %) were the governing parameters in this investigation. Full-scale tests were performed on nine simply supported beams until the failure load had been reached. Comparison of load-deflection behavior, crack patterns, service deflections, failure modes and ultimate flexural capacity of NAC and RAC beams was made based on our own and other researchers’ test results. The results of conducted analysis showed that the flexural behavior of RAC beams is satisfactory comparing to the behavior of NAC beams, for both the service and ultimate loading. It is concluded that, within the limits of this research, the use of RAC in reinforced concrete beams is technically feasible.