Sustainable Re-use of Crushed Concrete Waste as Coarse Aggregate: Mechanical Properties and Microstructural Assessment
摘要
Crushed concrete waste can be an alternative component in producing sustainable concrete. This kind of sustainable concrete brings many advantages in reducing concrete rubble and the problem of landfilling due to the abundance of concrete waste generated recently. Concretes were produced using recycled aggregate and the testing included mechanical testing and microstructural examination. The recycled coarse aggregate concrete compressive strength achieved 94.3% of concrete consists of fresh coarse aggregate. Meanwhile, Young’s modulus shows a lower result, which reaches only 82% of the value of concrete consists of fresh coarse aggregate. Microstructural analysis of crushed concrete waste confirms that the interfacial transition zone boundary is more irregular and more visible in amount than that of fresh coarse aggregate concrete. It is composed of more pores and microcracks. This micro property causes stiffness reduction, resulting primarily in lower Young’s modulus.