Effect of Different Types of Recycled Concrete Aggregates on Equivalent Concrete Strength and Drying Shrinkage Properties

Residual mortar attached to recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) always leads to a decrease in Young's modulus and an increase in the drying shrinkage of RCA concrete, mainly due to an increase of total mortar volume. To overcome this inherent problem, the modified and equivalent mortar volume (EMV) methods were proposed by researchers. Despite the comparable test results, both models are still subject to the slump loss problem. Thus, under the same W/C (water to cement ratio) ratio and slump condition, this study assessed the influence of the modified EMV mix method on RCA concrete properties. A total of six mixes were proportioned using the modified EMV method with three different RCAs. Test results show that the concrete mixed with RCA produced from old PC concrete sleepers exhibited compressive strength, Young's modulus, and flexural strength values within 2% variation, equivalent to those values of the companion natural aggregate concrete. In other mixes, compressive strength was found to decrease to 11-20%. It was observed that for 100% replacement of RCA mix, Young's modulus increased to 10% and drying shrinkage increased to 8% only, while for 50% replacement of RCA mix, Young's modulus decreased to 8% and drying shrinkage dropped to 4%.