Carbonation durability is an important subject for recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RAC) applied to structural concrete. Extensive studies were carried out on the carbonation resistance of RAC under general environmental conditions, but limited researches investigated carbonation resistance when exposed to chloride ion corrosion, which is an essential aspect for reinforced concrete materials to be adopted in real-world applications. This paper presents a study on the carbonation durability of two generations of 100% RAC with the effect of chloride ion corrosion. The quality evolution of recycled concrete coarse aggregate (RCA) with the increasing recycling cycles was analyzed, and carbonation depth, compressive strength and the porosity of RAC were measured before and after chloride ion corrosion. The results show that the effect of chloride ion corrosion negatively affected the carbonation resistance of RAC, and the negative effect was more severe with the increasing recycling cycles of RCA. Chloride ion corrosion led to a decrease in compressive strength, while an increase in carbonation depth and the porosity of RAC. The equation of concrete total porosity and carbonation depth was established, which could effectively judge the deterioration of carbonation resistance of RAC.
Characterization of Recycled Coarse Aggregate (RCA) via a Surface Coating Method