scholarly journals Upgrading the Quality of Recycled Aggregates from Construction and Demolition Waste by Using a Novel Brick Separation and Surface Treatment Method

Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2893
Author(s):  
Kui Hu ◽  
Yujing Chen ◽  
Caihua Yu ◽  
Dong Xu ◽  
Shihao Cao ◽  
...  

Mixed recycled aggregates (MRA) from construction and demolition waste (CDW) with high-purity and environmental performance are required for highway construction application in base layer and precast concrete curbs. The main problematic constituents that reduce the quality level of the recycled aggregates applications are brick components, flaky particles, and attached mortar, which make up a large proportion of CDW in some countries. This paper studies the potential of brick separation technology based on shape characteristics in order to increase the recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) purity for MRA quality improvement. MRA after purification was also processed with surface treatment experiment by rotating in a cylinder to improve the shape characteristics and to remove the attached mortar. The purity, strength property, densities, water absorption ratio, shape index, and mortar removal ratio of MRA were studied before and after the use of the brick separation and surface treatment proposed in this study. Finally, the recycled aggregates upgradation solution was adopted in a stationary recycling plant designed for a length of 113 km highway construction. The properties of CDW mixed concrete for precast curbs manufacturing were conducted. The results indicate that problematic fractions (brick components, particle shape, and surface weakness) in the MRA were significantly reduced by using brick separation and surface treatment solution. Above all, it is very important that the proposed brick separation method was verified to be practically adopted in CDW recycling plant for highway base layer construction and concrete curbs manufacturing at a low cost.

Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2651
Author(s):  
Francisco Agrela ◽  
Francisco González-Gallardo ◽  
Julia Rosales ◽  
Javier Tavira ◽  
Jesús Ayuso ◽  
...  

The application of recycled aggregates (RA) from construction and demolition waste and crushed concrete blocks is a very important challenge for the coming years from the environmental point of view, in order to reduce the exploitation of natural resources. In Spain, the use of these recycled materials in the construction of road bases and sub-bases is growing significantly. However, presently, there are few studies focused on the properties and behavior of RA in civil works such as road sections or seaport platforms. In this work, two types of RA were studied and used in a complete real-scale application. Firstly, recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) were applied in the granular base layer under bituminous superficial layers, and secondly mixed recycled aggregates (MRA) which contain a mix of ceramic, asphalt, and concrete particles were applied in the granular subbase layer, under the base layer made with RCA. Both RA were applied in a port loading platform in Huelva, applying a 100% recycling rate. This civil engineering work complied with the technical requirements of the current Spanish legislation required for the use of conventional aggregates. The environmental benefits of this work have been very relevant, and it should encourage the application of MRA and RCA in civil engineering works such as port platforms in a much more extended way. This is the first and documented real-scale application of RA to completely build the base and sub-base of a platform in the Huelva Port, Spain, replacing 100% of natural aggregates with recycled ones.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (332) ◽  
pp. 168 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Saiz-Martínez ◽  
D. Ferrández-Vega ◽  
C. Morón-Fernández ◽  
A. Payán de Tejada-Alonso

Construction and demolition waste can be used as a substitution of natural aggregate in mortar and concrete elaboration. A poorer quality of recycled aggregates generally has negative impact on mortar properties. Shrinkage is one of the properties that experiences worse outcome due to the higher absorption of recycled aggregates. This research evaluates the potential shrinkage of mortars elaborated with recycled concrete aggregates both with and without fibres addition, as well as the relation between moisture loss and shrinkage caused by mortar drying process using a capacitive sensor of the authors’ own design. Two different mortar dosages 1:3 and 1:4 and three fiber types: polypropylene fiber, fiberglass and steel fiber, in different proportions were used. Obtained results show that the use of polypropylene fiber improves the recycled mortars performance against shrinkage in 0.2%. Moreover, a clear relation between dry shrinkage and moisture loss was observed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debora Acosta Alvarez ◽  
Anadelys Alonso Aenlle ◽  
Antonio Tenza-Abril

Recycled Aggregates (RA) from construction and demolition waste (CDW) are a technically viable alternative to manufacture of asphalt concrete (AC). The main objective of this work is to evaluate the properties of hot asphalt mixtures that have been manufactured with different sources of CDW (material from concrete test specimens, material from the demolition of sidewalks and waste from prefabrication plants) from Cuba. Dense asphalt mixtures were manufactured with a maximum aggregate size of 19 mm, partially replacing (40%) the natural aggregate fraction measured between 5 mm and 10 mm with three types of RA from Cuba. Marshall specimens were manufactured to determine the main properties of the AC in terms of density, voids, stability and deformation. Additionally, the stiffness modulus of the AC was evaluated at 7 °C, 25 °C and 50 °C. The results corroborate the potential for using these sources of CDW from Cuba as a RA in asphalt concrete, thereby contributing an important environmental and economic benefit.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Galetakis ◽  
Athanasia Soultana ◽  
Theodoros Daskalakis

<p>Waste concrete is the most predominant constituent material among construction and demolition waste. Recycling of this material could minimize landfilled waste and mineral resources depletion. This study investigates, in laboratory scale, the production of upgraded recycled concrete aggregates, suitable for the replacement of primary (crushed limestone sand) used in cement mortars, by means of selective crushing and autogenous grinding. These particle size reduction techniques, compared to traditional crushing/grinding, have the potential to remove the brittle cement paste from the aggregates, thus significantly improving their quality. The granulometry, the density, the water absorption (EN 13755) and the flow coefficient (EN 933-6) of the produced upgraded sand was determined and compared to crushed limestone sand. Subsequently, cement mortar specimens were manufactured using upgraded aggregates for total replacement of crushed limestone sand. Specimens were tested for their compressive and flexural strength (EN 196-1), density and water absorption. Results indicated that the upgraded recycled sand produced through the selective crushing and autogenous grinding processes had improved properties compared to the one produced by conventional crushing processes (flexural and compressive strength of cement mortar specimens were increased by 29% and 7%, respectively). However, the quality of the upgraded sand is lower than that of the primary crushed limestone. To further explore the issue, it is planned to investigate in more detail the process of autogenous grinding and to investigate the use of other selective aggregate-cement paste liberation technologies.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8611
Author(s):  
Yunpeng Zhao ◽  
Dimitrios Goulias ◽  
Luca Tefa ◽  
Marco Bassani

The use of recycled materials in roadway construction and rehabilitation can achieve significant benefits in saving natural resources, reducing energy, greenhouse gas emissions and costs. Construction and demolition waste (CDW) recycled aggregate as an alternative to natural one can enhance sustainability benefits in roadway infrastructure. The objective of this study was to quantitatively assess the life cycle economic and environmental benefits when alternative stabilized-CDW aggregates are used in pavement construction. Comparative analysis was conducted on a pavement project representative of typical construction practices in northern Italy so as to quantify such benefits. The proposed alternative sustainable construction strategies considered CDW aggregates stabilized with both cement and cement kiln dust (CKD) for the base layer of the roadway. The life cycle assessment results indicate that using CDW aggregate stabilized with CKD results in considerable cost savings and environmental benefits due to (i) lower energy consumption and emissions generation during material processing and (ii) reduction in landfill disposal. The benefits illustrated in this analysis should encourage the wider adoption of stabilized CDW aggregate in roadway construction and rehabilitation. In terms of transferability, the analysis approach suggested in this study can be used to assess the economic and environmental benefits of these and other recycled materials in roadway infrastructure elsewhere.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Natividad Garcia-Troncoso ◽  
Bowen Xu ◽  
Wilhenn Probst-Pesantez

Recycling of construction and demolition waste is a central point of discussion throughout the world. The application of recycled concrete as partial replacement of mineral aggregates in concrete mixes is one of the alternatives in the reduction of pollution and savings in carbon emissions. The combined influence of the recycled crushed concrete, lime, and natural pozzolana on the mechanical and sustainable properties of concrete materials is firstly proposed in this study. In this research, unconventional construction materials are employed to produce concrete: the recycled crushed concrete is used as coarse aggregate, while lime and natural pozzolana are used as a partial replacement for cement. Substitutions of 10%, 20%, 50% of gravel are made with recycled aggregates, and 2%, 5%, 10% of cement with lime and natural pozzolan. Tests on the fresh and hardened properties, destructive (compressive strength) and non-destructive tests (sclerometer rebound and ultrasound) of mixtures are carried out. It is shown that the use of recycled materials can provide an increase in compressive strength of up to 34% with respect to conventional concrete. Life cycle cost and sustainability assessments indicate that concrete materials incorporating recycled aggregate possess good economic and environmental impacts.


Author(s):  
Cinthia Maia Pederneiras

The construction industry is considered the biggest waste producer in Europe. In order to encourage recycling, European Parliament decreed through the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC, that at least 70% of construction and demolition waste should be recycled by 2020. From recycling plants, three types of recycled aggregates are produced. Recycled Concrete Aggregate, mainly from cementitious waste, as such as concrete and mortars residues; Recycled Masonry Aggregates mainly composed by recycled ceramic materials, as such as tiles and bricks residues; Mixed Recycled Aggregates based on rubble residues, from heterogenous materials waste. This research evaluated the technical feasibility of rendering mortars with Recycled Concrete Aggregates and Mixed Recycled Aggregates, in different volume incorporation of 0%, 20%, 50% and 100%. The experimental programme comprised an analyse of the fresh and hardened properties, regarding the water and mechanical behaviour of the mortars. From the results, it was noticed that the modified mortars presented a reduction in the modulus of elasticity, which its correlated to a less susceptibility to cracking. Regarding mechanical performance, the modified mortars obtained reduction of the flexural and compressive strength over time. However, it was not a significant harmful criterion. Therefore, the incorporation of recycled aggregates in cementitious materials is considered a technical and sustainable solution.


2016 ◽  
Vol 847 ◽  
pp. 156-165
Author(s):  
Marco Pepe ◽  
Eduardus Koenders ◽  
Romildo Dias Toledo Filho ◽  
Enzo Martinelli

The construction sector is more and more committed to reduce its environmental impacts. One of the key actions undertaken in the last decade deals with the ability of turning construction and demolition waste into new raw materials. For instance, the use of recycled aggregates for producing new concrete was one of the most investigated. Thus, in the last decade, plenty of researches were involved in project on characterising the mechanical behaviour of concrete made with recycled aggregates. However, these projects were mainly experimental in nature and generally led to merely empirical formulations. Conversely, this paper is intended at providing a contribution for predicting the mechanical properties of Recycled Aggregates Concrete (RAC). Particularly, it aims at quantifying the effect of replacing ordinary aggregates with Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) on the resulting compressive strength of RAC. To this end, a conceptual model considering both the relevant physical properties of regular and recycled aggregates, including the attached mortar content, and the hydration reactions of Portland cement paste is proposed. The actual predictive capacity of the proposed model is assessed through an experimental validation against experimental tests carried out on several concrete batches produced with various values for the different keys parameters, such as the nominal water-to-cement ratio, the aggregates replacement ratio and the initial moisture condition of aggregates. Both the experimental data and the theoretical formulations proposed in this paper stem out from the inter-university collaboration developed as part of the EU funded EnCoRe Project (www.encore-fp7.unisa.it).


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 5675
Author(s):  
Caroline S. Rangel ◽  
Mayara Amario ◽  
Marco Pepe ◽  
Enzo Martinelli ◽  
Romildo D. Toledo Filho

Recently, concerns have been rising about the impact of increasing the depletion of natural resources and the relevant generation of construction and demolition waste, on the environment and economy. Therefore, several efforts have been made to promote sustainable efficiency in the construction industry and the use of recycled aggregates derived from concrete debris for new concrete mixtures (leading to so-called recycled aggregate concrete, RAC) is one of the most promising solutions. Unfortunately, there are still gaps in knowledge regarding the durability performances of RAC. In this study, we investigate durability of structural RAC subjected to wet-dry cycles. We analyze the results of an experimental campaign aimed at evaluating the degradation process induced by wetting and drying cycles on the key physical and mechanical properties of normal- and high-strength concrete, produced with coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) of different sizes and origins. On the basis of the results we propose a degradation law for wetting and drying cycles, which explicitly makes a possible correlation between the initial concrete porosity, directly related to the specific properties of the RCAs and the resulting level of damage obtained in RAC samples.


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