Recycled Construction Debris as Concrete Aggregate for Sustainable Construction Materials

Abstract

An experimental program was conducted in order to compare the engineering properties of reclaimed concrete aggregate waste from various demolition sources: lab-tested concrete waste from a commercial ready-mix company with known engineering properties, construction and demolition (C&D) concrete waste with some information about engineering properties, and regular aggregate from the market, which was used as control samples. This study explores the potential use of construction waste for the development of sustainable construction materials in order to obtain economic returns from the waste. After processing the construction debris into gravel, the amount of reclaimed material from the waste was calculated, and then aggregate tests were conducted. Lab samples were fabricated based on a 35 MPa mix-design with reclaimed aggregate from the various waste sources, along with control samples. Finally, compressive strength, tensile strength, and flexural strength, as well as some non-destructive tests (NDT), such as pulse velocity and hammer tests, were conducted. Correlation between results obtained from the various tests were analyzed in this experimental program; a linear correlation was noted between compressive strength and other mechanical properties evaluated, namely, split tensile strength, flexural strength, pulse velocity, and Schmidt Hammer.