Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 6980

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Construction and Building Materials

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Behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete under drop weight impact load

M. Chakradhara Rao a, S.K. Bhattacharyya b, S.V. Barai a,*
a b

Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721 302, India Central Building Research Institute, CSIR, Roorkee 247 667, Uttarakhand, India1

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
This paper presents the experimental results of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) beams prepared with different amount of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) subjected to low velocity impact. The recycled coarse aggregates are obtained from a demolished RCC culvert. Four concrete mixes with 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% RCA respectively are prepared. With each mix three beam specimens of size 1.15 0.1 0.15 m are prepared and tested under drop weight impact load. The behavior of the RAC beams are studied in terms of acceleration, strains and support reaction histories under impact load in addition to the physical and mechanical characteristics of RCA and RAC. It is observed that 25% RCA does not inuence the strength of concrete. In addition, it is found that for a given impact energy (the energy imparted by the hammer per blow) the reactions and strains of RAC with 50% and 100% RCA are signicantly lower and higher respectively than those of normal concrete and RAC with 25% RCA. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 21 February 2010 Received in revised form 4 May 2010 Accepted 19 June 2010 Available online 13 July 2010 Keywords: Recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) Low velocity impact Tensile strain Compressive strength Acceleration Displacement

1. Introduction The amount of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) has increased enormously over the last decade in the entire world. Especially in the developing countries like China, Japan, India, there is a large amount of construction and demolition waste generation due to new zoning bye laws, legitimization of squatter settlements, increased population in the urban areas due to industrial development, modernization of old road bridges for the present and future growing trafc, etc. In India, the Central Pollution Control Board has estimated that the solid waste generation is about 48 million tonnes per annum of which 25% are from the construction industry. Also, the eighth-ve year plans envisaged that there is a shortage of coarse aggregates in housing sector. Further, to achieve the target for road development up to 2010, an estimated 750 million cubic meters of coarse aggregate as sub-base material shall be required. The use of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) can ll a part of this gap. Therefore, the recycling of waste concrete is benecial and necessary for the environmental preservation and effective utilization of natural resources. The use of recycled coarse aggregate obtained from C&DW in new concrete is a solution for effective utilization of construction and demolition waste. In practice, there are many incidents in which the structures undergo impact or dynamic loading, such as during an explosion,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 3222 283408; fax: +91 3222 282254. E-mail address: skbarai@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in (S.V. Barai). 1 On deputation from IIT Kharagpur. 0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.06.055

transportation structures subjected to vehicle crash impact, impact of ice load on marine and offshore structures, accidental falling loads, protective structures under projectile or aircraft impact, etc. The behaviour of concrete beams subjected to impact load, is different compared to the behavior under quasi static loading. Due to short duration of loading, the strain rate of material is signicantly higher than that under quasi static loading conditions. Also, the failure behaviour may be different from those under quasi static loading conditions. Therefore the present paper focuses on the behavior of recycled aggregate concrete beams prepared with different amount of recycled coarse aggregate under low velocity impact. In the recent past many researchers have studied the physical and mechanical characteristics of recycled coarse aggregate and its inuence on properties of both fresh and hardened concrete [112]. It is reported that the recycled coarse aggregates are relatively weaker than the natural coarse aggregates and therefore the properties of recycled aggregate concrete are also relatively lower than that of normal concrete. However, 2530% recycled coarse aggregate has no signicant inuence on the properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). A Few researchers were examined the structural behaviour of RAC under static loading. Ajdukiewicz and Kliszczewicz [13] ascertained that the load carrying capacity and deections of RAC beams and columns are relatively lower and higher respectively than those of normal concrete and the failure phenomena was slower in case of RAC, as a result of more ductility. Sato et al. [14] agree with Ajdukiewicz and Kliszczewicz [13], as deections are large in case of beams

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with recycled concrete when compared to normal concrete. Etxeberria et al. [15] in a study concluded that the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement made with recycled concrete depends on the amount of RCA. GonzalezFonteboa and Martinez-Abella [16] found that the premature cracking and notable splitting cracks along the tension reinforcement in case of RAC beam subjected to shear. Gonzalez-Fonteboa et al. [17] concluded that by the addition of silica fume, the structural behavior of recycled concrete beams almost similar to that of normal concrete beams and palliated the notable splitting cracks which were observed in their previous study. You-Fu and Lin-Hai [18] reported that 25% RCA does not inuence signicantly on the load carrying capacity of lled steel tubular columns. In a study by Xiao et al. [19] it was reported that under low frequency lateral loading, the failure pattern of RC frames similar with all percentage of RCA and they failed at the end of the beams rst and then at the columns bottom. The ultimate load capacities of RAC frames were lower than that of normal concrete frames. Many researchers have studied the impact behavior of plain, composite and reinforced concrete beams subjected to low velocity impact (drop weight) with natural coarse aggregates. Bentur et al. [20] reported that the peak load occurred within 1 ms after contact in both plain and conventionally reinforced concrete beams. In addition, it was reported that the energy estimated from the instrumented tup load did not agree with the calculated total energy. Banthia et al. [21] concluded that high strength concrete had higher impact strength and more brittle than normal concrete. In addition, it was reported that the bre reinforced concrete is better than plain concrete in dynamic conditions due to its ductility and increased impact resistance. Wang et al. [22] reported that the fracture energy of bre reinforced concrete (FRC) with 0.5% steel bres was more than that of polypropylene bres under repeated drops of impact load. Tang and Saadatmanesh [23] concluded that the impact resistance of concrete beams signicantly improved and the deection and crack width reduced with the composite laminates. In addition, the authors concluded that the gain in strength depends on the type, thickness, weight and material properties of the composite laminate. May et al. [24] studied the inuence of shape of impactor and type of interface on the behaviour of reinforced concrete beams subjected to high mass low velocity drop weight impact loads. But no attempts have been made on the behavior of recycled aggregate concrete beams under impact loads as such.

Therefore, in the present study an attempt is made to study the physical and mechanical properties of recycled coarse aggregate and their inuence on the mechanical properties namely compressive and tensile strengths, modulus of elasticity and density of hardened concrete. In addition, the behaviour in terms of accelerations, displacements, strains and support reaction of recycled aggregate concrete beams made with different percentages of recycled coarse aggregates subjected to repeated drops of impact are studied. The failure mechanism of the recycled aggregate concrete beams is also investigated. 3. Experimental programme 3.1. Materials Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) of 43 Grade conforming to Bureau of Indian Standard Specications (BIS) (IS: 8112-1989) with a specic gravity of 3.14 is used in this study. The locally available sand conforming to grading Zone II (IS: 383-1970) is used in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete. The natural coarse aggregates obtained from the locally available quarries with maximum size of 20 mm and satisfying the grading requirements of BIS (IS: 383-1970) is used in both normal and recycled aggregate concretes. The recycled coarse aggregates are obtained from the demolished RCC culvert of 15 years old and the properties of the old concrete are unknown. The large pieces of culvert are transported to the laboratory and broken into pieces of smaller than 30 mm and sieved through 20 mm sieve. The pieces greater than 20 mm are crushed through a jaw crusher to the maximum size of 20 mm and then both the materials are mixed and sieved again. 3.2. Mix proportioning of RAC Four concrete mixes namely M-RAC0, M-RAC25, M-RAC50 and M-RAC100 are prepared using different proportions of recycled coarse aggregates and natural coarse aggregates. In the term M-RAC0, the rst letter represents the mix, RAC represents the recycled aggregate concrete, and the number represents the percentage of recycled coarse aggregate. All concrete mixes are designed for M25 grade of concrete in accordance with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) (IS: 10262-1982). In all the mixes the free watercement (w/c) ratio was kept constant at 0.43 and slump was maintained in the range of 5060 mm by adding Sika Viscocrete R550 superplasticiser. The details of the mix proportioning are presented in Table 1. 3.3. Test specimens The mechanical properties namely compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and density of RAC are conducted on standard test specimens of 100 100 100 mm cubes, 150 mm diameter 300 mm height cylinders in accordance with BIS (IS: 516-1959; IS: 5816-1999), ASTM C 469-02 (2002) and

2. Research importance Review of literature show that a number of investigators have been studied the behaviour of plain, composite and reinforced concretes under low velocity impact. But no attempts have been made on the behaviour of RAC subjected to impact loads. Impact occurs over a short duration of time and it is a complicated loading system. The response of structures during the impact not only depends on the impact energy, but also on the mechanical characteristics of the materials, the stiffness of the members and the contact stiffness.

Table 1 Details of mix proportions (in kg per cubic meter of concrete). Mix designation RCA (%) Cement (kg) Natural aggregates FA (kg) M-RAC0 M-RAC25 M-RAC50 M-RAC100
a

RCA (kg) CA (kg) 1261 930.75 602 0 0 310.25 602 1128

Superplasticisera

Slump (mm)

0 25 50 100

401

574

0.05 0.05 0.175 0.225

57.5 54 52 49

In percentage by weight of cement.

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ASTM C 642-06 (2002) respectively. Three recycled aggregate concrete beam specimens with each 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% recycled coarse aggregates are prepared. A total of 12 beam specimens of size 1.15 0.10 0.15 m are prepared for drop weight impact load test. 3.4. Drop hammer impact test setup and devices The in-house built drop hammer test setup shown in Fig. 1 is used in the present study. A steel hammer of 50 mm diameter and 5 kg mass is suspended through the FRP guide tube passes over the frictionless pulley to induce the impact effect on beams. To get a point contact between the hammer and the beam, a spherical steel ball having a diameter of 15 mm was welded to the hammer at the bottom. A simply supported arrangement is made as shown in Fig. 1 for supporting the beam specimen. To prevent the slippage of the beam specimen after each impact, a bracing arrangement is made with steel angle sections and the photograph of the same is shown in Fig 2. A six channel pulse Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and CPB analyser is used for measuring the acceleration and displacement histories. In order to measure the acceleration and displacement, four accelerometers were xed at the bottom surface of the beams. The positions of the accelerometers (A1A4) are shown Fig. 3. Accelerometers are DeltaTron type 4507 with a range of 700 ms2 and working on the piezoelectric principle. The accelerometers are connected to the six channel pulse Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analyser. The acceleration data are captured at interval of 244 ls. An eight channel NI SCXI 1000 chassis with 1520 universal strain module data acquisition system is used to record the strain data. BKCT-30 electrical strain gauges with 350 X resistance (gauge length 30 mm and gauge factor 2.00 0.02) are used to measure the strains at different locations along the length of the beams. A total of six strain gauges (S1S6), three each on both top and bottom surfaces of the beams were mounted and their locations are shown in Fig. 3. A load cell (200 kg capacity)

Fig. 2. Support arrangement.

of cylindrical type is used to measure the support reaction. All strain gauges and load cell are connected to a DAQ. The strain data are acquired at a sampling rate of 105 records/s. The strain data acquisition is started simultaneously with the release of hammer from the required height. 4. Experimental results and discussion 4.1. Properties of recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) The grading curves of both natural and recycled coarse aggregates are presented in Fig. 4. It indicates that the recycled coarse aggregates are relatively ner than the natural coarse aggregate. Therefore, the neness modulus of recycled coarse aggregate for all coarse aggregate replacement percentages is relatively lower than that of natural aggregates. This may be due to the combination

1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Pulley Wire rope FRP guide Pipe Existing I Section Hammer (dia= 50 mm) Concrete specimen Load cell Fabricated mechanism to avoid tilting of specimen 9. Support arrangement 10. Rigid floor

3 4

5 6 7

8 9 10 0.5 m 0.5 m 1.15 m

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of drop hammer setup.

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5 kg 0.1 S1 0.15 S2 0.15 S3 0.225 0.15 0.1

A1 S4 0.2 S5 0.15 0.5

A2 S6

A3,4

0.5 1.15 Note: All dimensions are in meters

Fig. 3. Position of accelerometers and strain gauges on RAC beam.

100

80

RCA 0
60

RCA 25 RCA 50 RCA 100 Min-IS:383 Max-IS:383

40

20

that of natural aggregates. This is the major difference between natural aggregates and recycled aggregates. The mechanical properties of recycled coarse aggregates namely crushing strength, impact strength and Los Angeles abrasion resistance are relatively less compared to natural aggregates due to separation and crushing of light porous mortar adhered to recycled aggregates during testing. However, these values are less than the maximum limits specied by BIS (IS: 383-1970) for natural aggregates in concrete. It is also observed that both physical and mechanical properties of recycled coarse aggregates are within the limits specied by different standards for recycled aggregates namely The Work Bureau Technical Circular (WBTC 12/2002) [25], BRE Digest 433 [26], etc.
40

Cumulative Percentage passing

0 0 10 20 30

Sieve size (mm)

Fig. 4. Particle size distribution of natural and recycled coarse aggregates.

4.2. Properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) The slump test is conducted for each batch of mix to know the degree of workability and the obtained slump values are presented vide Table 1. It reveals that the workability is low in case of recycled aggregate concrete compared to normal concrete. This may be due to high absorption capacity and rough surface texture of recycled coarse aggregates. It is also observed that in recycled aggregate concrete, the requirement for super plasticizer is more for maintaining the slump between 50 and 60 mm. This indicates that the water absorption is more for RCA. This may be attributed to the adherence of mortar to the recycled aggregates and thereby the surface texture of recycled aggregates is more porous and rough. The mechanical properties namely compressive strength, indirect tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and density of recycled aggregate concrete prepared with 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% recycled coarse aggregate at 28 days curing period are presented in Table 3. It shows that the mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concrete decrease with the increase in recycled coarse aggregate content. It is observed that at high percentage of recycled coarse aggregates (50% and 100%), the gain in compressive strength of RAC is 1723% while the normal concrete strength is increased by approximately 42% in the last 21 days of 28 days curing period. This indicates that the recycled aggregate concrete at higher percentages of recycled coarse aggregates attained more early strength than normal concrete. After 28 days, no signicant improvement is observed in compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete with curing age up to 90 days at 50% and 100% RCA compared to an increase of 5% and 12% in RAC at 25% RCA and normal concrete respectively. This may be due to the accumulation of cement paste on the surface of the aggregates which produces low w/c ratio and effective new interfacial transition zone (ITZ). Similar observation is reported for curing period between 28 days and 6 months [9]. It is reported in the literature that the new ITZ of the cement paste and the aggregate has lower

of aggregates crushed both manually as well as by jaw crusher. From physical observation, the surface texture of recycled coarse aggregate is more porous and rough due to porous nature of old cement mortar adhered to those. The properties of natural and recycled coarse aggregates are presented in Table 2. It is observed that the bulk density and specic gravity of recycled coarse aggregates are 1.34 and 2.47 respectively. The gures are less than that of natural coarse aggregates of 1.58 and 2.75 respectively. The recycled aggregate contains original aggregates attached with mortar. The attached mortar is light and porous in nature. Therefore, it is expected that the specic gravity and density of recycled aggregates are relatively less when compared to natural coarse aggregates. Due to lower specic gravity of recycled coarse aggregates, there is a reduction in amount of recycled coarse aggregates to be used in the concrete. Because of high absorption capacity of light porous mortar attached to recycled aggregates, the water absorption of recycled coarse aggregate is approximately 2.75 times higher than

Table 2 Physical and mechanical properties of natural and recycled aggregates. Natural ne aggregate Fineness modulus Bulk density (kg/l) Water absorption (%) Specic gravity (SSD) Los Angeles abrasion resistance (%) Impact value (%) Crushing strength (10% nes) (kN) 2.48 1.618 0.201 2.617 Natural coarse aggregate 6.78 1.581 1.129 2.75 21.56 17.37 231.3 Recycled coarse aggregate 6.68 1.34 3.1 2.47 37.1 35 120.5

M. Chakradhara Rao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 6980 Table 3 Mechanical properties of RAC. Mix designation RCA (%) Compressive strength (MPa) Age at testing (days) 7 M-RAC0 M-RAC25 M-RAC50 M-RAC100 0 25 50 100 28.77 27.9 35.33 31.5 28 49.45 45.75 42.5 40.8 56 53.83 46 43.83 41.08 90 55.33 48.17 44.1 41.67 2.67 2.30 2.19 2.05 31.20 103 26.75 103 26.71 103 26.40 103 2415.64 2349.45 2257.96 2148.10 Split tensile strength at 28 days (MPa) Modulus of elasticity at 28 days (MPa) Density at 28 days (kg/m3)

73

w/c ratio than the ITZ of the cement paste and the old mortar attached to the recycled aggregate. As a consequence, the new ITZ with aggregate becomes stronger [27]. In addition, it is observed that the reduction in compressive strength of RAC is 7.5% and 23% respectively at 25% and 100% RCA compared to normal concrete at 28 days curing period. Visual observation of split tensile specimen (fracture surface) indicates that the failure is at the interface between the cement mortar and the aggregate in case of normal concrete. This indicates that the weaker interfacial transition zone governs the failure in case of normal concrete. This is not so in case of recycled aggregate concrete. It is observed from the fractured surface of RAC with larger amount of recycled coarse aggregates, the failure is not only through the interface but also through the recycled aggregate. The reduction in split tensile strength of RAC at 100% RCA is 23% when compared to normal concrete. The static modulus of elasticity of RAC for different amount of recycled coarse aggregates is presented in Table 3. It is observed that the modulus of elasticity of recycled aggregate concrete decreases with the increase in amount of recycled coarse aggregate. Similar observation is reported in the literature [11,12,28,29]. This may be due to the lower modulus of elasticity of recycled aggregates than that of natural aggregates and weaker interfaces between the recycled aggregates and old and new cement mortars. The reduction in modulus of elasticity at 100% recycled coarse aggregate is 15.4% as compared to normal concrete. Table 3 also reveals that the density of RAC decreased with the increase in percentage of recycled coarse aggregates. The decrease in density may be due to fact that the density of recycled coarse aggregate is 1.18 times lower than that of natural coarse aggregate. This may be attributed to the adherence of light and porous nature of old cement mortar to the recycled aggregates. The density of RAC made with 25100% RCA are in the range of 23492148 kg/ m3 against 2415 kg/m3 for normal concrete. In general the density of normal concrete made with natural aggregate is in the range of 22002600 kg/m3 [30]. 4.3. Impact test results The accelerometers and strain gauges are mounted on the completely dried beam specimens. The beams are then positioned on the supports with an effective span of 1.0 m. A weight of mass 50 N (5 kg) is set to drop from a height of 0.225 m above the top of the beam specimen and then released. This gives a tip velocity of 2.101 m/s at the time of impact. The hammer is dropped repeatedly from the same height till the failure occurred. During each impact the acceleration, displacement, strain and support reaction histories are recorded using suitable devices and the results are presented herein. 4.3.1. Accelerations As discussed earlier due to the constraint of the acquisition rate in the instrument the accelerations were acquired at 244 ls interval is too small. This may lead to the missing of actual peak values

of accelerations. However, the authors are basically interested to know the behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete in contrast to the normal concrete with respect to accelerations, displacements, etc. under impact load. The variation of acceleration at mid span of the beam with recycled coarse aggregate having different percentages of RCA during the rst impact are presented in Fig. 5. It is observed that in the rst cycle of wave propagation the magnitude of acceleration is more in case of RAC with higher percentage of recycled coarse aggregate (50% and 100%) when compared to normal concrete. The peak value of acceleration in RAC with 100%, 50% and 25% RCA are 756 m/s2, 715 m/s2, 440 m/s2 respectively compared to an acceleration of 686 m/s2 in normal concrete (M-RAC0). This indicates the acceleration is depends on the mass (density) of the material: the higher the density, the lower the acceleration. As discussed in previous section, the density of recycled coarse aggregates are 15% less than that of natural aggregates due to lower density of old mortar adhered to those and hence the density of RAC with 100% RCA is around 9% and 12% lower than the RAC with 25% RCA and normal concrete respectively. After the rst cycle of wave propagation, in the subsequent cycles of wave propagation the peak values of acceleration of RAC with 100% RCA are less than those of RAC with 25% and 50% RCA and normal concrete. This indicates that the frequency of recycled aggregate concrete beams with higher amount of recycled coarse aggregate is more than that of normal concrete. That is the period of vibration is less in case of RAC. The acceleration histories of normal and recycled aggregate concrete beam with 100%, 50% and 25% recycled coarse aggregates at mid span for repeated drops of same height are presented in Figs. 69 respectively. It is found that in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams the period of vibration decreases with the increase in drop number. This indicates the softening of the beam with the increase in drop number. That is the stiffness of the beams reduces with the increase in drop number. It is also observed that the rst peak values of accelerations increases with the increase in drop numbers in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams. In addition, it is observed that in normal concrete the acceleration diminished immediately after

800 600

M-RAC0

M-RAC50

Acceleration (m/s2)

400 200 0 -200 0 -400 -600 -800 -1000 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02

M-RAC100

0.025

0.03

Time (s)

Fig. 5. Accelerations at mid span during the rst drop of impact.

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1000 800

Acceleration (m/s2)

600 400 200 0 -200 0 -400 -600 -800

Drop 5

Drop 1 Drop 10

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

Time (s)

Drop 15

Fig. 6. Accelerations at mid span for repeated drops in normal concrete beam (M-RAC0).

1000 800

Acceleration (m/s2)

Drop 15 Drop 5 Drop 10

600 400 200 0 -200 0 -400 -600 -800 Drop 1 0.005 0.01 0.015 Time (s) 0.02

the peak and disappeared completely after 5 ms during the last drop when compared to the previous drops. This indicates that the beam failed immediately after impact. The same is observed physically at the time of testing. Whereas, in case of RAC with all percentages of recycled coarse aggregates the frequency of vibration is more within the rst 10 ms and thereafter the acceleration disappears completely during the last drop impact compared to the previous drops. This indicates the reduction in stiffness of the material after certain number of drops. The recycled aggregate concrete is more vulnerable for stiffness reduction due to the presence of weaker interfaces and micro-cracks. The variation in acceleration along the length (for half span of beam) for rst and last drops in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams with all percentages of recycled coarse aggregate is presented in Figs. 10 and 11. It is observed that the variation is similar in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams except in case of RAC with 100% recycled coarse aggregate. The acceleration decreases as the wave propagates towards the support. In case of RAC with 100% recycled coarse aggregate, the acceleration is more at 350 mm distance from support compared to 500 mm (middle) during the last drop of impact. This represents the crack initiated at a location away from the center (impact point). Fig. 12 represents the variation in acceleration along half span of the beam for repeated drop impacts of same height for both normal and RAC beams with all percentages of recycled coarse

0.025

0.03
900

M-RAC 0 M-RAC 25 M-RAC 50

800

Acceleration (m/s2)

Fig. 7. Accelerations at mid span for repeated drops in M-RAC100 beam.

M-RAC 100
700 600 500 400 300 200 100

1000 800

Acceleration (m/s2)

600 400 200 0 -200 0 -400 -600 -800

Drop 5 Drop 10 Drop 1

0.02

0.04

0.06

200

300

400

500

Time (s)
Drop 15

Distance from support (mm)

Fig. 10. Acceleration variation along length (half span of beam) during the rst drop of impact.

Fig. 8. Accelerations at mid span for repeated drop impacts in M-RAC50 beam.

900 800

1,000 800

Acceleration (m/s2)

700 600

Acceleration (m/s2)

600 400 200 0 -200 0 -400 -600 -800 0.005

M-RAC 0
500

Drop 15 Drop 10

M-RAC 25
400

M-RAC 50
300 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 200 100 200 300 400 500

M-RAC 100

Time (s)
Drop 5 Drop 1

Distance from support (mm)

Fig. 11. Acceleration variation along length (half span of beam) during the last drop of impact.

Fig. 9. Accelerations at mid span for repeated drop impacts in M-RAC25 beam.

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75

(a)
Acceleration (m/s2)

1000 800 600 400 200 0

(b)

Drop 1 Drop 5 Drop 10 Drop 15

200 400 600

600

400

200

0 200

Distance from support (mm)

Acceleration (m/s2)

Distance from support (mm)

400 600 800 1000

(d)

(c)

Fig. 12. Acceleration variation along length (half span of beam) for repeated drop impacts in: (a) normal concrete beam (M-RAC0), (b) M-RAC25, (c) M-RAC50 and (d) MRAC100 respectively.

aggregate. Each presented value is an average of three beams in case of RAC. It is observed that the magnitude of acceleration increases with the increase in number of drops at locations at 350 mm and 500 mm from the support along the half span of the beam irrespective of recycled coarse aggregate percentage. It is also observed that in case of RAC with 100% recycled coarse aggregate, the magnitude of acceleration at 350 mm distance from the support is more than that of acceleration at mid span after nine drops. The average accelerations at 350 mm location are 837 m/s2 and 814 m/s2 during 10 and 15 drops of impacts respectively when compared to an acceleration of 816 m/s2 and 773 m/s2 at middle of the beam (500 mm location). This may be indicated that the failure initiated at a location away from the impact point instead of below the impact point.

0.001

Maximum displacement (m)

0.0005 -1E-17 0 -0.0005 -0.001 -0.0015

Time (s)
0.02 0.04

M-RAC0

M-RAC100
-0.002

M-RAC25 M-RAC50

Fig. 13. Maximum displacement among all drops.

4.3.2. Displacements As discussed in previous section, the actual displacement peak values may be missed due to the small acquisition rate. However, the main focus of the experiment was to establish a comparative study between the recycled aggregate concrete and normal concrete. The displacement histories are measured from the acceleration histories at the middle of the beam on the lower side during each impact as discussed earlier. The maximum displacement histories among all repeated drop impacts for both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams are presented in Fig. 13. It is observed that the variation in displacement with time is similar for both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams. The displacement mainly depends on the stiffness of the beam. It is observed that the maximum displacement is increased with the increase in percentage of recycled coarse aggregate. This is obvious that the stiffness of recycled aggregate concrete beams is lower than that of normal concrete beam. As discussed in Section 4.2 the modulus of elasticity of RAC with 100% RCA is 15.4% lower than that of normal concrete. It was observed under an uni-axial static loading that the strain is more at a given stress (load) in case of recycled aggregate concrete than that of normal concrete due to presence of micro-cracks, weaker interfaces between recycled aggregate and old and new mortars and lower modulus of elasticity of recycled coarse aggregate. In addition, it is observed that there is an initial positive displacement occurred due to inertia

force. The maximum displacement in recycled aggregate concrete at 100% recycled coarse aggregate is 1.795 mm corresponding to a displacement of 1.077 mm in normal concrete. 4.3.3. Strains The strain gauges are mounted on the top and bottom surfaces of half span of the beams to study the longitudinal distribution of strains. Three strain gauges each are mounted on top and bottom faces of the beam and their positions are shown in Fig. 3. As the beams undergo impact the nature of strains at a point oscillates from tension to compression or from compression to tension. Fig. 14 shows the distribution of strains on both top and bottom faces of half span of the beam during the rst drop of impact in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams. Each presented value in the graph is the average of three beams. In Fig. 14 the dotted line represents the tensile strains and solid line represents the compression strains. It is observed that at all positions of strain gauges the strains are increased with the increase in percentage of recycled coarse aggregate. It is also observed that the strains on compression face are varying more linearly along the half span of the beams compared to those on tension face in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams. This indicates that the exural crack may affect the tensile strains. In addition, in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams the magnitudes of

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0.00025 0.0002 0.00015 Maximum strain 0.0001 0.00005 0 -0.00005 0 -0.0001 -0.00015 -0.0002 Distance from support (mm) 100 200 300 400 500 M-RAC 0 M-RAC 25 M-RAC 50 M-RAC 100 M-RAC 0 M-RAC 25 M-RAC 50 M-RAC 100

Fig. 14. Longitudinal distribution of strains for half span of the beam during the rst drop of impact.

strains on tension face at all positions of strain gauges are more than those on compression face. The magnitude of both compression and tensile strains at all locations are almost same in case of normal concrete and recycled aggregate concrete made with 25% RCA beams. Whereas, the magnitude of tensile and compression strains are much deviating in case of RAC with 50% RCA and 100% RCA from the normal concrete beams. The maximum tensile and compression strains in RAC with 50% RCA and 100% RCA are 0.000182, 0.00017, and 0.000208, 0.00018 respectively compared to 0.00017, 0.00016 in normal concrete during the rst drop of impact. This may be due to existence of micro-cracks in recycled coarse aggregate and weaker interfaces between aggregate and old mortar and new mortar.

The measured strains at different points along the half span of the beams in both normal and recycled aggregate concretes for repeated drops of impact are plotted in Figs. 15 and 16 respectively. The strains become erratic and cannot be measured properly once the specimen is cracked and fails in subsequent blows. The plots indicate the strain values prior to cracking only. The number of blows required to cause failure of the specimens vary depending on the percentage of RCA. It is observed from the gures that the magnitude of strains on tension side are more than those on compression side at all positions of strain gauges in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams. It is also observed that both tension and compression strains are increased with the increase in drop number and the increment is more uniform with the increase in drop number in case of normal and RAC with 25% recycled coarse aggregate compared to RAC with higher percentage of recycled coarse aggregate (50% and 100%). In addition, nearer to impact point, the strain values on tension side have more deviation from the rst drop to the subsequent drops. This indicates that the exural crack inuence the tension strains and softening the beam with the repeated impacts. This may be due to the existence of micro-cracks and weaker interfaces between recycled aggregate and old and new cement mortars which may propagate during the repeated impacts. The maximum compression strains in RAC with 25%, 50% and 100% RCA are 0.000214, 0.000.211, 0.000250 and in those the maximum tensile strains are 0.000237, 0.000306, 0.000333 respectively compared to 0.000213, 0.000256 compression and tensile strains in normal concrete. This shows that 25% RCA has not signicant inuence on both maximum tension and compression strains during the repeated drops of impact.

2.50E-04 1.50E-04 5.00E-05 600 400 -5.00E-05 0 200 -1.50E-04 -2.50E-04

Maximum strain

(a)

3.50E-04

(b)
Drop 1 Drop 5 Drop 10 Distance from support (mm) 200 400 600 Drop 15 Drop 1 Drop 5 Drop 10 Drop 15

Fig. 15. Longitudinal distribution of strains for half span in: (a) normal concrete and (b) M-RAC25 for repeated drops of impact.

0.0003 0.0002 0.0001 0 600 400 200 -0.0001 -0.0002 -0.0003 0

Maximum strain

(a)

0.0004

(b)
Drop 1 Drop 5 Drop 10 Distance from support (mm) 200 400 600 Drop 15 Drop 1 Drop 5 Drop 10 Drop 15

Fig. 16. Longitudinal distribution of strains for half span in: (a) M-RAC50 and (b) M-RAC100 concretes for repeated drops of impact.

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4.3.4. Support reactions As discussed earlier, one of the supports on which the beam supported is arranged to measure the support reaction using a 200 kg load cell. The load cell is connected to the DAQ (NI SCXI 1000 chassis with 1520 strain module) and the data is recorded at 1/10,000 s intervals in terms of strain. The load cell is calibrated with same DAQ under static loading and then the strain output is converted into support reaction using the calibration chart. Fig. 17 shows the support reaction histories for both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams during the rst drop of impact. The enlarged view of the peak values of support reaction is presented in Fig. 18. The reaction obtained from the load cell is the combined effect of direct impact caused by cylinder and the inertia force produced by the vibration of the member. The reaction developed before the peak value in gures is due to the effect of direct impact induced by cylinder and after the peak it is due to inertia force caused by vibration of the beam. It is observed that during the rst drop of impact, the magnitude of reaction in case of normal concrete is more than that of recycled aggregate concrete at all percentages of recycled coarse aggregate. This indicates that the impact resistance depends on the stiffness of the member. It is also observed from the gures that the time taken to travel the longitudinal stress wave from center to the support is less in case of normal concrete compared to RAC with 100% recycled coarse aggregate. This may be due to the presence of weaker interfaces between recycled aggregate and old and new mortars, high porous nature of recycled coarse aggregates. In addition, the rst small peaks observed in Fig. 18 may be due to the slipping of plates from the load cell at the time of impact. In Fig. 17 there are some new

peaks, which are due to second drop of the hammer after the hammer bounced back. The variation in support reaction from the rst drop of impact to the failure drop for both normal and recycled aggregate concretes are presented in Fig. 19. It is observed that in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams, the support reaction increases with the increase in drop number up to a certain number of drops and thereafter it reduces with further increase in drop number. It was observed during experimentation that the beam fails immediately on impact once the crack is initiated. However, possibly as the tested beam specimens are stronger in comparison to the impactor, the beam did not show any sign of distress even up to 10th blow and that is the reason there is increase in the reaction values. In addition, it is observed that the maximum reaction of concrete with natural aggregate is more than that of RAC with all percentages of RCA. This indicates that the stiffness of the member inuences the impact and inertia forces: the larger the stiffness, higher the impact and inertia forces. Table 4 shows the average maximum values of support reaction among all the drops for both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams. It is observed that the average maximum value of support reaction decreases with the increase in percentage of recycled coarse aggregate. At 25%, 50% and 100% recycled coarse aggregates, the average support reactions are 492 N, 499 N and 469 N respectively compared to 521 N in case of normal concrete. The reduction in support reaction is in the order of 410% in case of RAC with 25100% RCA compared to normal concrete. This may be due to lower stiffness of RAC. As discussed in previous sections, the compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of RAC with 100% RCA are 15.4% lower than that of normal concrete and the impact value of recycled coarse aggregate is also less than that of natural aggregates. 4.3.5. Failure pattern The crack pattern and failure surfaces of beam specimens for both normal and recycled aggregate concretes are presented in Figs. 20 and 21 respectively. It is observed that both normal concrete and RAC made with all percentages of RCA are failed between 15 and 17 drops. In addition, it is observed that the cracks initiated

500

400

Support Reaction (N)

300

M-RAC0
200

M-RAC50 M-RAC100 M-RAC25

100

600 500

Support reaction (N)

0 0 -100 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12

400 300 200 100

Time (s)

M-RAC0 M-RAC25 M-RAC50 M-RAC100

0 5 10 15 20

Fig. 17. Support reaction in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete during the rst drop of impact.

500 400 300 200 100

M-RAC0 M-RAC100

Support Reaction (N)

No. of drops
Fig. 19. Variation in support reaction with number of drops.

M-RAC25
Table 4 Average maximum values of support reaction.

M-RAC50
0 -2.08E-17 -100 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01

Mix designation M-RAC0 (2)a M-RAC25 (3)a M-RAC50 (3)a M-RAC100 (3)a
a

RCA (%) 0 25 50 100

Maximum support reaction (N) 521.60 492.13 499.93 469.22

Time (s)

Fig. 18. Enlarged view of peak support reactions in normal and recycled aggregate concretes during the rst drop of impact.

Number of specimens tested.

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at the bottom vertically at or near the impact point in both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams except in RAC with 100% recycled coarse aggregate. All the beams are failed in the immediate next one or two drops after the initiation of crack. This may be due to brittleness of the material. In case of RAC with 100% recycled coarse aggregate, the crack initiated away from the impact point. Fig. 21 shows the fractured surfaces of both normal and recycled aggregate concrete specimens. It shows that the failure path or surface is more tortuous in case of normal concrete and RAC with 25% recycled coarse aggregate. This indicates that the failure is through the interface between aggregate and cement mortar and this is common in case of normal concrete as it is the weakest portion in normal concrete. In case of recycled aggregate concrete with higher percentage of recycled coarse aggregate (50% and 100%) the fractured surface is more even. This indicates that the failure is through the aggregate in addition to the weaker interfaces between aggregate and old and new mortars. A similar failure pattern is observed in case of split tensile test.

ical and mechanical properties of recycled coarse aggregates. The impact tests are also conducted on RAC beams made with these percentages of RCA. With each percentage of RCA three beam specimens are considered for testing. Based on the experimental results the following conclusions may be drawn: 1. The recycled coarse aggregates are relatively ner; the surface texture is more porous and rough when compared to natural aggregates. This increases the water demand and reduces the workability. The density and specic gravity are lower and water absorption is higher in case of recycled coarse aggregate due to low density and high absorption capacity of old mortar adhered to those. These will effects the quantities of material to be used in the concrete. The mechanical characteristics of RCA are also relatively lower than natural aggregates. 2. The workability of recycled aggregate concrete is lower than that of normal concrete. The compressive and tensile strengths, modulus of elasticity and density of RAC decreased with the increase of RCA content. However, 25% RCA does not inuence much on compressive strength of concrete. No signicant improvement is observed in compressive strength of RAC from 28 days to 90 days curing period. Like in high strength concrete, the recycled aggregate concrete failed through the recycled aggregates in addition to the failure of the old interface.

5. Closing remarks The mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concrete made with 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% RCA are studied along with the phys-

Fig. 20. Crack pattern of both normal and recycled aggregate concrete beams: (a) and (b) are normal concrete, (c) RAC with 25% RCA, (d) RAC with 50% RCA, (e) and (f) RAC with 100% RCA.

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79

Fig. 21. Failure surfaces of: (a) M-RAC0 (b) M-RAC25 (c) M-RAC50 and (d) M-RAC100.

3. The accelerations of RAC are more than normal concrete at a given impact energy (energy imparted by the hammer per blow) and they are increased with the increase in drop number. This indicates the stiffness and density of the material inuences the vibration of the beams; the higher the stiffness and density, the lower the acceleration. 4. The maximum displacement increased with the increase in percentage of recycled coarse aggregate for a given impact energy (energy imparted by the hammer per blow). This is obvious that the stiffness (modulus of elasticity) of RAC is lower than that of normal concrete. 5. The recycled aggregates are more sensitive to the high strain rate of loading. Both tensile and compressive strains of RAC with 100% RCA are signicantly higher than those of normal concrete. However, 25% RCA does not have much inuence on strains during the repeated drops of impact. 6. The support reaction of the RAC beams are lower than that of normal concrete and its magnitude increased with the increase

in drop number to a particular number and then reduces towards the failure. The difference in resistances of RAC with 25% RCA and normal concrete is only 5%. 7. The failure path is more tortuous in case of normal concrete and RAC with 25% RCA. This indicates the failure occurred at the interface. Whereas, the failure path is more even in case of RAC with 50% and 100% RCA. This show that the failure occurred through the aggregates in addition to the failure of the interfaces. 8. The impact resistance of the recycled aggregate concrete reduced with the increase in percentage of RCA and the reduction is more with 100% RCA.

Acknowledgements The nancial support provided by UGC, Goernment of India is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also wish to thank the sup-

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M. Chakradhara Rao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 6980 [8] Rahal K. Mechanical properties of concrete with recycled coarse aggregate. Build Environ 2007;42(1):40715. [9] Etxeberria M, Vazquez E, Mari A, Barra M. Inuence of amount of recycled coarse aggregates and production process on properties of recycled aggregate concrete. Cem Concr Res 2007;37(5):73542. [10] Yang KH, Chung HS, Ashour AF. Inuence of type and replacement level of recycled aggregates on concrete properties. ACI Mater J 2008;105(3): 28996. [11] Kou SC, Poon CS. Mechanical properties of 5-yearold concrete prepared with recycled aggregates obtained from three different sources. Mag Concr Res 2008;60(1):5764. [12] Padmini AK, Ramamurthy K, Mathews MS. Inuence of parent concrete on the properties of recycled aggregate concrete. Constr Build Mater 2009;23(2):82936. [13] Ajdukiewicz AB, Kliszezewicz AT. Comparative tests of beams and columns made of recycled aggregate concrete and natural aggregate concrete. J Adv Concr Technol 2007;5(2):25973. [14] Sato R, Maruyama I, Sogabe T, Sogo M. Flexural behavior of reinforced recycled concrete beams. J Adv Technol 2007;5(1):4361. [15] Etxeberria M, Mari AR, Vazquez E. Recycled aggregate concrete as structural material. Mater Struct 2007;40(5):52941. [16] Gonzalez-Fonteboa B, Martinez-Abella F. Shear strength of recycled concrete beams. Constr Build Mater 2007;21(4):88793. [17] Gonzalez-Fonteboa B, Martinez-Abella F, Martinez-Lage I, Eiras-Lopez J. Structural shear behaviour of recycled concrete with silica fume. Constr Build Mater 2009;23(11):340610. [18] You-Fu Y, Lin-Hai H. Experimental behavior of recycled aggregate concrete lled steel tubular columns. J Constr Steel Res 2006;62(12):131024. [19] Xiao J, Sun Y, Falkner H. Seismic performance of frame structures with recycled aggregate concrete. Eng Struct 2006;28(1):18. [20] Bentur A, Mindess S, Banthia N. The behavior of concrete under impact loading: Experimental procedures and method of analysis. Mater Struct 1986;19(113):3718. [21] Banthia N, Mindess S, Bentur A. Impact behaviour of concrete beams. Mater Struct 1987;20(4):293302. [22] Wang N, Mindess S, Ko K. Fibre reinforced concrete beams under impact loading. Cem Concr Res 1996;26(3):36376. [23] Tang T, Saadatmanesh H. Behaviour of concrete beams strengthened with bre-reinforced polymer laminates under impact loading. J Compos Constr ASCE 2003;7(3):20918. [24] May IM, Chen Yi, Owen DRJ, Feng YT, Thiele PJ. Reinforced concrete beams under drop weight impact loads. Comput Concr 2006;3(23):7990. [25] Works Bureau. Works bureau technical circular 12/2002, specications facilitating the use of recycled aggregates. Hong Kong SAR Government; 2002. [26] Building research establishment. BRE digest: 433 recycled aggregates. Garston, Watford WD2 7JR; 1998. [27] Etxeberria M, Vazquez E, Mari ER. Microstructure analysis of hardened recycled aggregate concrete. Mag Concr Res 2006;58(10):68390. [28] Prasad MLV, Ritish Kumar P. Strength studies on glass ber reinforced recycled aggregate concrete. A J Civ Eng (Build Hous) 2007;8(6):67790. [29] Poon CS, Kou SC, Chan D. Inuence of steam curing on hardened properties of recycled aggregate concrete. Mag Concr Res 2006;58(5):28999. [30] Neville AM. Properties of concrete. New Delhi: Pearson Education; 2006.

plier of Sika Viscocrete Superplasticiser, SIKA India Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata. Appendix

Symbols RAC RCC RCA C&DW OPC BIS SSD FA CA w/c ASTM FFT ls X DAQ ms FRP

Abbreviations recycled aggregate concrete reinforced cement concrete recycled coarse aggregate construction and demolition waste ordinary portland cement Bureau of Indian Standards saturated surface dry ne aggregate coarse aggregate water/cement ratio American society for testing and materials Fast Fourier Transform microsecond ohm data acquisition system millisecond ber reinforced plastic

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