VERIFICATION OF THE ADHERENCE BETWEEN STEEL AND

CONCRETE WITH THE USE OF AGGREGATE GRADE

RECYCLED
*
Ricardo Dias Campos Filho , Nilton da Silva Maia† and Conrado de Souza
Rodrigues‡
*
Centro Federal de Educação de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG)
Av. Amazonas, 5253, 30421-169 Belo Horizonte, Brasil
e-mail: rcamposcivil@gmail.com, webpage: www.cefetmg.br

Keywords: Bond stress, Construction and demolition waste (CDW), Recycled Aggregate

Abstract. The adhesion between steel and concrete is the property that guarantees the
effectiveness of reinforced concrete. Brazilian standards do not allow concretes
produced for structural purposes to have recycled aggregates. But many countries
already use this technology. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to study the
behavior of concrete steel adhesion in concretes produced with recycled aggregate
having a compressive strength greater than 25 MPa. For this, the recycled aggregate
was characterized, tests were also carried out to characterize the mechanical properties
of the concrete: uniaxial compression strength, static modulus of elasticity and tensile
strength by diametrical compression. To evaluate the adhesion tension, direct pullout
tests and confined rod tests were performed. Test specimens were prepared using
conventional bulk aggregate and 25%, 50% and 100% replacement of the standard
heavy aggregate by recycling. Samples with 100% substitution of the natural aggregate
by recycled do not present significant losses in the mechanical characteristics compared
to the reference concrete and the sample with 25% substitution of the natural aggregate
by recycled presents results equivalent to the reference sample. The results for the
confined rod tests did not satisfy the norm NBR 7477 (1982), they present a smaller
number of cracks than the one established. However, the adhesion stress was still
calculated. It can be concluded that the adhesion tension does not change significantly.
The results obtained in the pullout tests were satisfactory and presented variations
consistent with the one presented in the literature. Although the concrete produced with
recycled aggregate does not present any damage in relation to the adhesion stress, it is
still necessary to improve the production conditions of the recycled aggregate, to obtain
a material with a lower percentage of red ceramics and to be composed of more than
90% of residues of concrete.

†
Centro Federal de Educação de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG
‡
Centro Federal de Educação de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG)

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 Filho, Ricardo Dias Campos, Maia, Nilton da Silva and Rodrigues, Conrado de Souza

1 INTRODUCTION
The need for a reuse of waste is great, as places for waste disposal are scarce and
natural sources have been depleted every day. The time will come when the extraction of
raw material will have a cost of transportation that will make the project unfeasible.
Construction and demolition wastes (RCD) represent approximately 20 to 30% of the
solid waste generated by cities in developed countries, and may be higher in the others1.
In Brazilian cities the RCD represents 40 to 70% by mass of the amount of solid urban
waste generated by the construction industry consumes about 50% of all natural
resources in the country. The generation of construction waste (RCC) is approximately
450 kg / inhabitant / year, varying naturally from city to city and with the oscillation of
the economy. The management of this material is costly and complex and the tendency is
that this difficulty increases with the proportion of volume generated. Sites for the
disposal of these materials are being filled and sites for the deployment of new landfills
become scarce and away from shopping centers2,3,4,5.
As much as there is a constant reevaluation for the improvement of the constructive
processes, in order to reduce the costs and the amount of material wasted, there will
always be something lost. Therefore, there is a need to find solutions to the problem of
waste, with practical ways of recycling in the work itself or in appropriate plants.
Recycling can introduce a new material with great potentiality of use, transforming the
rubble, again, into raw material6.
In Europe, technical standards have been in place since 2000 to subsidize the
production of 40 MPa concrete with the use of recycled aggregate by crushing
construction waste. This recycling includes the crushing of bricks and concrete for use as
a complement to new building materials or as a filler for new constructions to replace the
use of crushed stone7.
In Brazil, approximately 45 million tons of RCD were collected in 2014, with the
Southeast region accounting for about 23 million tons. These data are only of works on
municipal responsibility and waste released in public places. This volume is growing
every year and little has been done to give an adequate final destination or reuse8.
What makes the constructions in reinforced concrete viable is the property of steel-
concrete adhesion, the interaction that allows a similarity of the deformations that occur
in this compound. This adherence is influenced by several factors, so the importance of
verifying the possible changes with the change of aggregates used in the concrete to have
a better basis for such use9,10.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Materials
The binder material used was CPII-E 32 cement, the small aggregate used was the
sand of thick quartz origin, the natural bulk aggregate used was gneiss origin with a
maximum diameter of 19 mm. Construction waste recycled as aggregates, obtained at
BR-040, denominated as gravel 1, the material was washed and sifted to remove any
powdery material or any impurity and dried in an oven at 110 ° C for 24 h. Barbed steel
bar CA-50 with a diameter of 10 mm.

2.2 Methods
In order to evaluate the adhesion stress in concretes produced with recycled
aggregates, a reference trait was produced that meets the several recommendations of

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 Filho, Ricardo Dias Campos, Maia, Nilton da Silva and Rodrigues, Conrado de Souza

ABNT for concrete and concrete with the substitution of the natural aggregate by RCD
recycling. The percentages of 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% of substitution of the natural
aggregate by recycled were adopted in this study. Then, characterization of the recycled
aggregate was carried out for comparison with the natural aggregate. Table 1 shows the
tests performed to characterize the recycled aggregate and the respective standards used.

Standard Description of the test

NBR 7227/1987 Determination of the granulometric composition
NBR-NM 53/2003 Specific, apparent mass and water absorption
NBR NM 46/2003 Determination of the fine material passing through the 75
µm sieve by washing
NBR 15116/2004 Determination of the composition of the aggregates by
visual analysis
NBR NM 46/2006 Determination of the unit mass of the aggregate
Table 1: Assays for characterization of the recycled aggregate.

After the characterization of the recycled aggregate, the concrete trace was studied to
meet the minimum resistance of 25 MPa. For the production of the concrete the dosage
method proposed by the Brazilian Association of Portland Cement (ABCP) was used.
Table 2 presents the description of the samples with the respective material consumption.

cement Sand Gravel Recycled aggregate Water Plasticizer

Trace Sample Nº CP's
(kg/m³) (kg/m³) (kg/m³) (kg/m³) (kg) (g)
1 : 1,64 : 2,08

T1-R 946 0
T1-25 709 202
5 455 746 205 2730
T1-50 473 404
T1-100 0 808
Table 2: Concrete dosing for trace production.

The concrete steel adhesion was evaluated from the results of two tests: Pullout Test
(POT), cited by Fusco11 and Porto12 as a more traditional test for the evaluation of the
tension of adhesion and used by Xiao and Falkner12, Prince and Singh13, França14,
Tavares15, Kim16 for evaluation of the tension of adhesion. Confined rod tests were also
carried out, as the test was recommended by Brazilian standard ABNT-NBR 747717. For
the concrete characterization, uniaxial compression, diametral compression and modulus
of elasticity tests were performed. Mechanical properties, raised by Ribeiro18, Dumêt19,
Barbosa20, Reyes21, Tavares18 and Angst22 that influence the tension of adhesion.

2.3 Models for the POT test

The shapes were made in cubic format, with dimensions of 200 mm, in wood,
according to the recommendations of RILEM-CEB RC623. The adopted anchoring length
was 100 mm, corresponding to 10 times the 10 mm diameter of the CA-50 steel bar used.
The densification of the specimens was performed with a 25 mm diameter needle-type
immersion vibrator.
The tests were carried out on the universal machine DL30000, brand EMIC, whose
load capacity is 300 kN. For the execution of the test a tensile force was applied at the
lower end of the steel bars and the relative displacements at the other end were measured
using a "displacement transducer".

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 Filho, Ricardo Dias Campos, Maia, Nilton da Silva and Rodrigues, Conrado de Souza

2.4 Models for confined rod testing

The shapes were made in prismatic format, made of wood, the densification was done
in a vibratory table.
The specimens were tested on the universal machine DL30000, brand EMIC, with a
capacity of 300 kN. The loading was applied up to 80% of the load corresponding to the
drainage tension of the steel bar.

2.5 Experimental program

Table 3 presents the experimental program performed. The samples were subdivided
into REF, AR25, AR50 and AR100 being respectively reference concrete, concrete with
25%, 50% and 100% replacement of the natural aggregate by recycled.

Modulus of
Sample POT Confined Bars Uniaxial compression Compression diametral
elasticity
REF 10 10 5 5 3
AR25 10 10 5 5 3
AR50 10 10 5 5 3
AR100 10 10 5 5 3
Table 3: Número de corpos de prova por ensaio.

3 RESULTS

3.1 Characterization of the recycled aggregate

3.1.1 Granulometric composition

ABNT-NBR 721124 establishes granulometric limits of the large aggregates, as can be
observed in Figure 3, the recycled aggregate was partially outside the limits established
by the standard for crushed stone 1. The crushed stone falls within the range established
by referred to above. It can be observed that the recycled gravel has a greater amount of
material retained between the sieves 9.5 mm and 6.3 mm.

Figure 3: Granulometric curve of the recycled and natural aggregate.

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 Filho, Ricardo Dias Campos, Maia, Nilton da Silva and Rodrigues, Conrado de Souza

3.1.2 Properties of the recycled aggregate

Table 4 presents the parameters obtained in the characterization test of the recycled
aggregate. As already observed Leite25 and Brito26 the recycled aggregate has a lower
specific mass than the natural aggregate. The water absorption of the recycled aggregate
is significantly higher than that of the natural aggregate. The recycled aggregate is more
abrasive than the natural one, it can be concluded that it presents a lower mechanical
resistance and because of this, it reduces the compressive strength of the concrete.

Parameters Natural Aggregate Recycled Aggregate

D (kg/m³) 2,64 2,07
ds(kg/m³) 2,68 2,57
A (%) 0,50 9,28
Unitary Mass (kg/m³) 1.451,58 1.141,05
Saturated Unit Mass Dry Surface (kg/m³) 1.458,81 1.246,90
Empty Index (%) 44,88 35,16
Abrasion "Los Angeles" 20,03% 44,73%
Thin material passing through the 75 µm sieve per wash - 2,12%
Table 4: Caracterização do agregado reciclado.

3.1.3 Determination of the composition of the aggregates by visual analysis

Figure 4 shows the fragmented recycled aggregate sample in subgroups as determined in
ABNT-NBR 1511627 and the percentage of each subgroup in relation to the total mass of the
sample.

Figure 4: Composição do agregado reciclado por analise visual.

After analysis of the results, it can be concluded that the material obtained in the BR-040
plant fits into the ARM type aggregate, second to NBR1511627. The aggregate under study
does not meet Lnec28 hich states that the recycled aggregate for the production of concrete for
structural purposes must have at least 90% of concrete residues. It also goes against Angle
(2013) which expects contents of up to 5% of red ceramics in the RCD aggregates. These
results confirm the low quality of the recycled aggregates in Brazil. However, the chloride,
sulphate and clay lumps contents should be evaluated, as reported by Lima29.

3.2 Characterization of concrete

Figure 5 presents the results obtained in the concrete compressive strength test. It can be
observed that there was no reduction in the compressive strength of the AR25 sample in

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 Filho, Ricardo Dias Campos, Maia, Nilton da Silva and Rodrigues, Conrado de Souza

relation to the REFI sample when considering the standard deviation, while the AR50 sample
suffered a reduction of the resistance of approximately 13% while the AR100 sample suffered
a reduction in the compressive strength in comparison with the REFI sample of
approximately 25%, one of the possibilities for this variation may be to the heterogeneity of
the recycled aggregate.

Figure 5: Characterization of the concrete with respect to the compressive strength.

Figure 6 shows the tensile strength results obtained in the diametral compression test of the
concrete used in the molding of the POT test specimens and confined bars. It can be observed
that the tensile strength of the concrete remained constant with the substitution of the recycled
aggregate by natural even with the reduction of the compressive strength of samples AR50
and AR100.

Figure 6: Characterization of the concrete with respect to the tensile strength.

Figure 7 presents the results obtained in the static modulus modulus test of the concrete. It
can be observed that the sample AR25 presented results equivalent to the reference sample,
the sample AR50 presented a reduction of approximately 11% in relation to the reference
sample and the sample AR100 presented a reduction of 30% in relation to the reference
sample.

Figure 7: Characterization of the concrete with respect to tensile strength.

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 Filho, Ricardo Dias Campos, Maia, Nilton da Silva and Rodrigues, Conrado de Souza

The improvement of the interface that can exert better concrete steel adhesion in concretes
with RCD is not perceived here. On the other hand, the samples with 100% substitution of the
natural aggregate by recycled do not present significant losses in the mechanical
characteristics compared to the reference concrete and the sample with 25% substitution of
the natural aggregate by recycled results equivalent to the reference sample.

3.3 Constrained rod testing

Most of the specimens did not present at least five cracks throughout the cross section, as
required by ABNT-NBR 747717. However, the adhesion stress was still calculated. Figure 8
shows the plot of adhesion stress versus the percentage of addition of recycled aggregate to
replace the natural bulk aggregate.

Figure 8: Tensile strength obtained in the confined rod test.

When analyzing the graph of Figure 8, it can be concluded that the adhesion tension does not
change significantly, considering the standard deviation, with the substitution of the natural
aggregate by recycled, even with the reduction of the resistance to uniaxial compression.

3.3 POT test

The obtained results are presented in Figure 9. It can be observed that the average adhesion
tension is in favor of safety and therefore should be adopted as the effective adhesion tension.
It can also be concluded by analyzing the graph that the adhesion stress is not influenced by
the substitution of the natural aggregate by recycled, taking into account the coefficient of
variation of the results.

Figure 9: Tensão de aderência versus porcentagem de adição de agregado reciclado..

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 Filho, Ricardo Dias Campos, Maia, Nilton da Silva and Rodrigues, Conrado de Souza

3 CONCLUSIONS
The objectives initially proposed for this research were reached and it was possible to
determine the adhesion performance between steel and concrete with the use of recycled
aggregates, no changes were observed in the adhesion stress with the addition of recycled
aggregates. It is possible to produce concrete with 100% recycled aggregate having a strength
greater than 25 MPa, which serves most concrete for structural purposes.
For the confined rod test, the elements of the samples that presented at least five cross-
sectional cracks, as prescribed by ABNT-NBR 747717, were not representative of these
samples. It can be noted that the maximum and average adhesion strength, as the percentage
of substitution of the natural aggregate per recycle increases, has remained constant. This fact
was associated with the high water absorption index of the recycled aggregates found in this
research, and also described by Leite25 and Brito26 which release the adsorbed water after
concreting and hydrate the cement paste around the steel bar, which provides better cure of
the paste and provides better adhesion. In addition to the use of plasticizer additive it makes
the compound denser and tends to improve the adhesion between the constituent materials.
This study, as well as Melo30, proves that it is necessary to improve the production conditions
of the recycled aggregate, to obtain a material with better characteristics, classified as ARC
according to ABNT-NBR 1511627, for a more valued. Despite good adhesion stress results,
the recycled aggregate did not meet the minimum requirements stipulated by Lnec28 that
recycled aggregates for the production of concrete for structural purposes must have at least
90% of concrete residues. Since the material obtained in the BR-040 plant is classified as
ARM-type aggregate, second to ABNT-NBR 1511627, where the sum of the percentages of
groups 1 and 2 are less than 90%.

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