Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Combined effects of recycled aggregate and y ash towards concrete

sustainability
Kyuhun Kim a, Myoungsu Shin a,, Soowon Cha b
a
b

School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

h i g h l i g h t s
 The higher ratio of recycled aggregate resulted in the better owability of concrete.
 Recycled aggregate concrete with y ash presented slightly lower yield stress, but much lower plastic viscosity.
 Fly ash caused only a minor reduction in the strength of recycled aggregate concrete.
 Recycled aggregate concrete with y ash showed much higher chloride resistance than that without y ash.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 7 March 2013
Received in revised form 6 June 2013
Accepted 15 July 2013
Available online 9 August 2013
Keywords:
Recycled aggregate
Fly ash
Rheology
Strength
Chloride diffusion coefcient
ICAR Rheometer

a b s t r a c t
The recycling of demolished concrete has been emerging as a sustainable solution to warrant the reduction of construction wastes, as well as to prevent the depletion of natural resources from growing construction demand. Nevertheless, some key factors that would affect the properties of recycled
aggregate concrete have not been thoroughly investigated, such as the proportion of recycled aggregates,
the moisture state of recycled aggregates, and the design compressive strength of concrete. In particular,
little research was done on the combined effects of recycled aggregates and y ash, popularly used as a
partial substitution of cement. Given the concerns, this study investigates the effects of such factors on
the mechanical and durability properties of recycled aggregate concrete. Eleven cases of concrete mixtures were tested for the rheological properties of fresh concrete, compressive strength, tensile strength,
and chloride diffusion coefcient. In general, the higher ratio of recycled aggregates resulted in the better
owability of concrete. Also, the use of y ash improved the owability of recycled aggregate concrete.
The strength test results showed that the higher ratio of recycled aggregates generally caused the lower
compressive and tensile strengths of concrete. However, the cases with 30% recycled aggregates showed
only slight compressive strength reductions. Similarly, the use of y ash caused only small reductions in
the compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete. In contrast, the negative effects of recycled
aggregates and y ash were greater in the tensile strength than in the compressive strength. Lastly,
the cases containing y ash exhibited much higher resistance to chloride penetration, even in the cases
with recycled aggregates.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and background

Climate change, which is often signied by global warming, is
one of the most critical global issues that have potential to jeopardize the sustainability of human society. Among many causes, the
construction industry is responsible for a major portion of greenhouse gas emission. For example, the production process of cement
itself yields approximately 7% of the total CO2 emission worldwide
[1].
Corresponding author. Address: School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 100 Banyeon-ri,
Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 52 217 2814.
E-mail address: msshin@unist.ac.kr (M. Shin).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.07.014

Also, construction wastes take nearly 50% of the total solid

waste in the US [2], most of which are deposited into landlls that
may cause serious environmental pollution problems in both local
and global scales. On the other hand, the consumption of aggregates as a construction material has continually increased with
universal industrialization and urbanization (e.g., expansion and
upgrade of civil infrastructure). Moreover, enhanced legal constraints for the conservation of natural resources have resulted in
an imbalance between the demand and supply of aggregates in
many countries [3].
To meet the global consensus of sustainable development, technical strategies for ensuring the sustainability of concrete construction have been discussed among the professionals [46],

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K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

Nomenclature
fc0

s
s0
l
c_
D
z
F
R

design compressive strength of concrete (MPa)

shear stress (Pa)
yield stress (Pa)
plastic viscosity (Pa s)
shear strain rate (1/s)
non-steady-state migration coefcient (m2/s)
absolute value of ion valence (=1 for chloride)
Faraday constant (=9.648  104 J/V mol)
gas constant (=8.314 J/K mol)

T
xd
t
U
L
erf-1
cd
c0

average of initial and nal temperatures in the anolyte

solution (K)
average chloride penetration depth (m)
test duration (s)
absolute value of the applied voltage (V)
thickness of specimen (m)
inverse of error function
chloride concentration at which the color changes (N)
chloride concentration in the catholyte solution (N)

which suggest saving materials in design, maximizing concrete

durability, use of waste or supplementary cementitious materials
(e.g., y ash, and slag), and recycling of concrete. In this study,
the last two approaches are investigated: the main objective is to
investigate the combined effects of recycled aggregates and y
ash on the mechanical and durability properties of concrete.
The recycling of demolished concrete, which comprises roughly
50% of the total construction waste in South Korea, has been
emerging as a sustainable solution to warrant the reduction of construction wastes, as well as to prevent the depletion of natural resources (i.e., stones) from growing construction demand [7,8].
Demolished concrete can be processed into recycled aggregates
that may be used as a partial or complete replacement of natural
aggregates in concrete production. However, the application of
recycled aggregates in concrete products is very limited, because
of their inferior qualities to natural aggregates. As shown in
Fig. 1 [9], almost 95% of recycled aggregates are used for road
embankment, base, pavement, backll, and such, while applications to concrete products are less than approximately 5% in Korea.
Korean Concrete Standard Specications [10] state that, if the
properties and the particle size distribution are satised with suggested conditions in Table 3 and Fig. 2, the use of recycled aggregates is allowed within 30% of the total amount of aggregates for
concrete products that have the compressive strength of 21
27 MPa.
Recycled aggregate concrete generally shows a lower strength
and durability than natural aggregate concrete due to the higher
porosity and lower density of recycled aggregates. The Interfacial
Transition Zone (ITZ) existing between an aggregate and mortar
in concrete is known as a critical factor affecting the overall quality
of concrete. Concrete made with recycled aggregates includes old
ITZs (between the original virgin aggregates and residual mortar

attached to them) as well as new ITZs. This is presumed to be

the primary cause of its inferior properties [11].
Nevertheless, some key factors that would affect the qualities of
recycled aggregate concrete have not been thoroughly investigated, such as the proportion of recycled aggregates, the moisture
state of recycled aggregates, and the design compressive strength
of concrete. In particular, little research was done on the combined
effects of recycled aggregates and y ash that is popularly used as a
partial substitution of cement. Given the concerns, this study
investigates the effects of such factors on the mechanical and durability properties of recycled aggregate concrete: the rheological
properties in the plastic state, compressive and tensile strengths,
and chloride penetration resistance of concrete. The main objective
of this study is to investigate the combined effects of recycled
aggregates and y ash.
Several studies found that the higher ratio of recycled aggregates had a tendency to increase the slump of fresh concrete
[1214]. Also, Siddique [15] tested with changing the substitution
ratio of cement by y ash up to 50%, and reported that the owability of concrete enhanced with an increased amount of y ash. During a slump test, the ow of fresh concrete will stop when the
shear stress generated by gravity in the concrete is smaller than
the yield stress of the concrete. Based on this theory, there has
been much research to nd out the correlation between slump
and yield stress. According to Wallevik [16], several equations
were proposed to elucidate the relationship of the two. However,
the rheological properties (e.g., yield stress, and plastic viscosity)
of recycled aggregate concrete have not been studied much until
now, and may not be measured with the conventional slump tests.
Numerous studies investigated the effect of recycled aggregates
on the strength of concrete [1720], and the results generally
agreed that the strength decreased when the ratio of recycled

Fig. 1. Usage of recycled aggregates in Korea [9].

Fig. 2. Particle size distributions of coarse and ne aggregates used in the tests.

K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

aggregates increased. According to Sim and Park [22], the strength

of concrete made with y ash was smaller than that of concrete
without y ash. Berndt [21] also examined the effect of a partial
replacement of cement with y ash and/or blast furnace slag on
the properties of concrete. It was noted that natural aggregate concrete with 50% of cement substituted by blast furnace slag
achieved the best performance, while concrete containing y ash
showed a lower strength and durability. Although separate effects
of recycled aggregates or y ash were extensively investigated, little research has assessed their combined effects on the strength of
concrete to date.
Berndt [21] examined the effect of recycled aggregates on the
chloride diffusion coefcient of concrete. He reported that recycled
aggregate concrete was more vulnerable to chloride attack than
natural aggregate concrete. Kong et al. [11] also found that the
use of recycled aggregates caused a lower resistance to chloride
penetration. In addition, Berndt [21] showed that the chloride
resistance of concrete was weakened with the use of y ash. However, the tests were conducted at the age of 28 days only, and no
consideration was given to the delayed development of concrete
with y ash.

501

properties of coarse and ne aggregates are presented in Table 3. The recycled

coarse aggregates used have a lower density and a higher water absorption ratio
(equal to approximately 6%) than the natural coarse aggregates. This is likely because of residual mortar existing at the surfaces of recycled aggregates [23], as
shown in Fig. 3. The recycled aggregates have a lower density and a higher water
absorption ratio than those recommended in Korean Concrete Standard Specications [10], but they satises related requirements specied by RILEM [24] (see
Table 3). (Note that the manufacturing process used to convert demolished concrete
to recycled aggregates did not deliberately remove attached mortar.)
The particle size distributions of the used aggregates are presented in Fig. 2. The
natural coarse aggregates are crushed aggregates (Fig. 3) that have the maximum
size of 25 mm. The maximum size of recycled coarse aggregates is also 25 mm,
and the particle size distribution satises the recommendations in Korean Concrete
Standard Specications [10]. The maximum size of ne aggregates is 10 mm.
2.3. Mix proportions
Table 4 summarizes mix proportions for the eleven concrete cases. The water/
cement ratio of the mix design was 43% and 32% in the cases of the design compressive strength equal to 24 and 40 MPa, respectively. The percentage of ne aggregate
was 42% in all eleven cases. For the cases using y ash, 30% of the cement was
substituted by y ash. A PC-type super-plasticizer was used to be 0.3% and 1% of
the amount of binder in the cases of the design compressive strength of 24 and
40 MPa, respectively.

3. Test methods
2. Experimental procedures
2.1. Test variables
In this study, various properties of recycled aggregate concrete are investigated
such as the rheological properties of fresh concrete, compressive strength, tensile
strength, and chloride ion diffusion coefcient. The test variables are the ratio of
recycled aggregates in the total amount of coarse aggregates, the presence of y
ash as a partial substitution (30%) of cement, the design compressive strength of
concrete, and the moisture state of recycled coarse aggregates. A total of eleven
cases of concrete mixtures are tested, as summarized in Table 1.
As for the designation of the mixture cases in Table 1, the rst letters N and H
indicate that the design compressive strength of concrete is equal to 24 and 40 MPa
respectively, which represent normal and high strength concretes in turn. The additional letter F means that 30% of the total cement is substituted by y ash; in the
cases without F, y ash is not included. Also, OD and SSD stand for two different moisture states of recycled coarse aggregates: oven-dried and saturated-surfacedried states, respectively. Lastly, the ending number 0, 30, or 100 says the
zpercentage of recycled aggregates in the total amount of coarse aggregates.
2.2. Materials
Type I Portland cement is used that has the specic gravity of 3.15 and the
neness of 3312 cm2/g. Fly ash has the specic gravity of 2.14 and the neness of
3360 cm2/g, and several other properties of y ash are shown in Table 2. The

Table 1
Test variables of the eleven mixture cases.

Mixture
casea,b

Design
compressive
strength (fc0 )

Moisture
state of
coarse
aggregatec

Replacement
ratio of recycled
aggregate (%)d

Use of y
ash (30% of
cement)

N-SSD-0
NF-SSD-0
N-SSD-30
NF-SSD-30
N-SSD-100
NF-SSD-100
N-OD-100

24 MPa

SSD

0
0
30
30
100
100
100

X
O
X
O
X
O
X

H-SSD-0
H-SSD-30
H-SSD-100
HF-SSD-100

40 MPa

0
30
100
100

X
X
X
O

OD
SSD

N, H: design compressive strength (fc0 ) equal to 24, 40 MPa.

b
F: presence of y ash as a partial substitution (30%) of cement.
c
SSD, OD: moisture state of coarse aggregate, Saturated-Surface-Dried, OvenDried.
d
0, 30, 100: percentage of recycled coarse aggregate in the total amount of coarse
aggregate.

In this study, various tests for recycled aggregate concrete were

performed such as ow curve test, compressive and tensile
strength tests, and chloride ion penetration test. Each test method
is briey described in the following.
3.1. Flow curve test
In order to investigate effects of the test variables on the rheological properties of concrete, the ow curve test was conducted
using the ICAR Rheometer system (Fig. 4). Also, the slump test, followed by ASTM C413, was carried out at the same time. The results
from the two tests are compared.
The ICAR Rheometer is a testing system [25] capable of measuring the yield stress and plastic viscosity dened by the Binghams
model [26]. A brief description of the test procedures is in the following. Fresh concrete was added to a 286 mm-diameter container
up to a height of 300 mm. Then, a vane with four blades was located at the center of the concrete container (see Fig. 4). Both the
diameter and the height of the vane are 127 mm. The vane was rotated at a constant speed of 0.5 rev/s for the breakdown time
(about 20 s) in order to maintain the viscosity of the concrete. After
the breakdown time, the rheometer measured the rotation speed
of the vane and the torque applied to the vane, as the rotation
speed was reduced from 0.5 to 0.05 rev/s over 30 s. A total of seven
measurements, each at every 5 s for a set of the rotation speed and
the torque, were recorded. Using the test results, the linear relationship between the rotation speed and the torque of the vane
may be obtained by regression analysis. At last, the yield stress
and plastic viscosity of the esh concrete is estimated according
to the Binghams model represented by:

s s0 lc_

Here s is shear stress (Pa), s0 is yield stress (Pa), l is plastic viscosity

(Pa s), and c_ is shear strain rate (1/s).
3.2. Compressive and splitting tensile strength tests
Cylindrical specimens for compressive and splitting tensile
strength tests were 100 mm in diameter and 200 mm in height,
fabricated according to ASTM C943-10. The compressive strength
tests were conducted following ASTM C39 at the age of 7, 28,
and 91 days. The splitting tensile strength tests followed ASTM
C496 at the age of 28 and 91 days.

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K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

Table 2
Properties of y ash.

4. Test results

SiO2
(%)

Water
(%)

Loss on
ignition
(%)

Density
(g/cm3)

Blaine
neness
(cm2/g)

Flow
value
ratio (%)

Activity
index
(%)

48.8

0.1

3.5

2.14

3360

101

81

4.1. Rheological properties

3.3. Chloride ion penetration test

The chloride ion penetration resistance is often used as an
important indicator to measure the long-term durability of concrete. The tests followed the NT BUILD 492 method [27] to evaluate
effects of the test variables on the chloride diffusion coefcient of
concrete. This test method is well known as an efcient way of
measuring the diffusion coefcient within a short time of about
24 h.
Disk-shaped specimens that are 100 mm in diameter and
50 mm in thickness were installed on a device shown in Fig. 5,
and chloride ions were forced to penetrate into the concrete specimens using an electric eld for 24 h. After this process, the concrete specimens were split into half, and a silver nitrate solution
was sprayed on the split surfaces. The change of color on the
sprayed surfaces was observed, and the average chloride penetration depth was estimated. The chloride diffusion coefcient was
calculated using the equations below:

p
RT xd  a xd

zFE
t

U2
L

r


RT
2cd
1
a2
1
 erf
zFE
c0

Here D is the non-steady-state migration coefcient (m2/s), z is the

absolute value of ion valence (=1 for chloride), F is the Faraday constant (=9.648  104 J/V mol), R is the gas constant (=8.314 J/K mol),
T is the average of initial and nal temperatures in the anolyte solution (K), xd is the average chloride penetration depth (m), and t is
the test duration (s). Also, U is the absolute value of the applied
voltage (V), L is the thickness of specimen (m), erf1 is the inverse
of error function, cd is chloride concentration at which the color
changes (N), and c0 is chloride concentration in the catholyte solution (N).

The results obtained from the ow curve tests of normal

strength concrete (fc0 = 24 MPa) are presented in Figs. 6 and 7.
Fig. 6 shows the ow curves of the three concrete mixtures not
containing y ash (N-SSD-0, N-SSD-30, and N-SSD-100), while
Fig. 7 shows those of the three concrete mixtures using y ash
(NF-SSD-0, NF-SSD-30, and NF-SSD-100) as a partial substitution
(i.e., 30%) of cement. In each gure, the only test variable is the ratio of recycled coarse aggregates. For each mixture case, a variation
in the applied torque to rotate the vane at different speeds is illustrated. In general, the lower torque value at a certain rotation
speed means the greater owability.
As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the use of recycled coarse aggregates
appeared to increase the owability of concrete; that is, it generally resulted in lower torque values. This trend was more evident
in the cases containing y ash (Fig. 7). In the cases not using y
ash (Fig. 6), however, the concrete with 30% recycled coarse aggregates (N-SSD-30) required higher torque values than the concrete
with natural aggregates only (N-SSD-0), when the vane rotation
speed was faster than about 0.2 rev/s.
In the cases not including y ash (Fig. 6), the torque values ranged from 3.5 to 7.1 N-m for the considered range of the vane rotation speed. In contrast, for the cases with y ash (Fig. 7), the torque
values ranged from 2.6 to 5.5 N-m, smaller than those without y
ash. This indicates that the use of y ash generally improved the
owability of esh concrete.
The measured values of slump are presented in Table 5. The
slump of concrete increased when the higher ratio of recycled
aggregates was used, and the rate of increase of slump was similar
regardless of the presence of y ash. For example, the concrete
with 100% recycled coarse aggregates showed 6570% higher
slump values than the concrete with natural coarse aggregates
only (compare N-SSD-100 vs. N-SSD-0, NF-SSD-100 vs. NF-SSD0). With regard to the effect of y ash, the cases using y ash as
a 30% substitution of cement showed 45100% higher slump values
than the cases with no y ash. Therefore, it was concluded that
both recycled coarse aggregates and y ash are helpful in improving the owability of fresh concrete, as found from the ow curve
tests (Figs. 6 and 7).
There are a couple of possible reasons why the use of recycled
aggregates improved the owability of esh concrete. First, the
higher volume of absorbed water in the pores of mortars attached

Table 3
Properties of aggregates.
Property of aggregate

Absolute dry density (g/mm3)

Quality standard for recycled coarse

aggregate (KCI [9])

Used aggregates
Recycled coarse
aggregate

Natural coarse
aggregate

Fine
Aggregate

More than 2.5 (more than 2.0)a

2.14

2.62

2.56

6.28

0.84

1.41

21.1
57
0.6
Harmless
0.15
4.9
Less than 1.0
(volume)
Less than 1.0
(weight)

14.6
59
0.2

58
1.6

0.08
2.4

0.4
3.5

Absorption (%)

Less than 3.0 (less than 10)

Abrasion (%)
Absolute volume (%)
0.08 mm Sieve passing (%)
Alkali aggregate reaction
Amount of clay mass (%)
Stability (%)
Contents of
Organic
impurity (%)
impurity
Inorganic
impurity

Less than 40
More than 55
Less than 1.0
Harmless
Less than 0.2
Less than 12
Less than 1.0 (volume)

Recommendations by RILEM [24].

Less than 1.0 (weight)

Test regulation

KS F 2503 (ISO 6783 &

7033)a
KS F 2503 (ISO 6783 &
7033)a
KS F 2508
KS F 2527
KS F 2511
KS F 2545
KS F 2512
KS F 2507
KS F 2576

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K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

Fig. 3. Coarse aggregates used in the tests: (a) recycled, and (b) natural.

Table 4
Mix proportion for each mixture case (kgf/m3).

Mixture case

Water

Cement

Natural coarse aggregate

Fine aggregate

Recycled coarse aggregate

N-SSD-0
NF-SSD-0
N-SSD-30
NF-SSD-30
N-SSD-100
NF-SSD-100
N-OD-100
H-SSD-0
H-SSD-30
H-SSD-100
HF-SSD-100

159
159
159
159
159
159
159
159
159
159
159

369
258
369
258
369
258
369
495
495
495
347

1060
1060
742
742

1034
724

691
691
691
691
691
691
691
614
614
614
614

273
273
911
911
911

266
888
888

Fly ash

75

75
75

101

AEa
1.11
1.11
1.11
1.11
1.11
1.11
1.11
4.95
4.95
4.95
4.95

AE = air-entraining admixture.

Fig. 4. ICAR Rheometer system [25].

to the recycled aggregates increased the total amount of water in

the concrete. Second, the relatively round shape and low density
of the recycled aggregates likely reduced frictional resistance, compared to the angular shape of the crushed natural aggregates (see
Fig. 3). The two characteristics of the recycled aggregates possibly
affected the owability of concrete.
From the ow curve tests, the yield stress and plastic viscosity
of each mixture are determined as shown in Table 5. When the ratio of recycled aggregates increased, the yield stress decreased

Fig. 5. Test device for measurement of chloride ion penetration (NT Build 492 [27]).

while the slump increased. Fig. 8 illustrates the relationship between slump and yield stress for the six normal strength cases
(fc0 = 24 MPa). A roughly negative logarithmic relationship was
found between the slump and yield stress of the three cases without y ash (N-SSD series), and between those with y ash (NF-SSD
series); in each series, the ratio of recycled aggregates varied only.

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K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

(Two equations proposed by Wallevik [16] and Murata and Kukawa [28] are also plotted in Fig. 8. The equations are not directly
comparable with the test results, because they were determined
for the mixtures with natural aggregates only and with other variables such as water/cement ratio and curing time. It is likely that
many factors should be taken into account in quantifying the relationship between slump and yield stress.) On the other hand, the
use of y ash only slightly reduced the yield stress of recycled
aggregate concrete; no signicant change of yield stress occurred,
while slump greatly increased (i.e., 45100%) with y ash (compare N-SSD-30 vs. NF-SSD-30, and N-SSD-100 vs. NF-SSD-100).
This difference may be because the lower plastic viscosity, presented in the following, caused by y ash contributed to the increase of slump.
As for the plastic viscosity of recycled aggregate concrete, no
consistent tendency is observed in the effect of recycled aggregates
on the plastic viscosity of esh concrete (compare N-SSD-30 vs.
N-SSD-100, NF-SSD-30 vs. NF-SSD-100). On the other hand, the
recycled aggregate concretes containing y ash present signicantly lower plastic viscosity values than those with no y ash.
However, no apparent segregation was noticed during the tests.
In summary, y ash increased the slump of recycled aggregate
concrete, seemingly by reducing the plastic viscosity without
segregation.

Fig. 6. Flow curves of the concrete mixtures not containing y ash.

4.2. Compressive strength

The results of compressive strength tests for all eleven mixture
cases (Table 6) are plotted in Fig. 9 (cases without y ash) and
Fig. 10 (with y ash). In general, the compressive strength of concrete decreased when the higher ratio of recycled aggregates was
used. For the normal strength cases (fc0 = 24 MPa) without y ash
(Fig. 9), the use of 30% and 100% recycled aggregates (i.e., N-SSD30 and N-SSD-100) caused approximately 3% and 13% reductions
in the compressive strength respectively, compared to the
specimen with natural aggregates only (N-SSD-0) at 28 days of
curing. Similarly, for the normal strength cases with y ash
(Fig. 10), NF-SSD-100 showed an approximately 19% decrease in
the strength at 28 days of curing, compared with NF-SSD-0. The
strength reduction caused by recycled aggregates was more apparent in the high strength cases (fc0 = 40 MPa). The specimens with
30% and 100% recycled aggregates (H-SSD-30 and H-SSD-100)
had 8% and 34% lower compressive strengths respectively, than
H-SSD-0 at 28 days of curing. However, it is noted that all cases
with 30% recycled aggregates showed only slightly smaller compressive strengths.
The use of y ash as a 30% substitution of cement generally
caused a reduction in the compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete, but the reduction appears not critical on a long-term
perspective. The specimens NF-SSD-0, NF-SSD-30, and NF-SSD-100
(Fig. 10) showed 3%, 7%, and 11% lower compressive strengths than
N-SSD-0, N-SSD-30, and N-SSD-100 (Fig. 9) respectively, at 91 days
of curing. On the other hand, the strength difference was much larger at 7 days of curing: 47%, 43%, and 30% lower strengths in the
same order, respectively. This reects that the inclusion of y ash
typically slowed down the hydration process of concrete, leading
to the slower development of early strength over time. However,
the use of y ash did not affect the strength of concrete designed
for fc0 = 40 MPa with 100% recycled aggregates (compare H-SSD100 vs. HF-SSD-100).
All the specimens with less than 30% recycled aggregates, even
with y ash, satised their respective design compressive
strengths (24 or 40 MPa) at 28 days of curing. RILEM [24] suggests
that the minimum ratio of natural aggregate should be at least 80%,
if coarse aggregate is a blend of recycled and natural aggregates.
However, the test results show that using recycled aggregate up

Fig. 7. Flow curves of the concrete mixtures containing y ash.

Table 5
Results of slump and ow curve tests.
Mixture case

NSSD-0

N-SSD30

N-SSD100

NFSSD-0

NF-SSD30

NF-SSD100

Slump (mm)
Yield stress (Pa)
Plastic viscosity
(Pa s)

77
1180
21.4

88
833
86.3

131
619
75.5

116
1016
27.8

182
780
10.0

190
590
32.2

Fig. 8. Relationship between slump (x) and yield stress (y).

K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

505

Table 6
Results of compressive and splitting tensile strength tests.
Mixture case

Compressive strength
(MPa)
Days of curing

N-SSD-0
N-SSD-30
N-SSD-100
NF-SSD-0
NF-SSD-30
NF-SSD-100
N-OD-100
H-SSD-0
H-SSD-30
H-SSD-100
HF-SSD-100

Splitting tensile strength

(MPa)
Days of curing

28

91

28

91

30
30
27
16
17
19
15
40
37
27
28

31
30
27
27
27
22
18
50
46
33
29

35
30
28
34
28
25
18
55
47
34
34

3.5
2.9
2.3
2.5
2.2
2.2
1.2
4.2
3.2
2.6
2.8

3.6
3.2
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.4
1.3
4.3
3.5
2.9
3.0
Fig. 11. Splitting tensile strengths of the cases not containing y ash (curing time in
parenthesis: 28 or 91 days).

Fig. 9. Compressive strengths of the cases not containing y ash (curing time in
parenthesis: 7, 28, or 91 days).

Fig. 12. Splitting tensile strengths of the cases containing y ash (curing time in
parenthesis: 28 or 91 days).

and 36% lower strengths than the concrete with saturated-surface-dried recycled aggregates (N-SSD-100) at 7 and 91 days of
curing, respectively. A possible reason for the signicant strength
drop is that the mixing water immigrated into the oven-dried recycled aggregates with a high absorption capacity. The lack of mixing
water likely affected the hydration process of concrete in a negative manner.
4.3. Splitting tensile strength

Fig. 10. Compressive strengths of the cases containing y ash (curing time in
parenthesis: 7, 28, or 91 days).

to 30% was acceptable to achieve the design compressive strength

of concrete. In contrast, the specimens with 100% recycled coarse
aggregates achieved lower strengths than the design values, except
for the normal strength case with no y ash (N-SSD-100).
The effect of moisture state of coarse aggregates on the compressive strength was investigated for the cases designed for
fc0 = 24 MPa with 100% recycled aggregates (see Fig. 9). The concrete with oven-dried recycled aggregates (N-OD-100) had 44%

The results of splitting tensile strength tests for all eleven mixture cases (Table 6) are shown in Fig. 11 (cases without y ash) and
Fig. 12 (with y ash). The tensile strength of concrete generally
decreased when the ratio of recycled aggregates increased, as observed in the compressive strength. However, the degree of reduction in the tensile strength was greater than in the compressive
strength. For example, in the normal strength cases (fc0 = 24 MPa)
that did not include y ash (Fig. 11), the use of 30% and 100% recycled aggregates (N-SSD-30 and N-SSD-100) caused approximately
17% and 34% reductions in the tensile strength respectively,
compared to the case with natural aggregates only (N-SSD-0) at
28 days of curing. Furthermore, the high strength cases
(fc0 = 40 MPa) with 30% and 100% recycled aggregates (H-SSD-30
and H-SSD-100) had 24% and 38% lower tensile strengths respectively, than H-SSD-0 at 28 days of curing. The greater strength
reduction in tension than in compression is well illustrated in
Fig. 13; all data points for recycled aggregate concrete are plotted

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K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

Fig. 13. Relationship between compressive and tensile strengths (Note: a linear
regression line is drawn for each series; fctm = mean tensile strength, and
fck = specied characteristic compressive strength, dened in b MC2010 [29]).

chloride diffusion coefcient decreased (i.e., the chloride

resistance increased) as the curing age of concrete progressed
from 28 to 91 days. In the three cases with no y ash (N-SSD0, N-SSD-30, and N-SSD-100), the higher ratio of recycled aggregates downgraded the resistance to chloride ion penetration at
the age of 91 days, but this effect was not found at the age of
28 days.
As for the effect of y ash, the three cases containing y ash
(NF-SSD series) exhibited much higher chloride resistance than
those not containing y ash (N-SSD series) at the age of 91 days;
the average chloride diffusion coefcient of the N-SSD series was
approximately 15.0  1012 m/s2, while that of the NF-SSD series
was approximately 5.1  1012 m/s2. At the age of 28 days, however, the average chloride diffusion coefcient of the N-SSD series
was 22.5  1012 m/s2, and that of the NF-SSD series was
21.4  1012 m/s2. This indicates that the chloride diffusion coefcient of NF-SSD series reduced by about 76% from 28 to 91 days
of curing, while that of N-SSD series reduced by about 33% only.
This was likely because y ash was ner than cement, so that y
ash not only improved the particle size distribution, but also lled
micro pores in the ITZs around aggregates. The benecial role of
y ash was not effective at the age of 28 days, possible because
the presence of y ash typically delayed the hydration process of
concrete.
5. Conclusions

Fig. 14. Chloride diffusion coefcients.

below the curve specied in b MC2010 [29], while those for natural aggregate concrete are mostly above the curve. This trend
might be possibly because existing defects (e.g., micro-cracks) in
the recycled aggregates affected more on the tensile strength than
on the compressive strength [30].
The use of y ash as a 30% substitution of cement generally
caused a reduction in the tensile strength of the normal strength
specimens (fc0 = 24 MPa); the smaller reduction occurred in the case
with the higher ratio of recycled aggregates. For example, NF-SSD0, NF-SSD-30, and NF-SSD-100 (Fig. 12) showed 29%, 24%, and 4%
lower tensile strengths than N-SSD-0, N-SSD-30, and N-SSD-100
(Fig. 11) respectively at 28 days of curing, and 25%, 13%, and 8%
lower strengths at 91 days of curing. However, the high strength
specimen (fc0 = 40 MPa) having y ash (HF-SSD-100) showed a
higher tensile strength than the specimen with no y ash (HSSD-100).
As for the effect of moisture state of coarse aggregates, the normal strength concrete with oven-dried recycled aggregates (N-OD100) had 48% and 50% lower tensile strengths than the concrete
with saturated-surface-dried recycled aggregates (N-SSD-100) at
28 and 91 days of curing, respectively (see Fig. 11); the percentages
were slightly higher than those in the compressive strength.
4.4. Chlorine ion diffusion coefcient
Fig. 14 plots chloride diffusion coefcients of the seven normal strength cases (fc0 = 24 MPa) in Table 1. In all the cases, the

This study investigated the mechanical and durability properties of recycled aggregate concrete, such as the rheological properties of fresh concrete, compressive strength, tensile strength, and
chloride diffusion coefcient. The main test variables included
the ratio (0%, 30%, and 100%) of recycled aggregates in the total
amount of coarse aggregates, the presence of y ash as a partial
substitution (30%) of cement, the design compressive strength
(24 or 40 MPa) of concrete, and the moisture state (SSD or OD) of
recycled coarse aggregates. In particular, the combined effects of
recycled aggregates and y ash were explored, which should be
considered during the mix design. The ndings and conclusions
may be summarized as follows:
 The higher ratio of recycled coarse aggregates generally resulted
in the better owability of esh concrete, which was found from
the results of both ow curve and slump tests. A roughly negative logarithmic relationship was found between the slump and
yield stress of the cases with different ratios of recycled
aggregates.
 The use of y ash improved the owability of concrete. The
slump of concrete greatly increased due to y ash, while the
yield stress only slightly decreased. The recycled aggregate concretes containing y ash presented signicantly lower plastic
viscosity values than those not containing y ash.
 The strength test results showed that the higher ratio of recycled aggregates generally caused the lower compressive and
tensile strengths of concrete. However, the cases using 30%
recycled aggregates showed only small reductions in the compressive strength; all the specimens with less than 30% recycled
aggregates (even with y ash) satised their respective design
compressive strengths. In contrast, the negative effect of recycled aggregates was greater in the tensile strength than in the
compressive strength.
 The presence of y ash caused a reduction in the compressive
strength of recycled aggregate concrete, but the reductions
were not critical on a long-term perspective (less than 12% at
the curing age of 91 days). As for the tensile strength of concrete, higher strength reductions up to roughly 20% occurred
due to y ash at the age of 91 days.

K. Kim et al. / Construction and Building Materials 48 (2013) 499507

 The effect of recycled aggregates on the chloride penetration

resistance of concrete was not clearly identied. In contrast,
the cases with y ash exhibited much higher chloride resistance
than those without y ash at the age of 91 days. This happened
even in the cases with recycled aggregates.

Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Ministry of Knowledge
Economy, Korea, under the RIS (Regional Innovation System) Support Program, supervised by the Korea Institute for Advancement
of Technology. Also, support by Basic Science Research Program
through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded
by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Grant No.
2010-0022955) is gratefully acknowledged.
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