Rheological, mechanical and durability performance of Recycled Aggregate Concretes for structural applications

Sustainable alternatives should be employed in the construction industry to minimize environmental impacts, including high consumption of natural resources and high waste generation. The recycling of waste to be used as aggregates for concrete is an alternative with great potential. Although many studies have been carried out to investigate the influence of the use of Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCAs) on the resulting properties of concrete, the relationship between the intrinsic properties of aggregates and the key properties of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC) still needs to be better understood. In this context, the present paper summarizes the main results of comprehensive experimental studies aimed at investigating the influence of RCAs on the resulting performance of normal- and high-strength structural concrete at both fresh and hardened state. The results presented herein allows to have a comprehensive overview of the potential use of RCAs for structural concrete production and can be used as input data (e.g., employed as constitutive laws) for further theoretical study aimed at simulating real-scale applications for sustainable structures.