Characteristics of recycled aggregate concretes produced in Kuwait : a case study
Abstract
Thirty one concrete mixes made of various combinations of coarse and fine recycledaggregates (produced in Kuwait from demolition waste) were cast and tested.The possibility of producing structural grade concrete using the recycled concreteaggregates (RCA) produced in Kuwait has been investigated in this study. The cubecompressive strength of these concretes was in the range from 26 to 51 MPa. Theconcretes produced exhibited good workability, due to the use of a proprietary superplasticizer.ASTM Type I Portland cement, without any supplementary cementitiousmaterial, in the range of 295 to 509 kg/m3 of concrete has been used. The water –cement ratio of these concretes varied between 0.3 to 0.67. The 28-day experimentallydetermined modulus of elasticity of the concretes ranged from 26 to 39 GPa, which isindicative of good quality concrete. The flexural strength of these concretes was foundto be as high as 6.2 MPa. Strength development of these concretes, up to a period of91 days, was monitored under continuous curing in tap water, in seawater and underair curing. The engineering characteristics of the concretes derived from this studysuggest that the recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) produced from the demolitionwaste in Kuwait are capable of making good quality structural concrete.References
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