Concrete with fine recycled aggregates: a review

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the literature published so far on the use of fine aggregates from construction demolition waste used as a partial or total replacement of fine natural aggregates in concrete production. The review presents the initial works on this subject and an overview of the existing regulations. It goes on to describe the production, treatment and properties of the fine recycled aggregates (FRA). The most suitable mixing techniques for concrete with this type of aggregates are then discussed. The properties of these concrete mixes are analysed in detail, after which a few examples of structures with this type of concrete are described and compared. The acquisition of fine natural aggregates and the dumping of the fine fraction of construction and demolition waste are two serious environmental problems that can be solved simultaneously by using FRA in concrete production, a subject that is lagging behind the use of the corresponding coarse fraction.

Keywords:

• recycling
• construction and demolition waste
• fine aggregates
• concrete production
• performance

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the ICIST Research Institute, the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico of the Technical University of Lisbon and FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology).