Comparisons of natural and recycled aggregate concretes prepared with the addition of different mineral admixtures

This paper presents the results of a laboratory study on the performance of natural and recycled aggregate concrete prepared with the incorporation of different mineral admixtures including silica fumes (SF), metakaolin (MK), fly ash (FA) and Ground granulated blast slag (GGBS). The compressive and splitting tensile strength, drying shrinkage, chloride ion penetration and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of the concrete mixtures were determined. The test results, in general, showed that the incorporation of mineral admixtures improved the properties of the recycled aggregate concretes. SF and MK contributed to both the short and long-term properties of the concrete, whereas FA and GGBS showed their beneficial effect only after a relatively long curing time. As far as the compressive strength is concerned, the replacement of cement by 10% of SF or 15% of MK improved both mechanical and durability performance, while the replacement of cement by 35% FA or 55% GGBS decreased the compressive strength, but improved the durability properties of the recycled aggregate concretes. Moreover, the results show that the contributions of the mineral admixtures to performance improvement of the recycled aggregate concrete are higher than that to the natural aggregate concrete.