Chloride Penetration of Recycled Fine Aggregate Concrete under Drying–Wetting Cycles

Abstract

Recycled fine aggregate (RFA) produced from concrete waste is commonly used in the construction industry; however, its use for structural concrete members has not been extensively studied. Moreover, its durability in a drying–wetting cycle environment still needs to be examined. In this study, the intrusion process of chloride in concrete under the drying–wetting cycles is experimentally characterized. Chloride penetration tests are carried out on concrete with the incorporation of different RFA replacement rates and mineral admixtures (i.e., fly ash and silica fume). The results show that the chloride penetration of recycled fine aggregate concrete (RFAC) is dependent upon the performance of the concrete itself, while the deterioration of chloride ion erosion resistance is due to the combined action of the replacement rate of RFA and the drying–wetting cycles. The incorporation of RFA degrades the properties of RFAC owing to its drawbacks in the degradation of interfacial properties of RFAC. Exposure to the drying–wetting cycle environment causes the content of free chloride ions in RFAC to increase initially before decreasing with the erosion depth, thereby showing an obvious convection zone and diffusion zone. The incorporation of the mineral admixture can effectively improve the compactness of the concrete microstructure and make concrete less susceptible to chloride ions ingress. RFAC mixed with 15% fly ash and 10% silica fume has a comparable resistance to chloride penetration as a natural aggregate concrete, which is a feasible method for the application of RFA.

Keywords

• aggregate replacement
• chloride content
• compressive strength
• drying–wetting cycling
• mineral admixture
• porosity