Journal of Engineering, Computers & Applied Sciences (JEC&AS)

ISSN No: 2319-5606

Volume 2, No.10, October 2013
_________________________________________________________________________________

Compressive Strength of Concrete Using Recycled

Concrete Aggregate as Complete Replacement of Natural
Aggregate
Daniel Yaw Osei, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Cape Coast Polytechnic, Cape Coast, Ghana

ABSTRACT
This paper presents a report of an experimental investigation on the effect of complete replacement of natural
aggregate by recycled concrete aggregate in the production of concrete on the compressive strength of
concrete. Two sets of concrete mixtures of ratios 1:3:6, 1:2:4, 1:1 1/2:3, 1:1:2 by mass were cast using natural
aggregates and recycled aggregates concrete respectively. The 28-day compressive strengths of 1:3:6, 1:2:4,
1:11/2:3, 1:1:2 concrete using recycled concrete aggregates were 12.18 Nmm-2, 17.14 Nmm-2, 21.65 Nmm-2 and
25.81Nmm-2 respectively corresponding to 33%, 20%, 11% and 20% reduction in strength compared to concrete
using natural aggregate.. The densities and compressive strengths of natural aggregate concrete were higher
than that of corresponding recycled aggregate concrete. The results of the study showed that recycled concrete
aggregate can potentially replace completely natural aggregate in the production of both non-structural and
structural concrete.
Keywords: compressive strength, coarse aggregate, concrete, natural aggregate, recycled concrete aggregate.

Introduction
The growing need for infrastructural development
has placed a huge demand on coarse aggregates,
which make up about three-quarters of concrete,
the most used man-made material in construction
[1]. This demand exerts pressures on aggregate
resources and creates ecological imbalance which
impacts negatively on the environment; rendering
the production of concrete using natural aggregates
unsustainable. In addition to ecological imbalances
created by over-exploitation of aggregates, the
open disposal of commercial, industrial and
agricultural wastes has exacerbated environmental
conditions.
Due to the scarcity and increasing prices of
construction materials, there is the need to
investigate and utilize alternative materials in
construction. The increasing demand and interest in
aggregates from non-traditional sources such as
from industrial by-products and recycled
construction and demolition wastes [2] provides
opportunities to make use of wastes which would
otherwise have negative consequences on the
environment. Recycling of such wastes for use in
construction therefore provides a means to address
both
environmental
and
infrastructural
development challenges.
A report by [3] mentioned that the use of recycled
concrete aggregate provides significant benefits
towards sustainable development by reducing the
need of landfilling while conserving the use of
increasingly scarce good quality virgin aggregate;
potentially leading to an annual savings of three
hundred million dollars ($300,000,000.00) in
operator costs by US ready-mixed concrete
industry.

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Concrete made of recycled aggregate is less

workable than that made of conventional aggregate
as a result of its higher water absorption capacity
[4]. The compressive strength and elastic modulus
of concrete containing RA is lower than that of the
control concrete [3]. [5] recommended that up to
50% recycled aggregates may be used in structural
elements such as single-storey houses in Ghana. [6]
investigated the effect of superplasticisers on the
compressive strength and workability of concrete
and found that concrete incorporating recycled
aggregate performed poorer relative to control
concrete but improved with the addition of
superplasticisers. The use of plasticisers can
improve the performance of concrete made with
fine recycled aggregates to a level at par with
conventional concrete [7]. In an investigation on
the effect of replacing natural aggregate with mixed
recycled aggregate, [8] found out that the
compressive, tensile and flexural strength
properties decreased as the proportion of mixed
recycled aggregate increased.
According to [9], recycled aggregate concrete is
just as durable as ordinary concrete. However, [10]
recommends that prior to the use of RA concrete in
aggressive environments, appropriate testing
should be conducted due to opposing conclusions
about durability-related properties of RA concrete
in existing literature.
The objectives of this study are to investigate the
effect of complete replacement of natural aggregate
(NA) with RA on the compressive strength of
concrete and to evaluate the possibility of using RA
as complete replacement of natural aggregate in
concrete.

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Journal of Engineering, Computers & Applied Sciences (JEC&AS)

ISSN No: 2319-5606
Volume 2, No.10, October 2013
_________________________________________________________________________________

Experimental Programme
Materials

BS sieve

Percentage passing

Rapid hardening cement was used as the main

binder in producing concrete. It conformed to the
requirements of [11]. Potable water supplied by
Ghana Water Company was used in mixing
materials for production of concrete. It appeared
clean and free from any deleterious material and
conformed to the requirements of [12]. Sand, of
bulk density 1550kgm-3 was used as fine aggregate.
It was sourced from a local supplier in Cape Coast.
Crushed granite (Figure 1) and recycled concrete
aggregates (RA) were used as coarse aggregates.
Crushed granite was obtained from Sarobi quarry
near Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana while
RA was obtained by manually crushing demolished
concrete (Figure 2) and sieving through 5mm BS
sieve. The sieve analyses of sand and coarse
aggregates used are shown in Table 1 and Table 2
respectively.

5mm

100.00

2.8mm

90.90

1.4mm

70.20

600m

55.40

300m

29.10

150m

0.00

Table 2 Sieve analysis of coarse aggregates

BS
sieve
(mm)

Percentage passing

38

Crushed granite
concrete
100.00

Recycled

19

84.90

84.20

10

19.80

17.20

0.10

0.00

100.00

Mixing and specimen preparation

Figure 1 Natural aggregate

Two sets of concrete mixtures of ratios 1:3:6, 1:2:4

1:1:3 and 1:1:2 by mass were produced using a
water-cement ratio of 0.5; one set utilizing crushed
granite as coarse aggregate and the other utilizing
RA. Each aggregate was used in the twelve
specimens at each mix ratio. A total of ninety six
(96) cubes were produced. Concrete was mixed in
an electric mixer (Figure 3). Concrete was cast in
cast iron moulds measuring 150mm 150mm
150mm internally (Figure 4). The specimens were
made in accordance with [13]. After casting, the
moulds were covered with a plastic sheet to prevent
water loss. After twenty four hours, the specimens
were demoulded and placed in a curing tank to cure
for strength gain and improvement of properties in
the hardened state.

Figure 2 Demolished concrete

Table 1 Sieve analysis of sand

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Journal of Engineering, Computers & Applied Sciences (JEC&AS)

ISSN No: 2319-5606
Volume 2, No.10, October 2013
_________________________________________________________________________________

1:2:4

17.8

18.22

19.65

21.37

1:1:3

18.8

21.33

22.57

24.32

1:1:2

22.77

24.39

28.9

32.15

As expected, the compressive strength of each

mixture increased with age. As the quantity of
coarse aggregate increased, the strength of concrete
reduced. Since the water cement ratio remained
constant, an increase in the quantity of aggregate
required more cement for adequate bond in order to
increase strength. At each age of testing, concrete
mixture of ratio 1:1:2 attained the highest
compressive strength, followed by mixtures of
ratios 1:1:3, 1:2:4 and 1:3:6.

Figure 3 Concrete mixer

The results of compressive strength testing RA

concrete are presented in Table 4.
Table 4 Compressive strength of RA
concrete(Nmm-2)

Figure 4 Concrete specimens

Testing
The compressive strengths of the specimens were
determined by crushing at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of
curing using a 1500kN capacity Matest
compression tester. On the day off testing, the
cubes were removed from the curing tank and
placed in the laboratory environment for about two
hours, after which their densities were determined
prior to crushing. The results presented are the
average of three tests.

Table 5 Relative strength (%)

Results and Discussion

Compressive Strength
The results of the compressive testing of concrete
using NA are shown in Table 3.
Table 3 Compressive strength of NA concrete
(Nmm-2)
Age(days)
Mix
7
14
21
28
ratio
1:3:6

14.2

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16.18

17.50

18.21

The 28-day strengths of RA concrete mixtures of

ratios 1:3:6, 1:2:4, 1:11/2:3, 1:1:2 were 12.18 MPa,
17.14 MPa, 21.65 MPa, and 25.81 MPa

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Journal of Engineering, Computers & Applied Sciences (JEC&AS)

ISSN No: 2319-5606
Volume 2, No.10, October 2013
_________________________________________________________________________________

respectively. At all ages, 1:1:2 RA concrete

attained the highest compressive strength, followed
by 1:11/2:3, 1:2:4 and 1:3:6 mixes.
Table 5 shows the relative strength of RA concrete.
The value is the compressive strength of RA
concrete expressed as a percentage of the
compressive strength of NA concrete.
It can be seen that all ages, NA concrete performed
better than RA concrete. At the same mix ratio, the
compressive strength of NA concrete was higher
than RA concrete. The 28-day compressive
strengths of 1:3:6, 1:2:4, 1:11/2:3, 1:1:2 NA
concrete were 67%, 80%, 89%, and 80% of the
corresponding RA concrete. Previous research by
[3], [6], [8] and [10] yielded similar results.
Table 6 shows the recommended grades of concrete
according to [14]
Table 6 Recommended Grades of Concrete [14]
Grade
Characteristics Concrete Class
Compressive
Strength
(MPa)
C7
7.0
Plain concrete
C10
10.0
C15
15.0
Reinforced
concrete with
lightweight
aggregate
C20
20.0
Reinforced
C25
25.0
concrete with
dense aggregate

C30

30.0

Concrete with
post-tensioned
tendons

C45
C50
C60

45.0
50.0
60.0

Concrete with
pre-tensioned
tendons

Age(days)
Mix ratio
21

28

1:3:6

2319

2371

2382

2385

1:2:4

2365

2380

2434

2447

1:1:3

2403

2422

2440

2455

1:1:2

2415

2430

2445

2465

Table 8 Density of RAC (kgm-3)

Age(days)
Mix
ratio
7
14
21

28

1:3:6

2282

2294

2299

2322

1:2:4

2294

2300

2307

2327

2303

2311

2318

2329

2312

2323

2325

2340

1:1:3

1:1:2

The 28-day density of 1:3:6, 1:2:4, 1:11/2:3, 1:1:2

RCA concrete is 98%, 95%, 95%, and 95% of
density of the corresponding NAC. The density of
RAC concrete is marginally lower than NAC
concrete of the same mix ratio.

Conclusion

Density

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It can be seen from Table 7 that, densities of NA

concrete mix of ratio 1:1:2 has the highest 28-day
density, followed by concrete mix of ratios 1:3,
1:2:4, 1:3:6. The densities of the various mixes fell
within the range (2200-2600 kgm-3), regarded as
density of normal weight concrete [15].
The results of density determination of RA
concrete are shown in Table 8. RA concrete
mixture of 1:1:2 has the highest 28-day density,
followed by concrete mix of ratios 1:3, 1:2:4,
1:3:6. The densities of the various mixtures fell
within the range (2200-2600 kgm-3), regarded as
density of normal weight concrete [15].

Based on the results presented in Table 4, it can be

seen that 1:2:4 and 1:11/2:3 NA concrete can
potentially be used in the production of reinforced
concrete while 1:1:2 NA concrete is potentially
suitable for prestressed concrete. Similarly, 1:11/2:3
and 1:1:2 RA concrete can be used in producing
grade 20 and grade 25 concrete respectively,
recommended for use in reinforced concrete
construction.

The densities of NA concrete are shown in Table 7.

Table 7 Density of NA concrete (kgm-3)

1.

In this study, the compressive strength properties of

concrete were investigated by completely replacing
natural aggregate with recycled concrete aggregate.
The following conclusions are drawn:
Densities of both RA concrete and NA concrete
were within the range of normal weight concrete.

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Journal of Engineering, Computers & Applied Sciences (JEC&AS)

ISSN No: 2319-5606
Volume 2, No.10, October 2013
_________________________________________________________________________________

2.

3.

4.

Both RA concrete and NA concrete showed the

similar trends in the variation of strength and
density with time.
Reduction in the 28-day compressive strength of
concrete due to complete replacement of natural
aggregates with recycled concrete aggregate range
from 11% to 33%.
RA can replace NA in the production of both nonstructural and structural concrete.

References

[12] British Standard Institution, BS 1348: Part 2:

1980, Test of Water for Making Concrete, BSI,
London.
[13] British Standard Institution. BS 1881: Part
108:1983, Method for making test cubes from fresh
concrete, BSI, London.
[14] British Standard Institution, BS 8110-Part I,
1997, The Structural Use of Concrete, BSI,
London.
[15] Neville A. M., Properties of concrete ( 4th
Edition), Longman Group Ltd, 1996, London.

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