Evaluation of mortar properties by combining concrete and brick wastes as fine aggregate
Imad Raini, Raouf Jabrane, Laila Mesrar, Mariam Akdim
Abstract
Construction and demolition waste (CDW) valorization in a new production process has been widely studied. However, up to now, valorization has been limited to use one type of waste. Hence, the environmental and economic benefits remain quite narrow, particularly in countries with high waste production. This paper aims to determine the feasibility of using waste from rejected concrete specimens by civil engineering laboratories combined with waste brick, as an alternative of natural fine aggregate in the production of cement mortar. Natural fine aggregate (NFA) has been replaced by recycled fine aggregate (RFA), at 0%, 15 %, 30 %, 45 %, and 90 %, by weight. In this study, RFA from concrete and brick wastes were firstly characterized and compared to the NFA. Then several tests were carried out in order to evaluate the effect of RFA on mortars. The RFA’ physical, mineralogical and microstructural properties prove to be different from those of NFA. Nevertheless, the results have shown that the incorporation of these RFA at 15 % do not have any negative effect on the mechanical performance of the mortars. Besides, the microscopic analysis has revealed that the addition of RFA doesn’t compromise the microstructural properties of the mortars at low substitution rates. As a whole, this study shows that the use of RFA is possible.