The hygrothermal performance of concrete with coarse aggregates made of recycled concrete pavements

Abstract

This paper deals with an investigation of the hygrothermal performance of concretes containing various amounts of recycled aggregates originating from crushed concrete pavements. The performance, which was obtained using computational modelling of coupled heat and moisture transport, is predicted on stand-alone samples as well as on built in samples in a real construction exposed to weather data of Ostrava, Czech Republic. The results revealed that the influence of recycled aggregates as substitution for natural stone does not negatively affect the hygrothermal performance of the concrete. The highest difference found was less than 1°C and 12% of RH in the case of stand-alone samples and only 2.2% of RH when built in. Therefore, the application of crushed concrete pavements as aggregates in concrete composition can be highly recommended as it brings other benefits such as economical and environmental.