Effect of manufactured sand with different quality on chloride penetration resistance of high–strength recycled concrete

Abstract

High–strength manufactured sand recycled aggregate concrete (MSRAC) prepared with manufactured sand (MS) and recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) is an effective way to reduce the consumption of natural aggregate resources and environmental impact of concrete industry. In this study, high–, medium– and low–quality MS, which were commercial MS local to Changzhou and 100% by volume of recycled coarse aggregate, were used to prepare MSRAC. The quality of MS was determined based on stone powder content, methylene blue value (MBV), crushing value and soundness as quality characteristic parameters. The variation laws of compressive strength and chloride penetration resistance of high–strength MSRAC with different rates of replacement and different qualities of MS were explored. The results showed that for medium– and low–quality MS, the compressive strength of the MSRAC increased first and then decreased with increasing rate of replacement. Conversely, for high–quality MS, the compressive strength gradually increased with increasing rate of replacement. The chloride diffusion coefficient of MSRAC increased with decreasing MS quality and increasing rate of replacement. The chloride diffusion coefficient of MSRAC basically met the specifications for 50–year and 100–year design working life when the chloride environmental action was D and E. To prepare high–strength MSRAC, high–quality MS can 100% replace RS (river sand), while rates of replacement of 50–75% for medium–quality MS or 25–50% for low–quality MS are proposed. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images indicated that an appropriate amount of stone powder is able to improve the compressive strength of RAC, but excessive stone powder content and MBV are unfavorable to the compressive strength and chloride penetration resistance of RAC.