The utilization of recycled masonry aggregate and recycled EPS for concrete blocks for mortarless masonry

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to carry out the environmentally based enhancement of a concrete mixture containing recycled materials whilst considering natural resource consumption as well as mechanical and thermal property levels. The developed concrete is intended to be used in mortarless masonry wall structures. Ten concrete mixtures with different types and replacement rates of recycled masonry aggregate and recycled expanded polystyrene were prepared, and their mechanical and thermal properties were experimentally investigated. It was found that the use of recycled masonry aggregate led to better thermal properties while maintaining sufficient mechanical properties. On the contrary, the addition of recycled expanded polystyrene did not significantly affect the thermal properties of concrete, but the mechanical properties considerably declined. For this reason, the recycled masonry aggregate is suitable to use as an aggregate for concrete masonry blocks for wall structures.