Microstructure Analysis and Strength Characterization of Recycled Base and Sub-Base Materials Using Scanning Electron Microscope

The reuse of recycled crushed concrete aggregate (RCCA) and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) can provide a sustainable solution for the disposal of C&D waste materials instead of sending them to landfills. More importantly, it will conserve energy and reduce environmental concerns. Several states in the USA have been using RCCA and RAP as base materials for years, focusing on the quality of the recycled materials. The structure of Recycled Aggregate (RA) is more complex than that of Natural Aggregate (NA). RAs have old mortar adhered on them that forms a porous surface at the interfacial transition Zone (ITZ) and prevents new cement mix from bonding strongly with the aggregates. The objective of this study was to correlate microstructural properties such as microporosity, inter and intra aggregate pores with the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of RAP and RCCA molds, mixed at different proportions. In this paper, the quantity of micropores and their effect on the strength of mixed materials is used as the basis of microstructural analysis of recycled concrete and reclaimed asphalt. Microstructural properties obtained from analyzing scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were correlated with unconfined compressive strength. Intra-aggregate and interaggregate pores were studied for different ratios of cement treated mixture of RAP and RCCA. The results show that addition of RAP considerably increases the number of pores in the mixture, which eventually causes reduction in unconfined compressive strength. In addition, significant morphological and textural changes of recycled aggregates were observed by SEM image analysis.

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