Recycled Aggregate Concrete: The Role of Parent Concrete

Recycling concrete construction and demolition waste is a promising way towards sustainable construction. Indeed, replacing natural aggregates with recycled concrete aggregates promotes the natural resources conservation and reduces the environmental impact of concrete. This work reports on the mechanical properties of concretes with recycled aggregates obtained from two different parent concretes, belonging to the structure of Cagliari football stadium. The main aim is to verify the possibility of using concrete debris in the new structural concrete as recycled aggregates. The effects of parent concretes on properties of coarse recycled aggregates and of new structural concrete with these aggregates are investigated. Mechanical properties (compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity) of recycled concretes have been assessed and analysed. The role of the parent concrete has been discussed and some observations are drawn.