Evaluation of flexural and shear performance of beams made with recycled concrete aggregates

A mixture proportioning method proposed earlier by the writers, called the Equivalent Mortar Volume Method (EMV), is used to investigate under flexure and shear the serviceability and strength of reinforced concrete beams made with coarse recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). In this method, RCA is treated as a composite of residual mortar and natural aggregate, and the volumetric fraction and properties of each component are considered in proportioning the RCA-concrete. It is demonstrated, using the data from tests on a large number of beams, that the flexural and shear performances of RCA-concrete beams proportioned by EMV method are comparable to those of beams made of conventional concrete; therefore, existing flexural and shear design methods can be used, without modification, to design RCA-concrete beams, provided the RCA-concrete mix is proportioned by the EMV method.