Effects of replacement ratio and particle size distribution of recycled coarse aggregate on mechanical properties of concrete designed using equivalent mortar volume method.

The equivalent mortar volume (EMV) mixing method has been proposed to prepare recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) with comparable mechanical properties to those of reference natural aggregate concrete (NAC). Previous studies primarily focused on the mechanical properties of EMV concrete with a single replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA). This paper investigates how the mechanical properties of EMV concrete vary with the replacement ratios and particle size distributions of RCA. Five different RCA replacement ratios and two RCA particle size distributions were assessed. A material demand coefficient was principally proposed to quantify the contribution of the EMV mixing method to reduce the environmental impact; the maximum RCA replacement ratio was suggested to obtain sufficient workability of EMV concrete using an effective sand ratio; a drying shrinkage model was theoretically proposed for EMV concrete accounting for the drying shrinkage of residual mortar. The obtained results indicated that the compressive strength and elastic modulus properties of EMV concrete decreased with increasing RCA replacement ratios; using the effective sand ratio of EMV concrete, comparable mechanical properties to those of reference NAC could be obtained for EMV concrete; the proposed shrinkage model was consistent with the available experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]