Investigation of the influence of fine recycled sand on the setting behaviour of cement when used as supplementary cementitious material (SCM)

The building materials industry makes a major contribution to greenhouse gases emitted each year, particularly by the cement clinker production. Therefore, the aim should be to maintain an increased part of building material from demolition sites in the material cycle. The use of the fine material (< 2mm) from demolition waste in concrete has so far proved to be problematic due to the increased water demand and loss of compressive strength. One approach is the use of recycled concrete powder (RCP) as supplementary cementitious material (SCM). Demolition material used in this study has been obtained from discarded railroad sleepers and pre-crushed as sand (< 4 mm). The recycled sand was subjected to a mechanical and thermal activation process before use, then was ground to a particle size