Abstract
This paper aimed to perform a wide characterization of recycled aggregates (RA), including non-conventional techniques, comparing them with natural quartz sand. It had also as objective to evaluate the main characteristics of construction and demolition waste (CDW) aggregates that must be determined aiming at the mix design of mortars. For this purpose, three types of aggregates were used: river sand, mixed recycled and cementitious recycled, in two size distributions. These aggregates were evaluated concerning particles size distribution (including laser), fines content, morphoscopic analysis, water absorption, apparent dry density, specific gravity and bulking. In addition, mortars were produced and characterized by consistency, mass density, shrinkage and flexural tensile and compressive strengths. The main results showed that, despite the distinct composition of the CDW studied, when using the same crushing process, very similar grain size distributions are obtained for the RA; however, other characteristics are different in these aggregates and these influence the mortar behavior and depend on the origin of the residue. It is concluded that non-conventional tests of RA, such as laser and morphoscopic analysis, may be important for a complete understanding of their behavior in the mortar properties. In addition, apparent dry density and fines content showed significant parameters to qualify RA.
Keywords:
rendering; masonry; mortar; recycled aggregate; CDW; fines; apparent dry density
