Experimental and Analytical Evaluation of the Mechanical Properties of High-Strength Self-Curing Concrete with Recycled Fine Aggregates

Increasing demand for high-rise buildings and massive structures has led to the production and use of high-strength concrete in large quantities, which in turn has led to higher environmental impacts. Self-curing concrete produced using polyethylene glycol and recycled fine aggregates (RFA) along with superplasticizers is found to be the most promising solution for attaining high-strength concrete with significantly lower environmental impacts. This work deals with the experimental and analytical evaluation of the mechanical properties of high-strength self-curing (HSSC) concrete using RFA. The replacement proportion of RFA considered are 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% with respect to the weight of natural fine aggregates. Experimental investigations indicate that the optimum replacement proportion of RFA in this HSSC concrete is 30% when considering the strength characteristics. An empirical model based on regression analysis using Minitab software is developed for compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength to evaluate its correlation with the existing analytical models of international codes. Analytical evaluation indicates that the compressive strength and flexural strength of HSSC concrete correlates highly with American Concrete Institute (ACI) code. The split tensile strength of HSSC concrete is found to have a better correlation with Eurocode. RFA self-curing concrete can be effectively used to produce high-strength concrete.