A Five-Phase Mesoscale Numerical Analysis Method for the Sulfate Attack Process on Recycled Aggregate Concrete
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 7
Abstract
Concrete made using recycled aggregates may become less durable due to sulfate attack. In this study, the degradation of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) under external sulfate assault was investigated using a mesoscale numerical analysis method. A random convex polygon aggregate model with five phases—(1) aggregate, (2) aggregate–old bonded mortar interface transition zone (ITZ), (3) old bonded mortar, (4) old bonded mortar–new bonded mortar ITZ, and (5) new bonded mortar—was established using a self-compiled program in order to take into account the heterogeneity of RAC. The aggregate was considered an impervious phase, but the four other phases were considered pervious. In the model, the only chemical byproduct was the ettringite that causes expansion. The proposed method for modeling sulfate attack on RAC was validated by experiments. Sulfate diffusion, the impact of ITZ thickness, water:cement ratio, and surface sulfate content were investigated. The simulation results showed that (1) there was limited influence of surface sulfate ion concentration on the rate of sulfate erosion in RAC, (2) water:cement ratio has a significant impact on sulfate resistance in RAC, and (3) the sulfate attack procedure is largely unaffected by ITZ thickness.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Special Focus on the Development and Promotion of Henan Province (Grant Nos. 212102110191 and 212102110200) and the Innovative Funds Plan of Henan University of Technology (Grant No. 2022ZKCJ06).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 7 • July 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 25, 2023
Accepted: Dec 28, 2023
Published online: Apr 26, 2024
Published in print: Jul 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Sep 26, 2024
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