Abstract

As conventional good quality aggregates are becoming scarce in some zones in Egypt and many areas worldwide, and as environmental concerns are raised on dumping old and fresh concrete in landfills, recycled concrete has been receiving increased interest worldwide for its potential environmental, economic and technical merits. In fact, many countries have adopted such concrete in their codes and the majority of their old concrete is being recycled. An attempt is being made to trigger factors and means that enhance the economic feasibility of recycled concrete. The overall goal of this work is to pinpoint strength and deficiencies in this relatively new composite thus possibly facilitating an adequate use in construction applications. In this study, concrete mixtures were prepared using two main types of recycled aggregates and one conventional natural aggregate that are similar to the ones present in original recycled concrete in one hand and are commonly used today on the other. The prime work presented herein comprises mixtures where the recycled aggregates were used as coarse aggregates with fine natural aggregates. Properties of constituent materials including the recycled aggregates, fresh and hardened concrete properties and durability assessment are presented. Economic factors controlling feasibility are also presented and discussed. A case study is presented with various alternatives for use of recycled aggregates. The outcome of this study indicates that, on the whole, recycled aggregates concrete possesses properties that are comparable to conventional aggregates concrete. However, the recycled concrete herein exhibited somewhat less workability and was slightly inferior to conventional concrete in terms of strength although some may view the difference as insignificant. Yet, the recycled concrete showed good properties and adequate durability. The economic feasibility of the product is governed by many factors but the availability and transpiration of the material, crushing techniques, the know-how may be the most influential factors that can add merits to the feasibility. Further research is recommended to tackle the environmental impact of recycled concrete and a serious consideration needs to be geared towards recycled concrete provisions in the in the new concrete Egyptian code.

School

School of Sciences and Engineering

Department

Interdisciplinary Engineering Program

Date of Award

2-1-2004

Online Submission Date

1-1-2003

First Advisor

Mohamed Nagib Abou-Zeid

Committee Member 1

Heba Hamed Bahnasawy

Committee Member 2

Safwan Khedr

Committee Member 3

Maher Y.A. Younan

Document Type

Thesis

Extent

140 leaves

Library of Congress Subject Heading 1

Concrete

Library of Congress Subject Heading 2

Concrete

Rights

The American University in Cairo grants authors of theses and dissertations a maximum embargo period of two years from the date of submission, upon request. After the embargo elapses, these documents are made available publicly. If you are the author of this thesis or dissertation, and would like to request an exceptional extension of the embargo period, please write to thesisadmin@aucegypt.edu

Call Number

Thesis 2003/50

Location

mgfth;mrs2

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