Two-Year Non-Destructive Evaluation of Eco-Efficient Concrete at Ambient Temperature and after Freeze-Thaw Cycles

Abstract

The increasing demand for eco-efficient concrete puts pressure on the industry to innovate new alternatives for its constituent materials. Coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RA) and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are considered promising substitutes for coarse natural aggregates (NA) and cement, respectively. Using destructive and non-destructive testing methods, the present work aims to evaluate the effect of RA and different types of waste SCMs on the long-term performance of self-compacting high-performance concrete (SCHPC). Twenty-one mixes that were prepared with a 0.35 water-to-binder ratio were tested for their compressive strength, surface hardness, and ultrasonic pulse velocity. These tests were conducted over a two-year period at ambient temperature and again after exposure to up to 150 freeze–thaw cycles. Study findings demonstrated the possibility of developing eco-efficient SCHPC mixes using RA and waste SCMs. In addition, correlations have been introduced for predicting the compressive strength of SCHPC.