ANALYSIS OF SULFATE RESISTANCE OF CONCRETE WITH RCA AFTER ONE YEAR EXPOSURE TO SULFATE SOLUTIONS

Abstract

External sulfate attack is one of the durability problems associated with concrete. Despite a perception that concrete made with recycle concrete aggregate (RCA) is of inferior quality, research has shown that RCA has the potential to satisfy the mechanical and physical requirements for a range of applications. Limited works were performed on the durability aspects of the RCA. The objective of the research described in this paper was to evaluate resistance to sulfate attack of concrete with RCA in which two types of cement (CEM I and CEM III) and two water to cement ratios (0.38 and 0.55) were combined. For the evaluation of sulfate resistance of these concretes, immersed in sodium and potassium sulfate solutions, a drop of compressive strength, length change, capillary water absorption and thermal analysis (TGA-DTA) were used. Satisfactory sulfate resistance of concrete with RCA can be achieved by applying CEM III and reducing water to cement ratios.