Performance of Seawater-Mixed Recycled-Aggregate Concrete

The use of seawater and recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) in concrete mixtures leads to the production of a very sustainable concrete. The potential risk of steel reinforcement corrosion (due to chloride in the seawater) in such mixtures may be eliminated when considering plain concrete or noncorrosive reinforcement (e.g., fiber-reinforced polymer). This study investigated the fresh and hardened properties of a proposed green concrete mixed using seawater and recycled coarse aggregates. Two different concrete mixtures were studied, namely conventional concrete (Mix 1) and seawater-mixed concrete with RCA (Mix 2). Blast furnace slag was used as supplementary cementitious material at a 65% replacement level in both concrete mixtures. Fresh and hardened properties of the two concretes, including workability, strength gain, drying shrinkage, permeability, and microstructure, were characterized and compared. The results suggest that the use of seawater and RCA together has negative effects on concrete performance. Compared with the reference (Mix 1), Mix 2 concrete had approximately 5% lower density, 25% lower slump flow, 50% lower setting time, 33% lower strength gain, 10% higher drying shrinkage, 60% higher water absorption, and 100% higher charge passed (in rapid chloride permeability tests). Consequently, strategies to improve the performance of such concretes, such as a reduction in the water:cementitious materials ratio and the use of chemical admixtures, are suggested. These strategies, however, may somewhat reduce the green aspect of the proposed seawater-mixed concrete with RCA.