Abstract
In this paper, an experimental work was conducted to investigate the possibility of improving the structural performance of reinforced self-compacting concrete (SCC) beams cast with 100% treated and untreated recycled aggregate (RA). RA was first exposed to a simple treatment method to reduce the amount of its adhered mortar and to improve its performance by the impregnation in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer solution. After completing RA treatments, rectangular simply supported reinforced SCC beams cast with RA, treated recycled aggregate (TRA) as well as normal aggregate (NA), were prepared and tested under two-point loading up to failure. Half of the prepared beams were tested to evaluate the shear behaviour of normal strength (NS) SCC mixes, while the other half was tested for high strength (HS) SCC mixes. The results were evaluated with regards to load deflection response, ultimate failure load, first crack load, and cracking pattern. The main experimental results demonstrated that using treated RA considerably improved the shear capacity of reinforced SCC beams in comparison with that of untreated RA. Based on the ACI 318-14 and Euro codes, the shear strength values showed that the treated RA beams were considered more conservative compared to the RA beams in both strength grades.
