Fracture energy of coarse recycled aggregate concrete using the wedge splitting test method: influence of water-reducing admixtures

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the replacement levels of coarse natural aggregates with recycled aggregates and water-reducing admixtures on the fracture energy of concrete. Four mixes with 0, 20, 50 and 100% replacement ratios are produced per concrete family: without admixture, with plasticizer and with superplasticizer. The experimental fracture energy is tested using the wedge splitting test method on notched specimens at 28 days. The results prove that the incorporation of up to 20% coarse recycled aggregates led to improved energy absorption capacity of concrete mixes with water-reducing admixtures, reaching 1.5% for concrete with normal plasticizer and 7.0% for concrete with superplasticizer. Furthermore, the compressive strength, slump, and fresh density are tested in order to evaluate the effect of water-reducing admixtures on recycled aggregate concrete with different ratios of coarse natural aggregate replacement, allowing to conclude that the use of plasticizers and superplasticizers improves the behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete for all these properties