Performance of concrete containing crushed brick aggregate exposed to different fire temperatures

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the effect of high temperatures applied to a conventional concrete made with natural coarse aggregate (NCA) and different water/cement ratios (w/c of 0.6, 0.42 and 0.27). The experimental results of physical and mechanical properties were compared with those obtained with recycled brick aggregate (RBA) produced by replacing 30% of NCA by RBA. The following parameters: compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, concrete mass loss, apparent volume, apparent density and water porosity were examined in this experiment. A scanning electron microscopy study was made to appreciate the change of surface texture. The results show that concrete could be produced using RBA and reveals that at high temperatures, recycled aggregate concrete preformed similar or even better than natural aggregate concrete. Hence, this paper is a contribution to the general understanding of the impact of RBA in concrete at high temperatures, and emphasises the important influence of RBA on the physical and mechanical properties of concrete.