Effect of moisture state of recycled fine aggregate on the cracking resistibility of concrete

• The effect of moisture states of recycled fine aggregate on the cracking resistibility of concrete was investigated.
• The moisture states included oven-dried, air-dried and saturated surface-dried.
• An area-method was proposed to evaluate the cracking resistibility of recycled fine aggregate concrete.

Concrete mixes were prepared with 50% recycled fine aggregate (RFA) and 50% natural fine aggregates. The moisture states of the RFA were controlled at oven-dried, air-dried and saturated surface-dried. A shrinkage–restrained ring device with an clapboard was used to study the cracking resistibility of recycled fine aggregate concrete (RFAC). A cracking-age method and an area-method were used respectively and also verified to evaluate the cracking resistibility of RFAC. The study results show that, keeping the recycled fine aggregate content and total water/cement ratio constant, with the humidity increase in RFA from the oven-dried state, air-dried state to the saturated surface-dried state, the cracking resistibility of RFAC increases.