Residual strength of concrete containing recycled materials after exposure to fire: A review

• Recycled concrete materials at elevated temperature was reviewed.
• Supplementary cementing materials at high temperature was reviewed.
• Sustainable concrete submitted to elevated temperature was analyzed.
• Much work is needed in this area to understand their performance in fire.

This review summarizes research conducted on concrete containing recycled materials after exposure to fire. Discarded products consist of brick and concrete demolition from the construction and building industries, in addition to supplementary cementing materials from industrial waste such as fly ash, blast furnace slag, silica fume and biomass/volcanic ashes. To understand the effects with and without aggregates, researchers have conducted a variety of tests on cement pastes, cement mortars, and concrete. Three heating and loading conditions have been used by researchers in this area: preloaded and tested hot, unloaded and tested hot, and unloaded and tested at room temperature. Of the many possible material property measurements, the most common was the compression strength and is reported here. The literature suggests a great deal of work is needed in this area to understand the performance in fire of structures constructed with sustainable concretes.