Behaviour of beam–column joints made of recycled-aggregate concrete under cyclic loading

In this work, a recycled-aggregate concrete (RAC) was prepared by replacing 30% virgin with recycled concrete aggregate coming from an industrial crushing plant in which concrete from building demolition is suitably treated. A reference concrete was also prepared by using 100% virgin aggregate with the same workability and strength class. Concrete specimens were manufactured for evaluating compressive, tensile, flexural and bond strengths with reinforcing steel bars, as well as static elastic modulus to assess RAC suitability for structural use. The behaviour of beam–column joints (scale of 2–3) made of reinforced concrete and subjected to cyclic loading was also studied. The results obtained gave experimental evidence of the suitability of RAC for structural use.

Research highlights
► Focus on mechanical behaviour of recycled-aggregate concrete.
► Use of recycled concrete aggregate.
► Study of cyclic loading behaviour of beam–column joints.