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.