Durability properties of mortars with fly ash containing recycled aggregates

The rapid development of the construction industry in the world causes a rapid increase in the consumption of aggregate resources, which leads to the depletion of existing aggregate reserves. The use of recycled aggregate in the production of concrete and mortar may be a good solution to reduce the use of natural raw materials and to reduce demolition waste in the environment. In this study investigating the use of recycled aggregate in mortar production, mortar mixtures were produced by substituting 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% fine recycled aggregate (FRA) instead of natural aggregate. The effect of 20% and 40% fly ash (FA) substitutes on cement mortar performance was also investigated. Compressive and flexural strength, drying shrinkage, abrasion resistance, water absorption and capillary water absorption were investigated on the produced mortars. The increase in the use of FRA reduced the compressive and flexural strengths of mortars. While the capillarity coefficients, water absorption, rapid chloride permeability and drying shrinkage of the mortars increased with the increase in the use of FRA, the effect of the use of fly ash on the rate of increase remained lower. The increased use of FRA has improved abrasion resistance as well.