Bond Performance in Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete
Summary
Reinforced recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) combines sustainability with structural efficiency by substituting natural aggregates with materials reclaimed from demolition waste. Bond performance between steel reinforcement and RAC is critical to ensure composite action, load transfer and serviceability in structural elements. Research has shown that recycled aggregate quality, replacement rate and mix proportions significantly influence bond strength and stiffness. The interfacial transition zone (ITZ) around recycled particles often exhibits higher porosity and microcracking than conventional concrete, leading to reductions in peak bond stress and altered load–slip behaviour. Admixtures, supplementary cementitious materials and surface treatments can improve this zone by refining the microstructure and enhancing adhesion. Practical challenges such as corrosion, freeze–thaw cycles and elevated temperature exposure further affect bond integrity in RAC, prompting the development of constitutive models and predictive equations for degraded conditions. Numerical simulations, especially finite-element approaches, have been instrumental in capturing bond–slip relationships and guiding design parameters for embedment length, cover thickness and stirrup arrangements. Collectively, these studies support the global drive towards circular construction by demonstrating that, with appropriate mix design and detailing, reinforced RAC can meet or approach the bond performance requirements of conventional concrete, thereby offering a viable low-carbon alternative in new builds and retrofit applications.
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Bond Performance in Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in bond performance in reinforced recycled aggregate concrete across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC): Concrete in which natural coarse or fine aggregate is wholly or partly replaced by material recovered from demolished structures.
Bond strength: The maximum shear stress that the interface between steel reinforcement and concrete can resist before slip initiates.
Bond–slip relationship: The characteristic curve describing relative displacement (slip) versus interfacial shear stress at the steel–concrete interface.
Interfacial transition zone (ITZ): The microstructural region surrounding aggregate particles, whose porosity and microcracks strongly affect local bond behaviour.
Pull-out test: An experimental method in which a steel bar is axially extracted from a concrete specimen to measure bond–slip response.
References
- An overview of bond behavior of recycled coarse aggregate concrete with steel bar. REVIEWS ON ADVANCED MATERIALS SCIENCE (2021).
- A Study on the Bond Behavior of Corroded Reinforced Concrete Containing Recycled Aggregates. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering (2015).
- Numerical Study of Bond Slip between Section Steel and Recycled Aggregate Concrete with Full Replacement Ratio. Applied Sciences (2020).
- Residual Bond Behavior of Steel Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete After Exposure to Elevated Temperatures. Frontiers in Materials (2020).
- Bond strength of corroded reinforced recycled aggregate concrete with treated wastewater and fly ash. Journal of Building Engineering (2023).
- Bond Stress Distribution and Bond–Slip Model of Deformed Steel Bars in Iron Tailing Sand Recycled Aggregate Concrete. Buildings (2023).
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