Application and Recycled Concrete Aggregate in Seismic Resistant Design

recycled_concrete_2

Co-PI:  Kim Kurtis
Students:  LaSasha Walker,Farahnaz Soleimani

Reuse of concrete debris as a structural material is of increasing importance from both economic and environmental perspectives. However, the seismic resistance of structural elements with recycled concrete aggregate has not been well researched. In this research effort, cyclic quasi-static testing of four full-scale reinforced concrete columns – two containing virgin aggregate and two containing recycled concrete aggregate – were performed under both axial and lateral loads. For each aggregate type, reinforcement detailing in one column conformed to IBC standards and in the other the reinforcement was designed to replicate common design standards that exists in the Caribbean region. The progression of damage and mechanisms causing the strength degradation were recorded. The results show that recycled concrete can be used in seismically designed columns without significant changes in the cyclic behavior. Comparisons between the recycled aggregate and virgin aggregate concrete were made to develop a recycled concrete model in the OpenSees platform.

Selected Publications

  1. Soleimani, F., McKay, M., Yang, CS. W., Kurtis, K.E., and DesRoches, R. (2014). “Cyclic Testing and Assessment of Columns Containing Recycled Concrete Debris,” ACI Structural Journal, Vol 113, No. 05, pp. 1009-1020, January, 2014.
  2. Ghosh, S., Huyck, C., Greene, M., Gill, S.P., Bevington, J., Svekla, W., DesRoches, R., and Eguchi, R.T. (2011). “Crowdsourcing for Rapid Damage Assessment: The Global Earth
  3. Observation Catastrophe Assessment Network (GEO-CAN),” Earthquake Spectra, Vol 27, No. S1, pp. 179-198, October, 2011.
  4. DesRoches, R., Comerio, M., Eberhard, M., Mooney, W., and Rix, G.J. (2011). “Overview of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake,” Earthquake Spectra, Vol 27, No. S1, pp. 1-23, October, 2011.
  5. DesRoches, R., Kurtis, K.E., and Gresham, J.J. (2011).”Breaking the Reconstruction Logjam: Haiti Urged to Recycle Concrete Rubble,” Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society; 90 (1): 20-26.