Measurement of Water Absorption of Recycled Aggregate

Owing to the high absorption capacity of recycled aggregate (RA), it is crucial to accurately measure its saturated-surface-dried water absorption (W<sub>SSD</sub>), which largely affects an effective water-to-binder ratio of recycled aggregate concrete. In this study, existing measureme...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhenhua Duan, Wenjing Zhao, Taohua Ye, Yunhui Zhang, Chuanchuan Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-07-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/15/5141
Description
Summary:Owing to the high absorption capacity of recycled aggregate (RA), it is crucial to accurately measure its saturated-surface-dried water absorption (W<sub>SSD</sub>), which largely affects an effective water-to-binder ratio of recycled aggregate concrete. In this study, existing measurement methods for the W<sub>SSD</sub> of RA are extensively reviewed, including <i>Wiping</i>, <i>Slumping</i>, <i>Centrifugation</i>, <i>Infrared</i>, <i>Evaporation</i>, <i>Airflow drying</i>, <i>Conductivity</i>, <i>Pycnometer</i>, <i>Hydrostatic balance</i>, and <i>Extrapolation</i>. In particular, the physical principles and operability of these methods are emphasized. It was determined that the accuracy of all test results was not satisfactory. For example, the water in pores with an open-ended direction that was opposite to the centrifugal force could largely be retained. In <i>Airflow drying</i>, the temperature change was significantly delayed. In addition, in <i>Hydrostatic balance</i>, RA would pre-absorb water before determining the initial reading. Therefore, several suggestions for optimizing these methods are presented, such as the combination of <i>Evaporation</i> and <i>Airflow drying</i>, the liquid selection in <i>Hydrostatic balance</i>, and the addition of a tiny mixer in each centrifuge tube. In summary, this review facilitates the development of an accurate and convenient method for measuring the W<sub>SSD</sub> of RA.
ISSN:1996-1944