The incorporation of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) into asphalt concrete supports circular economy goals by reducing reliance on virgin materials and minimizing construction waste. However, RCA’s inherent limitations, such as high porosity, microcracking, and poor interfacial bonding, compromise the structural integrity and durability of asphalt mixtures. This study introduces sugarcane molasses (SCM), a naturally derived, carbohydrate-rich byproduct of sugarcane refining, as a novel and eco-friendly surface treatment for RCA aimed at enhancing its compatibility with asphalt binders. SCM was applied at 5-6% by weight of RCA replacing coarse aggregate at varying levels (0-100%) to assess its effect on asphalt mixture performance. A comprehensive laboratory testing program was conducted, including microstructural analysis, aggregate impact and crushing strength tests, and performance evaluation using Marshall properties, resilient modulus, wheel tracking, moisture susceptibility, and fatigue resistance. SCM treatment resulted in a significantly denser and smoother interfacial transition zone (ITZ), reduced porosity, and improved cohesion at the aggregate-binder interface. Treated mixtures exhibited notable enhancements across all performance metrics: Marshall stability increased to 14.2 kN at 100% RCA, resilient modulus loss remained under 7%, Tensile strength ratio (TSR) values consistently exceeded the 80% threshold, and fatigue resistance peaked at 50% RCA with the highest asphalt flexibility ratio (AFR) and ductility. The findings demonstrate that SCM effectively mitigates the mechanical and durability shortcomings of untreated RCA. Among all mixes, 50% SCM-treated RCA yielded the most balanced performance. Although SCM treatment was found to be slightly cost-ineffective, the cost-performance index highlights its positive potential, particularly for 50% SCM-treated RCA mixtures. However, these results are material-specific, and field validation is essential to confirm performance across different RCA sources and environmental conditions.
The present study deals with the experimental investigation of buried concrete pipes. Concrete pipes are buried in loose and dense conditions of gravelly sand soil and subjected to different surface loadings to study the effects of the backfill compaction on the pipe. The experimental investigation was accomplished using full-scale precast unreinforced concrete pipes with 300 mm internal diameter tested in a laboratory soil box test facility set up for this study. Two loading platforms are used namely, uniform loading platform and patch loading platform. The wheel load was simulated through patch loading platform which have dimensions of 254 mm *508 mm, which is used by AASHTO to model the wheel load of a HS20 truck. The pipe-soil system
... Show MoreLinear and mass attenuation coefficient of reactive powder concrete (RPC) sample ( of compressive strength equal to 70 Mpa) using beta particles and gamma ray with different energies have been calculated as a function of the absorber thickness and energy. The attenuation coefficient were obtained using NaI(Tl) energy selective scintillation counter with 90Sr/90Y beta source having an energy rang from (0.546-2.274) MeV and gamma ray energies (0.569, 0.662, 1.063, 1.17 and 1.33) MeV . The attenuation coefficient usually depends upon the energy of radiations and nature of the material. The result represented in graphical forms. Exponential decay was observed. It is found that the capability of reactive powder concrete to absorber beta particle
... Show MoreThis study aims to investigate the adequacy of composite cellular beams with lightweight reinforced concrete deck slab as a structural unit for harmonic loaded buildings. The experimental program involved three fixed-ends supported beams throughout 2140 mm. Three concrete types were included: Normal Weight Concrete (NWC), Lightweight Aggregate Concrete (LWAC), and Lightweight Fiber Reinforced Aggregate Concrete (LWACF). The considered frequencies were (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30) Hz. It was indicated that the harmonic load caused a significant influence on LWAC response (64% greater than NWC) and lattice cracks were observed, especially at 30 Hz. As for LWACF slab, no cracks appeared,
Water absorbent polymers (WAP) are new component in producing building materials. They provide internal curing which reduces autogenous cracking, eliminates autogenous shrinkage, mortar strength increased, enhance early age strength to withstand strain, improve the durability, introduce higher early age compressive strength, have higher performance and reduce the effect of insufficient external curing. This research used different percent of polymer balls to choose the percent that provides good development in compressive strength with time for both water and air curing. The water absorption polymer balls in this research have the ability to absorb water and after usage in concrete they spill out the water (internal curing) and shri
... Show MoreThis study investigates the possibility of using waste plastic as one of the components of expired lead-acid batteries to produce lightweight concrete. Different percentages of lead-acid battery plastic were used in the production of lightweight concrete. The replacements were (70, 80 and 100%) by volume of the fine and coarse aggregate. Results demonstrated that a reduction of approximately 23.6% to 35% in the wet density was observed when replacement of 70% to 100% of the natural aggregate by lead-acid battery plastic. Also, the compressive strength decreased slightly with the increase in plastic content at different curing ages of 7, 28, 60, 90, 120 days. The lowest value of compressive strength was (20.7 MPa) for (wa
... Show MoreThis research studies the influence of water source on the compressive strength of high strength concrete. Four types of water source were adopted in both mixing and curing process these are river, tap, well and drainage water (all from Iraq-Diyala governorate). Chemical analysis was carried out for all types of the used water including (pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), Turbidity, chloride, total suspended solid (TSS), and sulfates). Depending on the chemical analysis results, it was found that for all adopted sources the chemical compositions was within the ASTM C 1602/C 1602M-04 limits and can be satisfactorily used in concrete mixtures. Mixture of high strength concrete for compressive strength of (60 MPa) was designed and checked using
... Show MoreThis study conducted an analytical investigation on the behavior of concrete beams with openings reinforced by glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. In this study, five proposed beams reinforced by GFRP bars as flexural and shear reinforcement with openings were numerically examined. The variables were the opening orientation (vertical and horizontal) and the number of openings. These openings were located within the flexural zone of the proposed beams. The result shows that the vertical openings had a significant effect over the horizontal openings on reducing the ultimate load and increasing the mid-span deflection compared with the control beam. Moreover, the results showed t
This paper presents ABAQUS simulations of fully encased composite columns, aiming to examine the behavior of a composite column system under different load conditions, namely concentric, eccentric with 25 mm eccentricity, and flexural loading. The numerical results are validated with the experimental results obtained for columns subjected to static loads. A new loading condition with a 50 mm eccentricity is simulated to obtain additional data points for constructing the interaction diagram of load-moment curves, in an attempt to investigate the load-moment behavior for a reference column with a steel I-section and a column with a GFRP I-section. The result comparison shows that the experimental data align closely with the simulation
... Show MoreThis study aimed at evaluating the torsional capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) beams externally wrapped with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials. An analytical model was described and used as a new computational procedure based on the softened truss model (STM) to predict the torsional behavior of RC beams strengthened with FRP. The proposed analytical model was validated with the existing experimental data for rectangular sections strengthened with FRP materials and considering torque-twist relationship and crack pattern at failure. The confined concrete behavior, in the case of FRP wrapping, was considered in the constitutive laws of concrete in the model. Then, an efficient algorithm was developed in MATLAB environment t
... Show More