Evaluation of mechanical properties and structural behaviour of concrete pavements produced with virgin and recycled aggregates: an experimental and numerical study

Due to the large-scale use of materials in highways, the sustainability of materials has attracted considerable interest for years. In this respect, significant effort has been spent investigating the use of recycled aggregates in concrete pavements. This study has been carried out to fill the gap in the structural performance of recycled aggregate concrete pavements. First, properties of concrete mixtures, produced with virgin, recycled concrete and recycled brick aggregates were experimentally measured, and the results were compared. Then, finite element analyses were done by following a novel methodology that considers the well-known previous works. Results showed that replacement of coarse aggregates with recycled aggregates decreases the mechanical properties in various amounts. Due to the resulting performances, for the same slab thickness, decreased maximum stress, increased deflection and stress ratio values were found for recycled aggregate mixtures. Additionally, higher thicknesses and material requirements were found for recycled aggregate concrete for a similar life. Despite the decreased performance and increased material requirements, the use of recycled aggregates in pavements can still be a viable alternative for countries with limited natural resources and landfills. Therefore, based on the findings, several important discussions and suggestions were presented for future works.