Use of Time–Temperature Superposition and Stepped Isothermal Method for Estimating Long-Term Properties of Recycled Aggregate Roller-Compacted Concrete

Although the use of recycled materials in civil engineering construction is a desirable option from a sustainability standpoint, the questionable long-term performance of these materials often hinders their widespread use in practice. The primary focus of this study was to perform accelerated aging and testing for estimating long-term properties of a roller-compacted concrete composed of crushed recycled aggregate, Type-I portland cement, and ASTM Class-F fly ash replacing up to 50 % of cement by weight. Accelerated aging was accomplished by curing cylindrical specimens at three different elevated temperature regimes for specific time durations. At the end of each time–temperature regime, the residual stiffness of the specimen was measured in a nondestructive fashion. Series of stiffness–time master curves were then constructed for each mix using the time–temperature superposition (TTS) technique and the stepped isothermal method (SIM). While the TTS method uses different sets of specimens for each elevated time–temperature regime, SIM uses a single set of specimens that are stepped up in temperature and held at each regime for a specified duration. Results indicated that for all mixes, the material stiffness degraded with time. Based on the Arrhenius equation, stiffness–equivalent age master curves were developed. Stiffness prediction was accomplished up to an equivalent age of almost 600 days, although the actual short-term test lasted only up to 6 days. It was also found that SIM and TTS provided comparable results, thus implying that the testing time and the number of specimens can be significantly reduced by using the SIM.