Structural performance of reinforced concrete components with recycled fine aggregate: An Updated review

Abstract

The use of recycled aggregates reduces natural resource consumption and mitigates environmental pressure from construction and demolition waste (CDW). This paper investigated the recycled fine aggregate concrete (RFAC) based structural components to provide technical pathways for managing CDW and promoting its practical application in structural engineering. Stress–strain relationship and bond behavior between RFAC and steel reinforcement were analyzed, and bond strength formulas were validated against experimental data. The flexural and shear performance of RFAC beams was also summarized. A comprehensive shear capacity database was established to evaluate the accuracy of existing calculation formulas, and the influence of various factors on shear capacity was quantified with Pearson correlation analysis. Meanwhile, the performance of slabs, axial behavior of columns, and seismic performance of beam–column joints and shear walls were examined, revealing intrinsic degradation mechanisms in concrete performance induced by the characteristics of recycled fine aggregate (RFA). The engineering applications of RFAC and recycled coarse aggregate concrete were reviewed, and future research directions on RFAC components were discussed and highlighted. Overall, structural performance decreased with the increase of RFA content. However, using high-quality or medium-quality RFA and controlling replacement ratio of RFA not exceeding 30%, the degradation in the load-bearing capacities (i.e., flexural, shear, axial compressive, and seismic) of RFAC components prepared with same reinforcement condition can be limited within 10%. Hierarchical strategies for load-bearing and non-load-bearing applications ensure that RFAC meets structural and non-structural requirements. This review could provide theoretical foundations and technical support for RFAC, which will facilitate its sustainable development and widespread application in structural engineering.

This work was sponsored by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2025YFE0199600) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52478277). Prof. Hanein acknowledges support from the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/V023829/2) and the UK International Development, Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).

Peer Reviewed

Postprint (published version)