Experimental Study with Cement Mortars Made with Recycled Concrete Aggregate and Reinforced with Aramid Fibers

Featured Application This work aims to emphasize the possible applications of construction and demolition waste, performing an experimental analysis on cement mortars made with recycled concrete aggregate and reinforced with aramid fibers. This is especially relevant and innovative, since it focuses on the recovery and reuse of the fraction of fine aggregate smaller than 4 mm for use in building construction through the manufacture of masonry mortars, in addition to improving its mechanical performance by using aramid fiber as one of the synthetic reinforcements with the greatest future projection in the construction sector. In this way, it seeks to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and more specifically to the targets included in Goal 12, that is, to achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. The reuse of construction and demolition waste is a necessary way to achieve greater sustainability in building, introducing the criteria of the so-called circular economy in the design of the production process of new construction materials. This research focuses on analyzing the properties of mortars made with recycled aggregates from concrete waste and reinforced with aramid fibers. For this purpose, an experimental campaign was carried out, including chemical, physical, mechanical and durability tests, performing a statistical analysis to discuss the different properties analyzed. The results show how the incorporation of aramid fibers in the matrix of cement mortars made with recycled concrete aggregate improves their technical performance and mechanical resistance, thus increasing their application possibilities and achieving similar results in some properties to those obtained with traditional mortars made with natural aggregate.