Influence of recycled concrete aggregates on the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams

: This research evaluates the influence of the replacement of natural coarse aggregates (NCA) by recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) on the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams. Experimental tests on six reinforced concrete beams with RCA replacement ratios of 0%, 30%, and 100% are presented. Furthermore, a database with results of 170 tests on beams with RCA is used to discuss adjustments in the recommendations presented by ABNT NBR 6118 to estimate the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams. According to the Demerit Points Classification (DPC) proposed by Collins, 80% of the theoretical results obtained using models I and II from the Brazilian code fall in an appropriate safety condition range, showing that the substitution of NCA by RCA has a low impact on the shear strength reinforced concrete beams.