Acoustic emission monitoring of the fracture behavior of mortar specimens fabricated using recycled concrete aggregates

This study aims in examining the fracture behavior of recycled mortar specimens using acoustic emission technique. To produce the recycled mortar beams a portion of fine recycled concrete aggregates and natural sand has been used and the specimens were tested in three-point bending and compression. The ultrasonic velocity and dynamic elastic modulus of the samples were also determined. This work led to a comparison of the fracture behavior of plain and fiber-reinforced recycled mortar specimens with a baseline mortars fabricated with 100% natural sand. The results show that the use of recycled aggregates in mortars can be successfully characterized by acoustic emission parameters. This approach offers a reliable evaluation of the fracture mechanism making acoustic emission a valuable nondestructive evaluation tool in the growing sector of recycled building materials.