Altekreeti, Marwah and Bahadori-Jahromi, Ali ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0405-7146 (2026) Synergistic surface treatments for sustainable recycled aggregate concrete: experimental performance and machine learning prediction of compressive strength with an interactive online interface. Sustainability, 18 (7).

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Abstract

Recycled concrete aggregate (RC A) is considered a sustainable material; however, its porosity and interfacial properties are poor due to adhering mortar. This study investigates the influence of synergistic surface treatments in terms of improving RCA quality and the resulting compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). A machine learning (ML) model was also developed to predict the compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) with different surface treatments, not just untreated RCA. In this study, three different RCA surface treatments were investigated. In this regard, acetic acid, silica fume, and sodium silicate treatments were combined. The properties of concrete and fresh concrete were investigated using slump and compressive tests at 28 and 90 days. The performance of various ML models, incorporating Gradient Boosting, Random Forest, XGBoost, and Extra Trees, was investigated. The performance of different models was also evaluated using R2, MAE, and RMSE. SHAP analysis was used to evaluate the performance of different models. It has been observed that the use of surface treatment leads to lower water absorption values and higher interfacial bonding, as well as substantial improvements in compressive strength. Specifically, the use of acetic acid and silica fume for treating RCA produced compressive strengths similar to those achieved from natural aggregates at lower costs. XGBoost has the highest accuracy among all models. The R2 value of XGBoost was 0.909. The SHAP analysis indicates that cement and curing age are the main features. RCA treatment parameters are considered modifiers. A user-friendly online tool was created to estimate compressive strength using different types of RCA treatment. The RCA treatment with sodium silicate and silica fume performed best in terms of embodied carbon among the treated mixes; it was deemed the best alternative from an environmental standpoint.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.3390/su18073541
Keywords:	recycled aggregate concrete; treatment; machine learning; spraying treatment; hybrid treatment; life cycle assessment
Subjects:	Computing > Intelligent systems Construction and engineering
Date Deposited:	07 Apr 2026
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/14846

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