Concrete drill core characterization finalized to optimal dismantling and aggregates recovery

In this paper two different sensing techniques were applied in order to obtain a recycled-oriented characterization of concrete materials to be dismantled. First, a micro-XRF sensing device was used in order to define the chemical elemental distribution in concrete drill cores collected from a demolition site and then the same samples were acquired by hyperspectral imaging (HSI) in order to classify the constituting materials based on their spectral signatures and to produce prediction maps. An innovative strategy based on micro-XRF and HSI in the short wave infrared range (1000-2500 nm) was developed in order to recognize aggregates and mortar paste in drill core samples from end-of-life concrete. Results showed that this approach can be applied to analyze and characterize demolition waste materials before dismantling. Indeed, starting from an efficient in-situ characterization of the objects to dismantle, demolition actions can be optimized in order to recover materials (i.e. aggregates) to recycle.