Mechanical Properties and Durability of Sustainable Concrete Manufactured Using Ceramic Waste:A Review

Green and sustainable concrete has attracted significant attention from the construction industry and researchers since it was proposed.The ceramic waste materials are often directly buried in the ground or placed in an open dump,and the accumulation of ceramic waste contributes to environmental pollution,which makes the recycling of ceramic waste quite urgent.Owing to the pozzolanic activity,excellent mechanical properties and durability,industrial ceramic waste is considered as a suitable substitute for cement or natural aggregates to fabricate renewable concrete.In this paper,the pozzolanic activity of ceramic waste and the workability,mechanical performance,and durability of ceramic concrete are discussed.In addition,the most recent research results pertaining to ceramic concrete are reviewed.Ground ceramic powder improves the workability,compressive strength,resistance to chloride penetration,and carbonation resistance of concrete to a certain extent.Concrete containing ceramic as the aggregate has a lower mechanical performance than ordinary concrete.However,the resistance to chloride penetration,freeze-thaw resistance,and high-temperature resistance of ceramic concrete are remarkable.Ceramic concrete is environmentally friendly,requires fewer energy resources to manufacture than ordinary concrete,and has excellent engineering properties.However,further research is required for future engineering applications.

Measuring Thermal Mass of Sustainable Concrete Mixes

Thermal mass is currently evaluated with ＂admittance＂ which is the ability of the element to exchange heat with the environment and is based on specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity and density. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of thermal properties namely, density, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity on thermal mass. The objective of the study is to carry out laboratory experiments by measuring such thermal properties of concrete mixes with various percentages of GGBS （ground granulated blast furnace slag）, PFA （pulverized fuel ash）, and SF （silica fume） and RCA （recycled coarse aggregates）. The results obtained from these tests would contribute to the evaluation of how such thermal properties influence the thermal admittance and hence the thermal mass performance of sustainable concrete elements in a building system.

Compressive strength prediction and optimization design of sustainable concrete based on squirrel search algorithm-extreme gradient boosting technique

Concrete is the most commonly used construction material.However,its production leads to high carbon dioxide(CO_(2))emissions and energy consumption.Therefore,developing waste-substitutable concrete components is necessary.Improving the sustainability and greenness of concrete is the focus of this research.In this regard,899 data points were collected from existing studies where cement,slag,fly ash,superplasticizer,coarse aggregate,and fine aggregate were considered potential influential factors.The complex relationship between influential factors and concrete compressive strength makes the prediction and estimation of compressive strength difficult.Instead of the traditional compressive strength test,this study combines five novel metaheuristic algorithms with extreme gradient boosting(XGB)to predict the compressive strength of green concrete based on fly ash and blast furnace slag.The intelligent prediction models were assessed using the root mean square error(RMSE),coefficient of determination(R^(2)),mean absolute error(MAE),and variance accounted for(VAF).The results indicated that the squirrel search algorithm-extreme gradient boosting(SSA-XGB)yielded the best overall prediction performance with R^(2) values of 0.9930 and 0.9576,VAF values of 99.30 and 95.79,MAE values of 0.52 and 2.50,RMSE of 1.34 and 3.31 for the training and testing sets,respectively.The remaining five prediction methods yield promising results.Therefore,the developed hybrid XGB model can be introduced as an accurate and fast technique for the performance prediction of green concrete.Finally,the developed SSA-XGB considered the effects of all the input factors on the compressive strength.The ability of the model to predict the performance of concrete with unknown proportions can play a significant role in accelerating the development and application of sustainable concrete and furthering a sustainable economy.

Impact of Compaction Mode on Strength Properties of Sustainable Asphalt Concrete

Various modes of compacting the asphalt concrete mixture can create mechanically different behaviour of the prepared specimens and can alter its sustainability.An attempt has been made in the present assessment to prepare asphalt concrete specimens by implementation of three modes of compaction,the gyratory,the roller,and the Marshall hammer.The specimens were prepared at the target bulk density of Marshall method at optimum asphalt content.Extra specimens were prepared at 0.5%asphalt below and above the optimum.Core specimens have been obtained from the roller compacted slab samples.The specimens were tested for the Marshall stiffness,tensile,and shear strength.It was observed that at optimum asphalt content,the indirect tensile strength declines by(18.8 and 70.5)%for gyratory and roller compacted specimens respectively as compared with hammer compacted specimens.At optimum asphalt content,the shear strength declines by(70.5 and 82.2)%while Marshall stiffness declines by(10.2 and 44.8)%for hammer and roller compacted specimens as compared with that of gyratory compacted specimen.Specimens prepared by gyratory compaction are less susceptible to the change in the testing temperature as compared with other modes of compaction.It is recommended to consider the mode of compaction to suit the required design property of sustainable asphalt concrete mixture.

Influence of Recycling Waste Glass as Fine Aggregate on the Concrete Properties

Recent years have witnessed an increase in the quantity of waste glass(WG)across the globe.Replacing the fine aggregate with WG is one of the steps toward preserving the natural resources of the environment and creating low-cost concrete.The present study is concerned with replacing fine aggregates with glass powder(GP)at(0%,15%,30%,and 50%).It has studied the fresh and hardened properties(compressive strength,tensile strength,hardened density,and slump)for all the mentioned percent replacements.The findings have shown that all mixtures containing GP gave acceptable slump results within the design limits(2–5 cm)according to ACI standard 211.1.It has been observed that increasing the proportion of GP led to a decrease in the weight of concrete.Lastly,replacing GP with sand by 30%has led to an increase in the compressive strength by about 2.4%and 12.45%,and the tensile strength by about 2.5%and 26.54%at 7-and 28-d,respectively in comparison to normal concrete.

Effective Contribution of Brazilian Rice Husk Silica(RHS)as Eco-Friendly Silica in Concrete Plants

Due to growing consumption of Portland cement and high levels of CO_(2) emissions in its production process,this study examined the use of Brazilian RHS(rice husk silica)obtained by FBC(fluidized bed combustion)as an alternative material in concrete production;the principal cause is the inappropriate disposal of carbonized or in natura rice husk in southern Brazil.To analyze its feasibility,concretes made with several types of cements were examined combined with RHS,and also concretes with different strength classes employing a slag-based binder featuring a smaller amount of clinker in its composition.Mechanical and scanning electron microscopy assays were carried out to verify formation of C-S-H and calcium hydroxide in the cement pastes.This study concludes that replacing 10%of Portland cement(CEMIII/A)by 3%of RHS can result in a cost reduction of around 5%and allows a reduction of 4%in CO_(2)eq levels.In this way,RHS from renewable sources can be a highly impactful sustainable alternative in civil engineering work,allowing the concrete industry to produce environmentally-sound concrete mixtures with lower CO_(2) emissions.

New photo-thermal-synthesized polymer for self-compacting concrete to increase productivity, minimize pollution, and eliminate steam curing in precast concrete

The objective in this study is to apply the sustainable chemistry and photo-thermal synthesis technology to produce the sustainable eco-superplasticiser for the sustainable high performance SCC concrete especially in hot tropical countries. A photo-thermal synthesized eco-superplasticiser （PSES） was produced by using photo-thermal catalyst in a solar chemical reactor. In this preliminary study, an unique high early strength of SCC concrete has been successfully produced by imposing an unique proportion of the photo-thermal-synthesized eco- Superplasticiser （PSES）, local fly ash, sand and aggregate. The SCC concrete is preliminary tried in the precast concrete product to produce the complicated geometries as Tunnel segment, U-shape beam, and Box girder which have the critical reinforcement and thin section concrete. Surprisingly, this SCC provide the benefits as eliminating steaming energy, increased productivity, and minimize pollution. These unique properties of sustainable SCC concrete can not be achieved by the convention concrete by using ligno, naphthalene and melamine base superplasficiser. The synthesized sustainable eco-superplasticiser is a perfect choice to fully utilized the renewable energy and improve the concrete working environment.

Basic Properties of Concrete Incorporating Recycled Ceramic Aggregate and Ultra-fine Sand

Recycled ceramic mixed sand（RCMS） was obtained by partially replacing ultra-fine sand with recycled ceramic coarse sand（RCCS）. The effects of RCCS replacement rate on the apparent density, workability, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of recycled ceramic concrete（RCC） were investigated. In addition, the relationship between the water-cement ratio and compressive strength of RCC was also studied. The experimental results indicate that the reusing of recycled ceramic aggregate can improve the cohesiveness and water retentiveness of fresh concrete and benefit the mechanical properties development. When the RCCS replacement rate is not less than 40%, the mechanical properties of RCC are superior to those of the reference concrete. Moreover, when recycled ceramic medium sand was completely used as fine aggregate, the maximum increase in both compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were obtained, comparing with those of reference concrete, the increment ratio was 19.85% and 32.73%, respectively. The microscopic analysis shows that the using of recycled ceramic aggregate can meliorate distinctly the structure of the interfacial transition zone（ITZ） and increase the compaction degree of cement paste. Furthermore, an expression of the compressive strength of RCC and the cement-water ratio is regressed and gains a good linear relativity. It is an effective way to recycle waste ceramic, and the consumption of recycled ceramic aggregate could reach from 26.9% to 47.6% of the total weight of aggregate in producing concrete.

Compressive strength and stability of sustainable self-consolidating concrete containing fly ash, silica fume, and GGBS

This paper presents the findings of an experimental program seeking to understand the effect of mineral admixtures on fresh and hardened properties of sustainable self-consolidating concrete （SCC） mixes where up to 80% of Portland cement was replaced with fly ash, silica fume, or ground granulated blast furnace slag. Compressive strength of SCC mixes was measured after 3, 7, and 28 days of moist curing. It was concluded in this study that increasing the dosage of fly ash increases concrete flow but also decreases segregation resistance. In addition, for the water-to-cement ratio of 0.36 used in this study, it was observed that the compressive strength decreases compared to control mix after 28 days of curing when cement was partially replaced by 10%, 30%, and 40% of fly ash. However, a fly ash replacement ratio of 20% increased the compressive strength by a small margin compared to the control mix. Replacing cement with silica fume at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% was found to increase compressive strength of SCC mixes compared to the control mix. However, the highest 28 day compressive strength of 95.3 MPa occurred with SCC mixes in which 15% of the cement was replaced with silica fume.

A state-of-the-art review of the development of self-healing concrete for resilient infrastructure

The brittleness of cement composites makes cracks almost inevitable,producing a serious limitation on the lifespan,resilience,and safety of concrete infrastructure.To address this brittleness,self-healing concrete has been developed for regaining its mechanical and durability properties after becoming cracked,thereby promising sustainable development of concrete infrastructure.This paper provides a comprehensive review of the latest developments in self-healing concrete.It begins by summarizing the methods used to evaluate the self-healing efficiency of concrete.Next,it compares strategies for achieving healing concrete.It then discusses the typical approaches for developing self-healing concrete.Finally,critical insights are proposed to guide future studies on the development of novel self-healing concrete.This review will be useful for researchers and practitioners interested in the field of self-healing concrete and its potential to improve the durability,resilience,and safety of concrete infrastructure.

Impact assessment of river sand resource shortage under different policy scenarios in China

More than half of the annual global concrete materials were produced in China due to the rapid developing construction industry,which partly led to the shortage of river sand.However,mining rate exceeds the natural replenishment rate of river sand recently,resulting in depletion of natural river sand accumulation.The increasing demand of river sand influences lots of aspects including altered landforms,increasing carbon emissions,ecological deterioration,international trades and disputes.To face the river sand resource shortage in China and to propose possible coping strategies,the data of river sand for construction in China and other related data were collected,and it is suggested that effective policy measures should be taken right now to protect river sand and strictly manage sand mining.Professional solutions for river sand shortage can be summarized as“5Rs”principle,which includes reduce,recycle.reuse,replace and recover.System dynamic model is established to predict the trend of river sand shortage and it was predicted that the gap between river sand supply and demand will come up to 63%.The impact of three policy scenarios is tested in the model,and the gap can be reduced to 35%by single policy scenario,while the scenario with all policy measures is able to reduce the contradiction between supply and demand to 4%.Suggestions are proposed from the aspects of structural and material technology,policy measures and international alliances.Attention should be paid to the shortage of river resources,to realize the sustainable development of the construction industry and other related industries,and to promote the harmonious coexistence of human and nature.