Solid waste management is a significant environmental issue for countries because of the need for huge landfills. The ceramic tile waste powder (CWP) is one of the wastes. Conversely, cement production, the main ingredient in concrete, emits large quantities of greenhouse gases, a significant environmental concern. Therefore, substituting some of the cement in concrete with CWP is an issue that deserves investigation to reduce the environmental impact of both materials. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the influence of the grinding time and proportion of CWP as a substitute for cement on the properties of high-strength mortar (HSM). Three grinding times (10, 15, and 20 minutes) and three replacement percentages (10%, 20%, and 30% by weight) for CWP were adopted for each time. Ten mixtures (including the reference mixture) were executed. The fresh (flow rate), mechanical (compressive strength) durability (ultrasonic pulse velocity, dynamic elastic modulus, water absorption, density, percentage of voids and electrical resistivity) and microstructural properties were examined. The life cycle assessment (LCA) was also addressed. The results showed that the mechanical activation had a pronounced effect on the durability properties (especially water absorption and percentage of voids) more than on the compressive strength. Generally, a sustainable HSM (with more than 70 MPa of compressive strength) can be produced in which 30% of the cement was replaced with CWP with almost comparable performance to the CWP-free mortar. Furthermore, LCA results showed that mortars containing 30% CWP ground for 15 mins (GT15CWP30) had the lowest GWP per MPa.
The cement industry is one of the most polluting industries globally, due to the high amount of CO 2 emissions generated during production. Improving the sustainability of cement production is thus vital. Waste paper is also a big problem for many societies, especially in developed countries, where the use of board and paper increases almost every day. This work examines the possibility of using incinerated waste paper ash (IWPA) and non-incinerated waste paper (NIWP) as a partial replacement for cement (by weight) in mortar mixtures. For non-incinerated waste paper, the tested replacement levels were 1%, 1.5%, 2.5% and 3.5%, while for incinerated waste paper, the replacement levels were 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%. An additional mix without any replacement was also cast for comparison purposes. The fresh and hardened properties of mortar were assessed using flow rate, compressive strength, direct tensile strength, water absorption, and dry density tests, and two test ages (7 and 28 days) were considered for the compressive and tensile strength tests, though water absorption and density tests were undertaken at 28 days only. The results showed that the presence of waste paper (incinerated or non-incinerated) reduced the flow rate of fresh mortar as compared with the reference mix. It was also found that, for the NIWP mixtures, 1% replacement of cement was the most efficient percentage; this increased the compressive strength by 16% and the direct tensile strength by 19% at 28 days of age. For the IWPA mixes, the results showed that the best replacement ratio was 5%, where the compressive strength and direct tensile strength were improved by 10% and 11% at 28 days, respectively. These 1% NIWP and 5% IWPA mixtures gave similar water absorption of 7% to the reference mix.
Sustainability and reducing environmental damage caused by CO2 emissions have become issues of interest to researchers in the construction sector around the world. Reducing the cement content in concrete by partially substituting it with by-products or waste falls within this field as the cement industry is responsible for 7% of global CO2 emissions. On the other hand, self-compacting concrete (SCC) is one of the special types of concrete that contains a large amount of powder (most of which is cement) to ensure its flow under the influence of its weight without separating its components. Therefore, to produce eco-friendly SCC, many researchers have replaced part of the cement with clay brick waste powder (CBWP) since brick units are among the most widely used building materials after concrete. Accordingly, this study aims to review previous research that included using CBWP in SCC. The effect of these wastes on the fresh, mechanical, durability and microstructural properties of cement was reviewed. Additionally, a comparison between the environmental impacts of SCCs with different CBWP contents has been conducted using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. It was found that the highest value of CBWP that can be used without negatively affecting the different properties of concrete is 10% by weight of cement. Moreover, regarding environmental impact, using CBWP as a substitute for cement reduces environmental damage, and the lowest environmental impact that can be achieved per strength unit (MPa) is 37.5%.
Pavement deterioration is mainly caused by high traffic loading and by increased levels of runoff water resulting from storms, floods, or other reasons. Consequently, this issue can be efficiently solved by employing permeable pavement, such as permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP) to control water runoff and endure increased traffic loads. This study investigates the performance of PICP, in both 45° and 90° herringboned surface patterns, in terms of the infiltration of volumes of water, runoff water volumes, and the ability of pavement to withstand static loading. All the related tests in this study were implemented using a lab apparatus that was fabricated as a simulator for rainfall. Various conditions were adopted during the performance tests, including the application of longitudinal slopes (0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5%), side slopes (0, 2.5, and 5%), and different rainfall intensities (25, 50, 75, and 100 L/min). The results indicated that at high rainfall intensities (75 and 100 L/min), PICP with the 45° herringboned surface pattern had the highest volume of infiltrated water and the lowest runoff water at all the adopted longitudinal and side slopes. In addition, PICP with the 45° herringboned surface pattern showed higher resistance to deflection under a static loading test than the 90° herringboned pattern under the same conditions. Therefore, PICP with a 45° herringboned surface pattern showed supremacy in terms of runoff reduction and load resistance in comparison to PICP with a 90° herringboned pattern. Even though there are differences between the two types of PICP, they are both strongly recommended as alternatives to regular pavement.
The high pollution caused by CO2 emission and the high level of energy consumed during cement manufacturing led the researchers to look for alternative techniques to reduce these environmental effects. One of these techniques includes reducing the content of cement in the mix by replacing it with supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash, slag, silica fume, and so on. Many previous studies dealt with the utilizing of the high volume of supplementary cementitious materials, such as fly ash and slag. However, limited studies investigated the impact of silica fume on mortar or concrete properties in percentages of more than 30%. Thus, to produce environmentally friendly concrete, this study was performed to investigate the effect of the high replacement level of cement with silica fume on the properties of cement mortar. Six replacement proportions of silica fume (0%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 70%) were used in this paper. This paper used the flow rate, compressive strength, water absorption, bulk density and volume of permeable voids tests to test the effect of silica fume on different mortar characteristics. The results indicated that the best mixture among all other mixes was found by 50% substitution of silica fume. At this percentage, an enhancement in compressive strength of nearly 83%, 74% and 75% at 7, 28 and 56 days, respectively and an improvement in water absorption resistance by 8% compared to the control mixture were achieved.
The concrete structures deterioration in the last few decades required effective methods for evaluating and maintaining the structure condition. Currently, assessing the performance and safety of reinforced concrete (RC) structures relies on routine-based visual inspection (VI). However, there are another non-destructive test (NDT) technique that can provide a more accurate assessment of the structures. Thus, in this study, a footbridge located in Liverpool, UK is chosen as a case study and has NDT techniques used for assessment. The main objective of this research is to determine the condition of structural bridge components and investigate its level of defect and deterioration using non-destructive tests. The methodologies involved are visual inspection, and NDT techniques include the rebound hammer, cover meter, Moisture Content & Depth of Carbonation Testing, Chloride Testing and Half Cell Test. The framework, when implemented with the best selection of NDT techniques, helps in determining the level of defect and deterioration of the structural bridge components and next recommendation regarding the condition of the bridge. The involved bridge structural components include column, deck, wall and staircase. Findings from the visual inspection show that there were many defects and deteriorations found at the structural bridge components, which includes crack, spalling, and delamination and rusting. Further, NDT techniques that were carried out at the selected bridge structural part shows that some of the components exhibited a moderate risk of corrosion and acceptable concrete surface quality. In general, further maintenance is needed specifically to some critical structural components of the bridge.
This study seeks to identify an environmentally sustainable method for utilizing the synergetic effects of window glass (WG), ceramic powder (CP), and ultrafine cerium oxide (UFC) in developing concrete containing 25% coarse ceramic aggregate. Four different mixtures were formulated. The first represents control, consisting of 100% ordinary Portland cement (OPC), two other mixtures were composed of 10% WG, 10% CP and 80% OPC, and the fourth mixture consisted of four compositions of 79.5% OPC, 10% WG, 10% CP, and 0.5% UFC. The effect of these additives on recycled ceramic concrete (RA) properties, including workability and setting time, compressive strength, total water absorption, permeable pore ratio, electrical resistivity, and corrosion resistance, was studied. The results showed that when 10% WG and 0.5% UFC were combined, the components' synergistic effect was more noticeable. It had a compressive strength of 44.53, 48.83, and 56.17MPa after 28, 90, and 180 days, which is higher than the ternary mixtures of Portland cement, ultrafine cerium oxide, and ceramic powder, as well as the quaternary mixtures of Portland cement, WG powder, CP, and UFC. Moreover, it recorded a lower corrosion rate than the reference mix (RA-C), ternary mix (RA-CP10UFC0.5), and quaternary mixes (RA-CP10WG10UFC0.5) mixes. Meanwhile, the quaternary mix (RA-CP10WG10UFC0.5) showed 40% and 45% lower porosity and water absorption than the control mixture and 54% higher electrical resistivity values compared to the control mixture and ternary mixtures (RA-WG10UFC0.5 and RA-CP10UFC0.5) at 180 days.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Concrete is a brittle material, so it is reinforced with fibers (such as steel, glass and nylon fibers) to improve its ductility. On the other hand, the use of fibers resulting from waste is an interesting issue to avoid the negative impact of these wastes on the environment as well as converting them from useless to other valuable materials. Limited studies addressed the mechanical and structural performance of the locally produced waste rope fibers (WRF) and their reuse in concrete. As a result, the goal of this research is to see how different percentages of WRF (0%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 1% by weight of concrete) affect the workability, mechanical (such as compressive and flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity and bulk density) and structural (such as load deflection, crack width and propagation, and ductility index) properties of concrete. Results indicated that WRF improved the compressive and flexural strength of concrete by up to 22% and 4.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the width of cracks of reinforced concrete beams was considerably reduced and the ductility index of WRF-based beams was 3.07–3.24 compared to 1.45 for fiber-free beams.
Environmental pollution and the relatively high cost of waste disposal has been a major focus for scientists around the world, leading researchers to find a solution to reuse waste materials in different applications. Iraqi people consume hundreds of tons of black tea each year, which produce a large quantity of the used tea, leaves as waste. These large quantities go to landfills without any benefit or recycling. Additionally, landfills are considered one of the biggest crisis facing the Iraqi government. Therefore, this study aims to recycle the black tea waste ash (BTWA) by utilizing it as a partial replacement of cement. Cement mortar mixes containing five replacement levels of cement with BTWA (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% by weight) were carried out. The compressive strength and flexural strength tests were adopted to show the effect of BTWA on mechanical properties of cement mortar. The flow rate of fresh mortar was also measured. Results indicated that, up to 7.5% replacement, the compressive strength values were improved. For 10% replacement, the compressive strength values were equal to that for control specimens. In contrast, the BTWA had a negative impact on the flexure strength of mortar at replacement levels 5%, 7.5% and10%. For 2.5% substitution, however, the flexure strength was enhanced slightly (about 2%).
This paper aims to give a recommendation about the suitable nano silica proportion and curing method for testing its strength pozzolonic activity, in addition to suggest a mixing or batching procedure of this material with other concrete ingredients. Theinfluence of nanoand micro silicaon concrete compressive strength is also studied. Three proportions of nano silica (0.5, 5, &10%) , two curing methods (accelerated in oven and normal in water) and two tested agesare used in pozzolonic activity test of nano silica. For compressive strength test, eleven mixes are considered:without-adding (two mixes), three micro silica (M) mixes with replacement ratios of 5, 10 & 15%, four nano silica (N) mixeswith replacement ratiosof 0.5,1.5, 3 & 5%, and three micro plus nano silica mixes (0.5N+9.5M,1.5N+8.5M and 3N+7M%) are adopted.Results of pozzolanic activity test denoted that nano silica has remarkable pozzolanic activity for all tested replacements.However, it is suggest using 5% nano silica for performing this testby usingeither accelerated or water curing. Additionally, it was found that nano silica had more impact on compressive strength of concrete than micro silica for all tested ages.Where, maximum enhancement ratios of compressive strength were about 33% and 27% for 3% nano silica mix at 7 and 90 days age respectively, and 22% for 5% nano silica mix at 28 days age. For micro silica mixes, higher improvement ratios were found in 15% micro silica mix: 2%,5%&7% at 7,28 &90 days age respectively.
The increase in cement production as a result of growing demand in the construction sector means an increase in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. These emissions are estimated at 7% of the global production of CO2. Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has excellent mechanical and durability characteristics. Nevertheless, it is costly and affects the environment due to its high amount of cement, which may reach 800–1000 kg/m3. In order to reduce the cement content, silica fume (SF) was utilized as a partial alternative to cement in the production of UHPC. Nevertheless, SF is very expensive. Therefore, the researchers investigated the use of supplementary cementitious materials cheaper than SF. Very limited review investigates addressed the impact of such materials on different properties of UHPC in comparison to that of SF. Thus, this study aims to summarize the effectiveness of using some common supplementary cementitious materials, including fly ashes (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), metakaolin (MK) and rice husk ashes (RHA) in the manufacturing of UHPC, and comparing the performance of each material with that of SF. The comparison among these substances was also discussed. It has been found that RHA is considered a successful alternative to SF to produce UHPC with similar or even higher properties than SF. Moreover, FA, GGBS and MK can be utilized in combination with SF (as a partial substitute of SF) as a result of having less pozzolanic activity than SF.
The reactive powder concrete (RPC) is one of the special concrete types that characteristics with high cement content which means high production cost and CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Therefore, to enhance the environment as well as to develop green RPC, alternatives to cement, such as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) were used. Limited studies addressed the use of a high volume fraction of SCMs as a binary combination in the production of RPC. Thus, this study aims to replace a high percentage of cement (50%) with binary combinations of silica fume (SF), type F fly ash (FA) and metakaolin (MK). The experimental program included two phases. In phase one, two groups (SF+FA and MK+FA) were cast without steel fibers. Based on group performance in the first phase, one group was chosen to be used with steel fibers in the second phase. The flow rate, compressive and flexural strengths, density, ultrasonic pulse velocity and dynamic modulus of elasticity tests were conducted. The phase one results showed that SF+FA combination mixtures had better performance than MK+FA mixtures thus they were selected to be used in the second phase (with the addition of 1% volumetric fraction micro steel fibers). Results indicated that it is possible to produce sustainable RPC in which the cement can be replaced with 30% SF and 20% FA (the total replacement is 50%) in the presence of 1% steel fibers with a remarkable enhancement in compressive strength and flexural strength reached up to 44% and 10%, respectively.
The difficulty of decomposing solid waste over time has made it a significant global problem because of its environmental impact and the need for large areas for disposal. Among these residues is the waste of the rendering mortar that is produced (falls to the ground) while applied to wall surfaces. The quantity of these materials may reach 200 to 500 g/m2. As a result of local urban development (in Iraq), thousands of tons of these wastes are produced annually. On the other hand, the emission of greenhouse gases in the cement industry has had a great environmental impact. One of the solutions to this problem is to reduce the cement content in the mix by replacing it with less emissive materials. Residues from other industries are considered a relatively ideal option due to their disposal on the one hand and the reduction of harmful emissions of the cement industry on the other hand. Therefore, this research aims to reuse rendering mortar waste powder (RMWP) as a possible alternative to cement in mortar. RMWP replaced the cement in proportions (0, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30% by weight). The flow rate, flexural and compressive strengths, ultrasonic pulse velocity, bulk density, dynamic modulus of elasticity, electrical resistivity, and water absorption tests of the produced mortar were executed. Microstructural analysis of the produced mortar was also investigated. Results indicated that, for sustainable development, an eco-friendly mortar can be made by replacing cement with RMWP at a rate of 15%, resulting in a 17% decrease in compressive strength while maintaining or improving durability properties. Moreover, the microstructure became denser and more homogeneous in the presence of RMWP.
<p>One of the major challenges faced by researchers is to recycle industrial wastes in a manner that reduces their environmental impact in nature. An experimental study was carried out to determine the suitability of using chopped tire rubber as reinforcements in green and sustainable geopolymer concrete, with the purpose of using them as nonstructural products. The geopolymer mixture was made by mixing of fly ash powder, fine aggregate, and Superplasticizer in Na2SiO3/NaOH solution. Mixtures were divided into four different groups, with constant water to fly ash ratio of 0.12 and alkaline dosage of 45% by weight of fly ash, based on the recycled chopped tire rubber (CTR) content: 0, 10, 20, and 30% by volume of fine aggregate with two maximum sizes (2 and 4mm). Hardened properties of resulted geopolymer like compressive strength, density; and ultrasonic pulse velocity were examined at 28d. Besides that, X-Ray diffractometer and Scanning Electron Microscope were used in order to observe the microstructure of the resulted geopolymer concrete. In view of the consequences for this study, it is preferable to replace no more than 10% of fine aggregate in geopolymer concrete by CTR. In addition, according to SEM photographs, increasing the CTR content more voids will be pronounced and thus, decreasing the mechanical performance.</p>