Comprehensive assessment of engineering and environmental attributes of geopolymer pervious concrete with natural and recycled aggregate

Abstract

This study aims to conduct comprehensive assessment of engineering and environmental attributes of geopolymer pervious concrete with natural and recycled aggregate. Pervious concrete mixtures were fabricated with different paste and aggregate types for laboratory characterization at different scales. As compared to traditional cement pervious concrete, mechanical strengths of geopolymer pervious concrete increase significantly when either natural coarse aggregate (NCA) or recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is used. The replacement of NCA with RCA reduces concrete strength but the advantage of geopolymer pervious concrete is maintained. Micro-scale observations indicate that geopolymer pastes have better bonding to RCA. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) results show that the lower global warming potential (GWP) and eutrophication potential (EP), but the greater energy consumption (EC) and acidification potential (AP) are achieved by geopolymer-based pervious concrete. Photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP) is found greater for fly ash-based but smaller for metakaolin-based geopolymer pervious concrete. The use of RCA brings environmental benefit at raw materials and transportation stages, in addition to avoiding landfilling and preserving natural aggregate. The pervious concrete with metakaolin-based geopolymer achieves the best overall performance considering multi-criteria of strength and environmental indicators regardless of aggregate type.