Using Zeolite as a Partially Replaced Cement in Construction Materials: A Systematic Review of Properties

Concrete is the most world widely used construction material with about 6 billion tones being produced every year. In terms of per capita consumption, it comes next to water. The extraction of raw materials and emission of CO2 during cement manufacture cause great damage to the environmental sustainability. So, it becomes the need to reduce cement consumption. It can be done by partially replacing the cement by supplementary materials without compromising with strength and durability characteristics of the concrete. These materials may be naturally occurring, industrial wastes or by-products that are less energy extensive. These pozzolanic materials when combined with calcium hydroxide, exhibits cementitious properties. Most commonly used pozzolanic materials are fly ash, metakaolin, silica fume, ground granulated blast furnce slag (GGBS). It needs to examine the admixtures performance when blended with concrete so as to ensure required strength, durability and reduced lifecycle cost. The present paper focuses on investigating characteristics of M35 grade concrete with partial replacement of cement with GGBS by 30%, 40% and 50%. The cubes and beams are tested for compressive strength and flexural strength respectively. From the experimental investigation, it was found that as the GGBS replacement level increased the workability increased. Also, both compressive strength and flexural strength of concrete increased as the GGBS content increased up to 40% but they decreased as the GGBS content increased above 40%. It was also found that both maximum compressive strength and maximum flexural strength of the concrete were achieved at 40% GGBS replacement level. So, the optimum content of GGBS for compressive strength and flexural strength is 40%. Keywords – Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, Pozzolana, Compressive Strength, Flexural Strength, Ordinary Portland Cement

Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR) is a chemical reaction that negatively affects concrete pavements strengths and integrity. ASR impedes concrete pavements' performance due to the formation of cracks and ultimate deformation if not properly controlled. Concrete pavements are gaining more relevance due to their ability to be constructed on soils with low bearing capacity and support high traffic loadings, thus increasing the need for studies on how ASR in the concrete pavements can be mitigated. This study employed compressive and flexural strength tests to determine the strength properties and deformation of concrete pavements due to ASR when partially replaced with CBA at varying percentages. Static structural modelling of the concrete as a multiphase material in which aggregates, cracks and gel formations are considered as embedded inclusions in the cement paste is then carried out. The results are then compared with relevant standards and findings of other researchers. The study's findings reveal that all the concrete cube samples passed the recommended compressive strength for rigid pavement, which range from 35 - 40 N/mm2 at 28th day. The concrete cube samples also passed the target strength of 48.25 N/mm2 obtained from the mix design. The effect of ASR resulted in lower compressive and flexural strengths observed at 180th and 240th days with lower CBA addition, while samples containing higher CBA contents had increasing compressive strength. The static structural modelling results reveal that the maximum deformation was obtained for the concrete cubes admixed with 0% CBA with 47.045 mm while the least deformation was obtained at 30% CBA replacement with deformation value of 5.542 mm on application of a 900 KN force. Therefore, the study posits that CBA addition will help reduce Portland Cement Concrete Pavement deformation due to ASR in relation to traffic loadings. Cite as: Adanikin A, Falade F, Olutaiwo A. Strength analysis of concrete pavement deformation due to Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR). Alg. J. Eng. Tech. 2020; 3: 020-027. http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4400227 References Hajighasemali S, Ramezanianpour A, Kashefizadeh M. The effect of alkali–silica reaction on strength and ductility analyses of RC beams. Magazine of concrete research. 2014;66(15):751-760. Grimal E, Sellier A, Multon S, Le Pape Y, Bourdarot E. Concrete modelling for expertise of structures affected by alkali aggregate reaction. Cement and Concrete Research. 2010 ;40(4):502-507. Monette LJ, Gardner NJ, Grattan-Bellew PE. Residual strength of reinforced concrete beams damaged by alkali-silica reaction—Examination of damage rating index method. Materials Journal. 2002 ;99(1):42-50. Huaquan YA, Zhen LI, Meijuan RA, Xiaomei SH. Study on Influence of Aggregate Combination and Inhibition Material ofAlkali-silica Reaction in Fully-Graded Concrete. Materials Science. 2020;26(3):363-372. Malhotra VM, Mehta PK. High-performance, high-volume fly ash concrete: materials, mixture proportioning, properties, construction practice, and case histories. Supplementary Cementing Materials for Sustainable Development, Incorporated. Ottawa Canada, 2002: 101p. Falade F, Ikponmwosa E, and Fapohunda C. Potential of Pulverized Bone as a Pozzolanic material. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research. 2012; 3(7): 1-6. Evon, D. Is This ‘Goliath Skeleton’ Real? Retrieved from: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/is-this-goliath-skeleton-real/; (2018). BS 1881-116. Testing concrete. Method for determination of compressive strength of concrete cubes. 1983. ASTM, C78M. Standard Test Method for Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with Third-Point Loading). ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. 2018. Ahmed T, Burley E, Rigden S, Abu-Tair AI. The effect of alkali reactivity on the mechanical properties of concrete. Construction and Building Materials. 2003;17(2):123-144. Smaoui N, Berube MA, Fournier B, Bissonnette B, Durand B. Effects of alkali addition on the mechanical properties and durability of concrete. Cement and concrete research. 2005;35(2):203-12. Ankit K. Kisku N. Effect of silica fume and fly ash as partial replacement of cement on strength of concrete. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology. 2016;5(10), 18618 – 18624. Subbaramaiah G, Sudarsana HR, Vaishali GG. Effect of addition and partial replacement of cement by wood waste ash on strength properties of structural grade concrete. International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology. 2015; 2(9): 736-743 Olutaiwo AO, Yekini OS, Ezegbunem II. Utilizing Cow Bone Ash (CBA) as partial replacement for cement in highway rigid pavement construction. SSRG International Journal of Civil Engineering. 2018; 5(2): 13-19. Adanikin A, Falade F, Olutaiwo AO, Faleye ET. Ajayi AJ. Investigation of the effect of Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) on Properties of Concrete Pavement Admixed with Cow Bone Ash (CBA) by Electrical Resistivity Method. IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering. 2019, 640(1): 1-9 Kadyali LR. Lal NB. Principles and practices of highway engineering including expressways and airport engineering. (Khanna Publishers, New Delhi). 2014. Marzouk H. Langdon S. The effect of alkali aggregate reactivity on the mechanical properties of high and normal strength concrete. Cement and Concrete Composites. 2003;25: 549–556. Giaccio G, Zerbino R, Ponce JM, Batic OR. Mechanical behavior of concretes damaged by alkali-silica reaction. Cement and Concrete Research. 2008;38(7):993-1004.

The functional and environmental performance of mixed cathode ray tubes and recycled glass as partial replacement for cement in concrete

Fly ash is a powder material of burned coal from thermal power stations which produces cementitious and pozzolanic material. Commonly use of fly ash in concrete for building construction contributes conducive environmental and also reduces the effect of pollutant in site project. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the use of fly ash as partial replacement of cement in concrete as a mean of producing more environmental friendly concrete. The content of fly ash as partial replacement of ordinary portland cement(OPC) is investigated by weight accordingly in range 0%(without fly ash), 10%, 20% and 30% for grade 25. The chemical composition of fly ash was determine using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). The scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to determine particle size, shape and texture of fly ash. The mix proportion of concrete was determine using mix design method according to British Standard. The workability of the fresh concrete mixture was evaluated using slump test while compressive strength of cubes concrete was evaluated at 7, 14, 28 and 56 days. A total of 48 cubes concrete with size 100mmx100mmx100mm were made. The optimum compressive strength at all ages of testing was obtained at 10% replacement. Workability decreased with an increased in replacement percentage of fly ash. The results therefore show that fly ash as pozzolanic materials can be used to partially replace ordinary portland cement in production of concrete.

Cement-zeolite improved sand can be used in diverse civil engineering applications. However, earlier research has not duly optimized its production process to attain best mechanical strength, lowest cost, and least environmental impact. This study proposes a multi-objective optimization approach using back-propagation neural network (BPNN) to predict the mechanical strength, along with an adaptive geometry estimation-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (AGE-MOEA) to identify the best parameters for cement-zeolite-improved sand, filling a long-lasting research gap. A collection of unconfined compression tests was used to evaluate cemented sand specimens treated with stabilizers including portland cement (at dosages of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%) and six dosages of natural zeolite as partial replacement for cement (0, 10, 30, 50, 70, and 90%) at different curing times of 7, 28, and 90 days. The study further conducts a detailed analysis of life cycle assessment (LCA) to show how partial zeolite replacement for cement impacts the environment. Through a tuning process, the BPNN model found the optimal architecture and accurately predicted the unconfined compressive strength of cement-zeolite improved sand systems. This allowed the AGE-MOEA to optimize zeolite and cement dosages, density, curing time, and environmental impact. The results of this study reveal that the optimal range of zeolite was between 30-45%, which not only increased cemented sand strength, but also reduced the cost and environmental impact. It is also shown that increasing the zeolite replacement to 25-30% can increase the ultimate strength of cemented sand, yet exceeding this limit can cause the strength to decrease. Zeolite has the potential to serve as an alternative for cement in applications that involve cemented sand, while still achieving mechanical strength performance, which is comparable or even superior. From an LCA standpoint, using zeolite as partial cement replacement in soil improvement projects is a promising alternative.

For several decades, cement production has caused concerns about CO2 emissions. As the production of concrete has increased over the years, the fact that cement is its key component additionally raises a concern. By partially replacing cement with waste material such as biomass waste biochar, the reduction in waste and the reduction of CO2 emissions could be addressed at the same time but raises a concern about the ecotoxicological potential of biochar-containing cementitious composites. During their use, recycling and disposal of biochar-containing mortars could pose hazardous environmental impacts due to their exposure to rain and other environmental conditions. The aim of the study was to determine the early-age mechanical properties of mortars with 5%, 10%, and 15% biochar as partial cement replacement. The environmental impact of biochar-containing mortars in terms of carbon footprint reduction and ecotoxicological potential was addressed simultaneously. The biochar used was prepared from waste wood biomass as carpentry waste wood. Results showed that added biochar caused no significant changes in flowability and fresh density of fresh mortar mixture. The strength tests revealed mortars with 5% and 10% biochar had higher 3-day flexural strength, while only mortar with 5% biochar had higher 7- and 28-day compressive strength (4% and 6%) than the conventional mortar. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis detected five main crystalline phases in biochar-containing mortars. SEM-EDS showed the strong embedment of biochar particles in cement paste. Ecotoxicological assessment based on acute toxicity tests with mortar leachates using duckweed and mustard seeds showed low toxicity of leachates with the highest inhibition values around 50%. The calculations of the total CO2-equivalent emissions for selected mortars revealed mortars with biochar as partial cement replacement had lower CO2-equivalent emissions than the conventional mortar and can contribute to carbon footprint reduction and at the same time to natural resource conservation.

BackgroundCement-zeolite improved sand can be used in diverse civil engineering applications. However, earlier research has not duly optimized its production process to attain best mechanical strength, lowest cost, and least environmental impact. This study proposes a multi-objective optimization approach using back-propagation neural network (BPNN) to predict the mechanical strength, along with an adaptive geometry estimation-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (AGE-MOEA) to identify the best parameters for cement-zeolite-improved sand, filling a long-lasting research gap.MethodsA collection of unconfined compression tests was used to evaluate cemented sand specimens treated with stabilizers including portland cement (at dosages of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%) and six dosages of natural zeolite as partial replacement for cement (0, 10, 30, 50, 70, and 90%) at different curing times of 7, 28, and 90 days. The study further conducts a detailed analysis of life cycle assessment (LCA) to show how partial zeolite replacement for cement impacts the environment. Through a tuning process, the BPNN model found the optimal architecture and accurately predicted the unconfined compressive strength of cement-zeolite improved sand systems. This allowed the AGE-MOEA to optimize zeolite and cement dosages, density, curing time, and environmental impact.ResultsThe results of this study reveal that the optimal range of zeolite was between 30-45%, which not only increased cemented sand strength, but also reduced the cost and environmental impact. It is also shown that increasing the zeolite replacement to 25-30% can increase the ultimate strength of cemented sand, yet exceeding this limit can cause the strength to decrease.ConclusionsZeolite has the potential to serve as an alternative for cement in applications that involve cemented sand, while still achieving mechanical strength performance, which is comparable or even superior. From an LCA standpoint, using zeolite as partial cement replacement in soil improvement projects is a promising alternative.

All over the world the most common consuming construction material is concrete. It is well know that concrete is the combination of cement, aggregates and water. The production of cement results in the formation of carbon dioxide gas causes the environmental pollution. About 7 percent of carbon dioxide gas is evolved from cement industries to atmosphere. Keeping in view about the environmental pollution which may leads to some serious issues of health, so it is essential to use locally available pozolanic materials as a partial replacement of cement because these materials are economical as compared to Portland cement and also friendly to the environment without compromising on concrete strength. In concrete cement can be partially replaced by different supplementary cementitious materials. In the recent years pozzolonic materials, glass powder and silica fume are used in concrete as a partial cement replacement to improve the strength of concrete. In this research work the mixture of glass powder and silica fume were used in concrete as a partial cement replacement, to study its effect upon concrete strength. The mix proportion of 1:2:4 was selected for all the concrete samples with water to binder ratio of 0.55. For comparison, a control sample of concrete was prepared without mixture of glass powder and silica fume to compare it with the various samples containing different percentages of mixture of glass powder and silica fume as a partial replacement of cement in concrete. Results discovered that the usage of mixture of glass powder and silica fume in concrete as a partial replacement of cement increases the concrete strength. Such as compressive strength increases up to 8.64%, tensile strength increases up to 15% and flexural strength increases up to 7.08% at the age of 28 days. It is concluded that maximum strength is achieved at 28 days by 30 percent replacement of cement through mixture of glass powder and silica fume in concrete and the strength was decreased by increasing the mixture of glass powder and silica fume content beyond 30 percent. Therefore 30 percent replacement of cement is the optimum amount to achieve the higher strength. From the SEM analysis of concrete samples it’s proved that both the pozzolonic materials contribute in hydration process and further validated the strength test results.

The world today, is plagued by several environmental problems including air pollution and global warming. These aforementioned environmental problems are prominently associated with the consumption of natural resources in manners that have proven to be unsustainable. The construction industry has been seen to play a major role in contributing to the natural resources consumption and environmental problems, at large. Cement production brings about the emission of toxic gases that pollute the atmosphere, thereby promoting these environmental problems. Consequently, concrete technology findings have been directed toward realizing alternative sustainable materials for utilization in the construction industry. Seashell waste has proven promising in the partial replacement of cement in concrete. This study had carried out experimental investigations on senilia senilis shell as a partial cement replacement material in concrete production. The senilia senilis shell was crushed into senilia senilis powder (SSP), processed, and utilized to partially replace cement at 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% in concrete. Fineness, Initial and final setting, and specific gravity tests were carried out on seashell powder to ascertain its suitability for cement replacement. Physical and mechanical tests were carried out on the concrete samples produced. The mechanical properties of the various concrete specimens were also analyzed in this study. Also, the elemental composition and morphological analysis of the SSP and the various concrete specimens were examined in this study with the use of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). The results of this study indicate that SSP concrete at 10% to 20% replacement of cement, can be utilized for various mix ratios in the construction industry.

Utilisation of recycled glass cullet in concrete has obvious benefits with respect to environmental conservation and sustainable development. The problems of rising landfills can be reduced. Reduction of primary aggregates for concrete where alternative materials would suffice can also be fulfilled. Glass also contains large amounts of silicon and calcium which means that in theory, is pozzolanic. However, the possibility of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) due to the presence of silica must also be addressed. Tests were performed to investigate the suitability of using cullet in concrete. A sieve analysis was performed to determine the size distribution of the cullet and provided basis to the range of samples that could be cast. Using cullet as partial replacement aggregate in concrete has resulted in minor increases in concrete consistence (workability) and minor reductions in compressive strength. When ground glass cullet (GGC) was used as 30% partial cement replacement, the consistence increased considerably, whilst the later age compressive strength was close or higher (depending on the mix proportions used) compared to the corresponding control mixes, which did not have GGC incorporation. The early age strength was lower and strength development was slower at early ages further suggesting likelihood of pozzolanic activity. Accelerated ASR tests have shown the occurrence of ASR in concrete mixes using cullet as replacement aggregate to be more than control mixes which used conventional aggregate. The magnitude of ASR was also found to be colour dependant-green coloured cullet resulted in less expansion than when using amber cullet. Qualitative microstructural analysis of specimen micrographs recorded in Secondary Electron Imaging (SEI) mode using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) have shown that mortar specimens using cullet displayed more cracking at longer curing periods. Cracks propagated from, and surrounded the glass particles, further suggesting the occurrence of ASR activity. Depending on size classification used, glass cullet can therefore be recommended to be used as partial aggregate replacement and partial cement replacement in concrete. The possibility of durability attack due to ASR reaction must however be taken into consideration.

Development of high-performance self compacting concrete using eggshell powder and blast furnace slag as partial cement replacement

Globally, green, and recycled materials are attracting the imagination and the creativity required leading to innovative civil engineering applications. Waste materials in mortar mix are gaining popularity and are commonly utilized in civil engineering works. Investigating the properties of waste materials as partial replacements and substitutes for components in mortar applications is of great interest. Throughout this study, mortar specimens were investigated with mix design in which cement and sand are partially substituted with wood ash, crumb rubber, and fine crushed glass.A total of 540 mortar specimens were evaluated at 7, 14, and 28 days for the flexural strength and compressive strength. The first combined mortar mix was realized from the combination of 4% wood ash as partial cement replacement, and 20 % wood ash, and 2% crumb rubber as partial sand replacement, and resulted in an increase of 12.65 % in the flexural strength and 32.23 % in the compressive strength at 28 days while incorporating 14.52 % waste by weight. The second combined mortar mix that was realized from the combination of 4% wood ash as partial cement replacement, and 30 % wood ash, 30 % fine crushed glass, and 2% crumb rubber as partial sand replacement, resulted in an increase of 28.72 % in the flexural strength and 27.81 % in the compressive strength at 28 days while incorporating 40.61 % waste by weight. The significance of this research is that this study investigated the efficacy of the combined utilization of wood ash as partial cement replacement, and wood ash, fine crushed glass, and crumb rubber as partial sand replacements in mortar mixes without adding any chemical treatments or additives thus remaining faithful to producing an eco-friendly mortar mix.

This study presents the effects of egg shell powder on lightweight foamed concrete when partially replace the cement. At 2017, 12235 million eggs were consumed and around 85 thousand tonnes of egg shell waste was the yield in Malaysia. The waste might result in an environmental problem if it is not reused properly. Besides, large cement production also results in carbon dioxide emission and depletion of natural limestone. Therefore, studies on effects of egg shell powder on properties of lightweight foamed concrete as partial replacement of cement is attractive to be carried out by aiming to promote the application of lightweight foamed concrete as well as to mitigate the environmental issue by reducing the number of eggshell wastes and pure cement production. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects on engineering properties of lightweight foamed concrete with a fresh density of 1200 ± 50 kg/m3when the cement is partially replaced by egg shell powder at replacement levels of 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% by mass. The properties of the lightweight foamed concrete studied included workability, stability, compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption, and sorptivity. The results show that the replacement of egg shell powder reduces the spread diameter, stability, and sorptivity, and improve the compressive and flexural strengths at replacement level of up to 5%. The eggshell powder is feasible to be used as partial cement replacement material for the production of the masonry unit.

This research showed the results of experiments evaluating the use of eggshell powder from egg production industry as partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement. Research on the reuse of waste materials in the concrete industry has been quite intensive in the past decade. The objective of this research is to identify the performance of dried eggshell powder as a partial cement replacement in the production of concrete. Eggshell powder of various amounts, namely 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by volume, was added as a replacement for ordinary Portland cement. The results showed that eggshell concrete greatly improved the compressive and flexural strength of concrete. The rate of water absorption of eggshell concrete was reduced as eggshell powder filled up the existing voids, making it more impermeable. However, the compressive strength of the eggshell concrete decreases gradually when the amount of eggshell powder increased. It can be concluded that the optimum percentage of dried eggshell powder as a partial cement replacement is 15%. In this direction, an experimental investigation of ultrasonic pulse velocity, rebound hammer concrete test, compressive strength, flexural strength and FTIR spectra and TGA analysis was undertaken to use eggshell powder and admixtures as partial replacement for cement in concrete.

This research showed the results of experiments evaluating the use of empty fruit bunch ash (EFBA) from the oil palm industry as partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement. Research on the reuse of waste materials in the concrete industry has been quite intensive in the past decade. The objective of this research is to identify the performance of EFBA as a partial cement replacement in the production of concrete. EFBA of various amounts, namely 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by volume, was added as a replacement for ordinary Portland cement. The results showed that EFBA concrete greatly improved the compressive and flexural strength of concrete. The rate of water absorption of EFBA concrete was reduced as EFBA filled up the existing voids, making it more impermeable. However, the compressive strength of the EFBA concrete decreases gradually when the amount of EFBA increased. It can be concluded that the optimum percentage of EFBA as a partial cement replacement is 15%. In this direction, an experimental investigation of ultrasonic pulse velocity, carbonation test, compressive strength, flexural strength and water absorption was undertaken to test the performance of EFBA and admixtures as partial replacement for cement in concrete.KeywordsEmpty fruit bunch ashAdmixtureStrength and durability concerete properties