Waste incorporation in paver block production

Abstract

Now-a-days a lot of open areas are being laden with non-traditional types of pavement material known as paver blocks. Paver blocks are different from typical concrete or asphalt-based pavements. It is built by accumulating individual blocks on an even surface forming a level surface layer to bear traffic/non-traffic loads. With the expansion in the construction development sector, there has been an increase in the consumption of natural resources for producing cement which contributes to the greenhouse gas effect. There has also been a sharp rise in industrialization, which is responsible for producing a huge amount of waste materials. Considering the popularity of paver blocks and the increase in their growth of demand, there is a scope to incorporate various waste materials as ingredients. This paper summarizes some of the various experimental works reported on paver blocks where there has been waste incorporation achieved for the manufacturing of paver blocks. Fly ash has been established as a good cement replacement material. Successful cement replacement of up to 40% was achieved by the usage of slag with satisfactory results where strength increased by more than 3% in comparison to normal. Geo-polymer reaction based precast blocks are easy alternatives but fly ash alone does not perform good in ambient conditions and hence it is required to be accompanied with slags in geo-polymer matrix formation. Based on the reported experimental data, it is observed that the water absorption remains less than 30% of the allowable limit. The abrasion resistance of the geopolymer paver block was 15% lesser than the cement paver block. For geo-polymer centered blocks strength advancements may be achieved with an increased concentration of alkali as well as alkali silica ratio in the matrix.