A predictive model of concrete compressive strength based on level of contamination of coarse aggregate: Experimental study and relation to the water absorption of the coarse aggregate

Recycled aggregate concrete is emphasized more and more nowadays due to its importance towards the construction industry and general welfare of our planet. Being such a significant feature with regard to universal sustainable development, every aspect of its properties should be evaluated, examined and optimized so that there is a well-known,...

Improving structural build-up of limestone-calcined clay-cement pastes by using inorganic additives

In 3D concrete printing, fast structuration is a prerequisite for ideal buildability. This paper aims to study the impact of inorganic additives, i.e., CaCl₂ and gypsum, on structural build-up and very early-age hydration of limestone-calcined clay-cement (LC3) pastes within the first 70–80 min. Results show that, increasing the...

Early age hydration of model slag cement: Interaction among C₃S, gypsum and slag with different Al₂O₃ contents

A deeper insight into SO₃/Al₂O₃ ratio including the contribution of alumina in slag at early age is required to ensure a properly sulfated slag cement. In this paper, to investigate the effect of gypsum and alumina of slag, emphasis was laid on the hydration characteristics of C₃S-gypsum-slag system...

The effect of slag chemistry on CO₂ binding capacity of C₃S-slag (-gypsum) system

In this paper, the authors investigated the correlation between slag chemistry and CO₂ binding capacity of the blended system. To simplify the composition of mixture, model paste containing C₃S, slag covering the common composition range and gypsum was employed. After accelerated carbonation test, three CO₂...

Effect of sulfates on hydration and properties of belite-rich cement paste

It is common practice to use gypsum in cement production to control setting time. Traditionally it is believed that sulfate from gypsum combines with aluminates to form ettringite and monosulfate to prevent flash set. However, previous studies have confirmed that sulfates also affect the hydration and mechanical properties of pure alite paste....

Sulfate precipitation treatment for NOM-rich ion exchange brines

Ion exchange (IEX) resins can remove natural organic matter (NOM) from drinking water sources. However, the IEX system produces a waste brine rich of sodium, chloride, NOM and sulfate. The treatment of the waste brine aims to recover a clean solution rich of sodium chloride, that can be reused to regenerate IEX resin. Previous research showed...

Microwave-induced interfacial failure to enable debonding of composite materials

Buildings or structures consist of materials that are joined to form functional composites to which a wide variety of “surface coatings” is added. Debonding of such composites is necessary to ensure high-quality, material-specific recycling processes. This paper describes tests of the debonding behavior of gypsum plaster and tiles that were...

Lightweight gypsum mortar with construction waste to be used as coatings with improved superficial hardness

This work studies the physical and mechanical behavior of a light gypsum eco-mortar, made with aggregates from ceramic waste and extruded polystyrene (XPS) waste. The main objective to include waste into the gypsum compound is to reduce the amount of raw material used (gypsum) and thus reduce the environmental impact, improving the...

Multi-storey timber-frame building- modelling the racking stiffness of timber-frame shear-walls

Today, timber structures are receiving attention more and more. Because of the increasing interest in sustainable construction as well as for other reasons, building industry in Europe is (re)-discovering multi-storey timber structures for construction of mid-rise buildings. In this master’s thesis, an analytical calculation method and modelling...

Moisture transport in coated plaster

In the framework of the research project: 'Water balance of water-borne paint systems on plaster substrates in relation to fungal growth', a study is carried out to moisture transport mechanisms in coated gypsum plaster. In this contribution, the set-up of the study is described. Besides a description of the experiments to investigate the...