Development of alkali-activated slag concrete for potential application in pavements using municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash aggregates

The development of an efficient and sustainable transportation system is crucial for the effective functioning of economies. Concrete, a widely used material for road construction, poses significant environmental challenges. A sustainable alternative is to use alkali-activated concrete (AAC) for road construction. However, the aggregates used in...

Prediction & optimization of alkali-activated concrete based on the random forest machine learning algorithm

Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) is regarded as a promising alternative construction material to reduce the CO₂ emission induced by Portland cement (PC) concrete. Due to the diversity in raw materials and complexity of reaction mechanisms, a commonly applied design code is still absent to date. This study attempts to directly...

Thermal deformation and stress of alkali-activated slag concrete under semi-adiabatic condition: Experiments and simulations

This study investigates the deformation of free and stress of restrained alkali-activated slag concrete (AASC), respectively, under semi-adiabatic condition. The concrete shows first thermal expansion, which is compensated soon by autogenous shrinkage. The subsequent cooling down of the concrete aggravates shrinkage and development of tensile...

Experimental design of an alkali-activated slag concrete railway sleeper

This research aims to improve the sustainability of Dutch prestressed concrete railway sleepers. Approximately 100.000 to 200.000 sleepers are used every year, corresponding to 12.000 to 24.000 tonnes of concrete. This will be done by replacing cement with an alkali-activated binder. The cement industry is responsible for approximately 5 to 7%...

Chloride diffusion of alkali-activated fly ash/slag concrete

The widespread application of alkali-activated fly ash/slag (AAFS) concrete requires satisfaction of a series of performance criteria both from its early age properties (e.g. workability, strength) and long-term stability. In this study, long-term (till 180 days) natural chloride diffusion tests were conducted to evaluate the chloride diffusion...

A comparative study on the mechanical properties, autogenous shrinkage and cracking proneness of alkali-activated concrete and ordinary Portland cement concrete

This study aims to compare the developments of mechanical properties and autogenous shrinkage related properties of alkali-activated materials-based concrete (AC) and ordinary Portland cement-based concrete (OC) against curing age and degree of reaction. Temperature Stress Testing Machines are utilized to monitor the evolution of the internal...

Drying shrinkage of alkali-activated concrete -State-of-the-art: a research study into the mechanisms, the influencing factors, and mitigation strategies of drying shrinkage of alkali-activated concrete

Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) has emerged as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional concrete, as It is a cement-free concrete made by activating precursors (mainly low-cost, low-CO2 industrial by-products) with alkalis. AAC has demonstrated some remarkable mechanical properties and long-term performance (e.g., high strength,...

RILEM TC 247-DTA round robin test: carbonation and chloride penetration testing of alkali-activated concretes

Many standardised durability testing methods have been developed for Portland cement-based concretes, but require validation to determine whether they are also applicable to alkali-activated materials. To address this question, RILEM TC 247-DTA ‘Durability Testing of Alkali-Activated Materials’ carried out round robin testing of carbonation...

A low-autogenous-shrinkage alkali-activated slag and fly ash concrete

Alkali-activated slag and fly ash (AASF) materials are emerging as promising alternatives to conventional Portland cement. Despite the superior mechanical properties of AASF materials, they are known to show large autogenous shrinkage, which hinders the wide application of these eco-friendly materials in infrastructure. To mitigate the...

The implementation of alkali-activated concrete in jointless ground floors

To realise more sustainable industrial ground floors the implementation of alkali-activated concrete is considered for jointless elastically supported ground floors. Such floors are realised with large areas without dilations, the shrinkage reduction is therefore restrained causing cracks to arise at the top surface of the floor. The control of...