Basalt fiber reinforced foam concrete with marble waste and calcium aluminate cement

Abstract

As a typical cellular lightweight material, foam concrete is produced by mixing cement, water, aggregate and a suitable foaming agent and has a density usually below 1600 kg/m3. The large number of air spaces present in foam concrete ensures that the concrete has advantages such as lightweight, high fluidity during pouring, excellent thermal and sound insulation, superior fire resistance, and outstanding energy absorption capacity. Its high porosity and the connectivity of the pores, which can allow the entry of negative substances into the concrete environment, cause foam concrete to have a very low physico‐mechanical and durability performance. To eliminate or reduce these disadvantages, this study adopted the use of basalt fibers (BF) as eco‐friendly fiber type and calcium aluminate cement (CAC) as aluminous cement with waste marble powder (WMP) as aggregates in foam concrete. In that respect, 9 mixes with varying content of foaming agent (FC) and basalt fiber have been prepared. Assessment of mechanical performance was based on compressive and flexural strength after 6 h, 1, 7, and 28 days. Dry bulk density, thermal conductivity, porosity, water absorption, and sorptivity of the concretes were determined. Durability characteristics of the concretes were examined by dry shrinkage, high temperature, magnesium sulfate, sulfuric, and hydrochloric acids. The obtained results showed that the content of BF affected the compressive strength of the mixtures slightly negatively or positively depending on the FC. The lowest value in thermal conductivity was gained as 0.645 (W/m K) for the mixture incorporating 1% BF and 50 kg/m3 foam quantity. In addition, the foam concrete incorporating foam of 30 kg/m3 and 1% BF showed the best resistance against MgSO4. The mixture with 2% BF and 30 kg/m3 FC exhibited the lowest mass loss after HCI exposure.

Assessment of Waste Marble Powder on the Mechanical Properties of High-Strength Concrete and Evaluation of Its Shear Strength

“…Subsequently, when these stones are prepared for use by processing, sawing, and shaping them, a huge amount of powder waste is produced, which causes a global environmental problem. Therefore, the recycling of waste marble powder (WMP) in the building sector for the manufacture of sustainable concrete as a replacement for cement has been the subject of several studies in the past decade [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. This trend of studies has grown to minimize final construction costs, since WMP is very cheap and could be available for free, as well as to reduce global pollution.…”

Assessing the Co, Bi, and Mg Contents of Some Mineral Concrete Additives in terms of Environmental Effects

“…Remaining undegraded in nature for a long time since it has a long half-life, heavy metals that accumulate in bodies of organisms and can be toxic or carcinogenic even when at low concentrations are considered as one of the most dangerous environmental pollution factors [57][58][59][60]. For this reason, use of waste materials (especially heavy metals), many of which are important environmental pollutants, as a concrete additive is very important since it decreases the cost of concrete and it contributes to the reduction of environmental pollution by eliminating the environmental pollutants through recycling [61][62][63][64]. For this reason, many studies examining the use of various waste materials as concrete additives were carried out in recent years [65][66][67].…”

A Review on Durability of Foam Concrete

“…It was reported that, on exposure to a solution of 5% hydrochloric acid, the mass loss of OPC foam concrete increased with decreased density, due to increased porosity leading an increase in the acid-exposed contact area and acid diffusion rate. The mass loss decreased with increasing basalt fiber content, due to the higher acid erosion resistance of basalt fiber [90]. Rokiah et al claimed that foam concrete in which 30% of its weight was replaced with processed spent bleaching earth experienced a lower mass loss in pH 2 hydrochloric acid solution than pure OPC foam concrete, indicating enhanced acid erosion resistance.…”