Physical, Mechanical, and Durability Properties of Concrete Containing Wood Chips and Sawdust: An Experimental Approach

Abstract

With a circular economy in the spotlight, wood waste has emerged as an important secondary raw material. Bearing this in mind, a comprehensive experimental study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of using concrete compositions containing wood chips and sawdust for structural and non-structural building applications. First, the mineral and wood aggregates used in the composite design were fully characterized. Twelve compositions containing varying types of wood particles in different amounts were then produced and characterized in terms of physical and mechanical performance (e.g., mass density, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, and flexural strength). Subsequently, two compositions with optimized features (mass density below 2125 kg/m3, compressive strength above 25 MPa, and maximum volume content of wood) were selected to undergo additional experimental tests. These included microstructural characterization, as well as the evaluation of relevant durability (e.g., wetting–drying, freeze–thaw, and thermal shock cycles) and hygrothermal (e.g., thermal conductivity, water absorption, and shrinkage and expansion) properties. All compositions showed compressive strength above 30 MPa. The durability assessment of selected compositions further showed that compressive strength after relevant artificial aging was still higher than the predefined criteria. Promising hygrothermal properties (minimal water absorption and low thermal conductivity) were also recorded.

Estimation of the Content of Stone Fine Powder in High-Performance Lightweight Rice Husk Concrete Blocks

“…Several researchers have developed green concrete based on agricultural wastes. Examples of agricultural wastes investigated for green concrete, include RRH (Winarno, 2019;Winarno, 2021;Tayeh et al, 2021), bagasse bers (Bilba & Arsene, 2008), coconut ber (Tawasil et al, 2021), sawdust (Dias et al, 2022), and hemp (Marianne et al, 2009). Agricultural waste is a remarkable material for concrete mixtures because of its lightweight, which is due to the interconnected networks that create porosity among its ingredients.…”

The feasibility of improving concrete strength properties by adding waste wood chips

“…A higher strengthto-weight ratio, improved tensile strain capacity, a lower coefficient of thermal expansion, and enhanced heat and sound insulation are all advantages of lightweight concrete. [4][5][6]. Additionally, composite wood concrete will save construction costs and has the benefit of being a green building material [7].…”

Compressive strength of light-weight concrete material made from treated wood waste as a coarse aggregate

“…Aigbomian and Fan (2013) used sawdust wood powder and waste paper to develop a new building material and the result was to have building material with a compressive strength ranging from 0.06 to 0.8 MPa (Aigbomian and Fan 2013). Dias et al (2022) used wood chips and sawdust wood powder as wood aggregate in investigating the mechanical properties of lightweight concrete. Twelve mixes and 78 specimens (cubes) were studies at different amount of replacement with the wood chip and sawdust wood powder with superplasticizer.…”

“…Twelve mixes and 78 specimens (cubes) were studies at different amount of replacement with the wood chip and sawdust wood powder with superplasticizer. The concrete density decreased with the increase of the wood amount and the compressive strength increased with increased curing time (Dias et al 2022). Baltazar (2021) studied two partial percentages of replacement of the wood waste from the natural sand in mortars.…”