Nowadays, applying sustainable development strategies in designation and production of various products has attracted specific attention. In order to consider ecological sustainable development for a product, reducing its environmental impacts should be observed. Concrete technology and its products are not exceptions, and therefore, the same has been a concern for concrete industry. Alongside, concrete recycling is one of the measures used to reduce the environmental impacts of concrete products during their life cycle. On the other side, positive performance of silica nano-particles has been proven in numerous researches as one super pozzolanic material. Hence, in this study, we aimed on application of recycled coarse aggregates as 100% replacement for natural coarse aggregate. Meanwhile, due to strength loss of recycled concretes, we tried to enhance the microstructural and mechanical properties of recycled concretes by the use of silica nanoparticles in low contents (lower than 5%). To provide a more comprehensive investigation, mixtures with different cement contents (350, 400, 450 kg/m 3 ) were casted. By examining the experimental data deduced from different tests consisting of slump, compressive strength, water absorption, and microstructure (SEM), the positive effects of this method was discovered. Finally, some procedures for improving the present condition are expressed.
Because of their unique physical and chemical properties, nanoparticles have been gaining increasing attention and have been used in many fields to fabricate new materials with novel functions. If nanoparticles are integrated with cement-based building materials, the new materials might possess some outstanding properties. Ferrocement is a type of thin-wall reinforced concrete commonly constructed of hydraulic cement mortar reinforced with closely spaced layers of continuous and relatively small-sized wire mesh. The low level of technical skill required to make ferrocement and the ready availability of its materials make ferrocement suitable for a wide variety of applications. This study investigates the mechanical properties (compressive and flexural strengths) and microstructural properties (as determined by scanning electron microscopy) of the interfacial transition zone between cement pastes and aggregates of mortars applicable for the casting of thin ferrocement elements combining with nanosilica. Study parameters include the ratio of nanosilica to cement in ordinary portland cement mortar mixtures (including 1%, 2%, and 3%) and the water-to-binder ratio (including 0.35 and 0.4). The results show that cement mortars containing nanoparticles have a reasonably higher strength and denser interfacial transition zone than do ordinary portland cement ferrocement mortars, while the flowability of mortars with and without nanoparticles is considered equal.
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