Concrete which is widely used material in the construction industry, has a carbon footprint. Approximately 10% of global Carbon Dioxide (CO2) gas is emitted during the production of cement which is vital ingredient of concrete. The increase in production of cement affects global warming and climate change. Therefore, many have attempts have been made to develop green and sustainable concrete by utilizing different waste materials. With the utilization of waste materials as cement replacement, the CO2 gas emissions can be reduced as well as resolve the environmental issues that the inhabitants face during the disposal of such waste materials. This paper reviews the potential and innovative utilization of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) and Eggshells as partial cement replacement to develop green concrete. RHA which is rich in silica and eggshells contain identical amount of calcium oxide as cement, when finely grinded and used together as partial cement replacement, can trigger a pozzolanic reaction, in which silica reacts with calcium oxide resulting in the formation of calcium silicates which are responsible for achieving higher strengths.
With the reduction in the permanent load on the structure and excellent insulation properties, the lightweight foamed concrete is a potential thermal insulating building material to counter the urban heat island effect, which increases the temperature of urban areas due to the concentration of infrastructures constructed using conventional concrete that absorbs the solar radiation. The lightweight foamed concrete whose dry density ranges from 400 kg/m3 to 1600 kg/m3, has lower thermal conductivity compared to conventional concrete. But reduced density attributes to reduced compressive strength. In this study, to enhance the mechanical properties, the foamed concrete of 1600 kg/m3 density is reinforced with polypropylene fibres (PP). Four percentages of PP fibres, 0% (controlled), 0.2%, 0.25% and 0.30% were added into the foamed concrete. The compressive strength as well as the thermal conductivity of foamed concrete reinforced with PP fibres were determined. Based upon the findings, the optimum percentage of PP was determined to be 0.20% which gave higher compressive strength while thermal conductivity of foamed concrete was observed to decrease upon addition of PP fibres. Thus, addition of PP fibres improves the thermal resistance in the foamed concrete along with enhancing the mechanical properties.
This paper presents the structural behaviour of precast lightweight foam concrete sandwich panel (PFLP) under flexure, studied experimentally and theoretically. Four (4) full scale specimens with a double shear steel connector of 6 mm diameter and steel reinforcement of 9 mm diameter were cast and tested. The panel's structural behavior was studied in the context of its ultimate flexure load, crack pattern, load-deflection profile, and efficiency of shear connectors. Results showed that the ultimate flexure load obtained from the experiment is influenced by the panel's compressive strength and thickness. The crack pattern recorded in each panel showed the emergence of initial cracks at the midspan which later spread toward the left and right zones of the slab. The theoretical ultimate load for fully composite and noncomposite panels was obtained from the classical equations. All panel specimens were found to behave in a partially composite manner. Panels PLFP-3 and PLFP-4 with higher compressive strength and total thickness managed to obtain a higher degree of compositeness which is 30 and 32.6 percent, respectively.
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