Decision Analysis for the Influence of Incorporating Waste Materials on Green Concrete Properties

Abstract

Concrete industry is challenged by sustainability and technical concerns. Sustainability includes minimization of raw material usage, energy consumption, and emission of greenhouse gases, while technical concerns comprise the enhancement of mechanical properties and durability such as compressive strength, resistance to chloride, acids, and elevated temperatures. Therefore, recycling of industrial waste in manufacturing of green concrete has become a robust viable alternative to disposal, due to the limited natural resources and raw materials which contribute to sustainable construction. Consequently, this research aims to develop an approach using a multicriteria decision-making algorithm based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), to select the most suitable industrial waste to achieve the desired green concrete properties. The research starts by determining the alternatives including 18 industrial wastes, and the criteria including 14 properties of concrete. After that, an experimental database for the influence of the alternatives on the criteria is established based on the literature. Then, an algorithm is developed using a python script to analyze the influence of incorporating each of the industrial waste alternative on both the mechanical and sustainable properties of concrete. Subsequently, the efficiency of the proposed algorithm is validated using three case studies that present different circumstances of concrete specifications. Based on the proposed approach, the decision-maker can assign the appropriate residual waste to be incorporated into the concrete mix according to its application in a user-friendly manner. Such approach can support both sustainable use of waste materials and enhancement of concrete properties.

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