Assessment of Mechanical Properties and Structural Morphology of Alkali-Activated Mortars with Industrial Waste Materials

Iman Faridmehr, Chiara Bedon, Ghasan Fahim Huseien, Mehdi Nikoo and Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban
Additional contact information
Iman Faridmehr: Institute of Architecture and Construction, South Ural State University, Lenin Prospect 76, 454080 Chelyabinsk, Russia
Chiara Bedon: Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Trieste, Via Alfonso Valerio 6/1, 34127 Trieste, Italy
Ghasan Fahim Huseien: Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117566, Singapore
Mehdi Nikoo: Young Researchers and Elite Club, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz 61349-37333, Iran
Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban: Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 2815 Gjøvik, Norway

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-25

Abstract: Alkali-activated products composed of industrial waste materials have shown promising environmentally friendly features with appropriate strength and durability. This study explores the mechanical properties and structural morphology of ternary blended alkali-activated mortars composed of industrial waste materials, including fly ash (FA), palm oil fly ash (POFA), waste ceramic powder (WCP), and granulated blast-furnace slag (GBFS). The effect on the mechanical properties of the Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , and CaO content of each binder is investigated in 42 engineered alkali-activated mixes (AAMs). The AAMs structural morphology is first explored with the aid of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. Furthermore, three different algorithms are used to predict the AAMs mechanical properties. Both an optimized artificial neural network (ANN) combined with a metaheuristic Krill Herd algorithm (KHA-ANN) and an ANN-combined genetic algorithm (GA-ANN) are developed and compared with a multiple linear regression (MLR) model. The structural morphology tests confirm that the high GBFS volume in AAMs results in a high volume of hydration products and significantly improves the final mechanical properties. However, increasing POFA and WCP percentage in AAMs manifests in the rise of unreacted silicate and reduces C-S-H products that negatively affect the observed mechanical properties. Meanwhile, the mechanical features in AAMs with high-volume FA are significantly dependent on the GBFS percentage in the binder mass. It is also shown that the proposed KHA-ANN model offers satisfactory results of mechanical property predictions for AAMs, with higher accuracy than the GA-ANN or MLR methods. The final weight and bias values given by the model suggest that the KHA-ANN method can be efficiently used to design AAMs with targeted mechanical features and desired amounts of waste consumption.

Keywords: fly ash; granulated blast-furnace slag; palm oil fly ash; ordinary Portland cement; recycled ceramics; green mortar; alkali-activated mix design; compressive strength; embodied energy; CO 2 emission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2062-:d:499401

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