A Numerical Model for the Optimization of Concentrated Suspensions for Sustainable Concrete Proportioning

Sébastien Rémond and Mohamed El Karim Bouarroudj
Additional contact information
Sébastien Rémond: University Orléans, University Tours, INSA CVL, LaMé, EA 7494, F-45100 Orléans, France
Mohamed El Karim Bouarroudj: University Orléans, University Tours, INSA CVL, LaMé, EA 7494, F-45100 Orléans, France

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-12

Abstract: Concrete has a large environmental impact due to CO 2 emissions related to cement manufacturing and the consumption of natural aggregates. More sustainable concretes can be developed, replacing part of the cement with mineral admixtures or natural aggregates with recycled ones. However, recycled materials are less regular than natural ones, and using new deposit changes concrete properties, which necessitates the re-optimization of mixture proportions. For small/medium-size waste deposits, the expensive experimental work needed to adapt concrete formulation containing these particular wastes is not profitable, which prevents from their valorization. The aim of this study is to develop a numerical model to optimize the mixture proportions of concentrated suspensions based on very limited entry data. In the model, spheres of small radii are seeded in the porosity and allowed to swell until reaching a target radius/density. On monosized suspensions, it is shown that the ratio between the number of random displacements to the number of particles varies with density, following a classical viscosity–density relationship, which allows identification of the packing fraction. The model is extended to bidisperse systems, with the viscosity of the whole suspension calculated by combining the viscosities of each granular class. The model is applied to bidisperse systems of size ratios 4:1 and 2:1 with varying proportions of large particles. The optimum proportions identified numerically are compared successfully to experimental results from the literature.

Keywords: concentrated suspension; numerical model; maximum packing fraction; viscosity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7773/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7773/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:7773-:d:847978

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().