Exploitation of the nanowaste ceramic incorporated with nano silica to improve concrete properties

Abstract

The sustainable utilization of demolition wastes in the production of building materials is regarded as an eco-efficient approach for conserving naturally-occurring resources accompanied by resolving the environmental problems caused by these wastes. Accordingly, the motivation behind this work is evaluating the single and combined effect of nano-waste ceramic (NWC) and nano silica (NS) on the performance of Portland cement concrete. Portland cement was individually replaced by different contents of NWC (2–10 wt%) and NS (1–4 wt%). Another mixture was designed to evaluate the synergetic impact of NS and NWC mixture (3 and 6 wt%) on the performance of concrete. The mechanical (flexural, splitting tensile and compressive strengths) and nondestructive tests (Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity ‘UPV’) were carried on the control and nano-modified hardened concrete. The results showed that the increase of NWC content up to 6 wt% has resulted in a noticeable increment in strengths at all curing ages, followed by a reduction in strengths when NWC content reaches 10 wt%. However, the usage of 10% NWC illustrates a slight enhancement in strengths compared to control sample. All over the mixtures, the nano-silica modified samples demonstrate a slight enhancement in the mechanical properties compared to NWC. The highest mechanical properties accompanied by the shortest transmitted waves were achieved by the hardened samples having the mixture of 3 wt% NS and 6 wt% NWC. This means that the sustainable utilization of NWC not only improves the performance of concrete but also resolves the environmental problems caused by this waste.

Keywords

• Nondestructive test
• Nanosilica
• Nano waste ceramic
• Mechanical properties
• Pozzolanic activity