Assessment of fly ash and ceramic powder incorporated concrete with steam-treated recycled concrete aggregates prioritising nano-silica

Abstract

Present research involves determining the effects of a proposed novel nano-silica prioritized-steam-treated recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) on microstructural, mechanical, and durability aspects of concrete incorporated with waste ceramic powder (WCP). The study on novel nano-silica prioritized-steam-treated recycled concrete aggregate revealed that 3% nano-silica induction with 3-h steam treatment for 50% adhered mortar bonded RCA performed optimally. The physical characterization of treated RCA showed improvement compared to untreated RCA, which was confirmed by microstructure study indicating the formation of additional calcium silicate hydrates in the bonded adhered mortar of treated RCA. Furthermore, as WCP has significant contents of alumina and silica, an optimum ternary binder mix was developed with cement, fly ash, and WCP. Later, a study was performed to analyse the performance of treated RCA incorporated in WCP prioritized concrete mix. The mechanical performance of WCP prioritized concrete with treated RCA was investigated through compressive strength, flexural strength, split tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity. The quality was ensured through ultrasonic pulse velocity, water absorption, and density characterization. The durability of concrete was studied with 5% concentrated hydrochloric acid attack and sea water (pH = 8.3 to 8.7) exposure conditions for a duration of 148 days (including 28 days of portable water curing period). Overall, 30% of the ternary mixture based on WCP prioritization, 50% adhere mortar-based RCA, and 3% of nano-silica prioritization steam treatment (3 h) demonstrated the best performance in terms of both mechanical and durability aspects. The study concluded that due to its improved performance, the innovative nano-silica priority steam treatment approach could replace 100% of RCA in concrete. Furthermore, treated RCA being advantageous because of easy adoptable technique for real-time practices as well as maintaining consistency regards RCA characteristics throughout concrete mixture be the challenge. © The Author(s) 2024.