Durability of concrete incorporating organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display waste as cement binder replacement.

The use of supplementary cementitious materials is customary in contemporary concretes. Different industrial by-products and waste materials have been investigated earlier for such applications. In this paper, the use of organic light-emitting diode glass (OLED) display waste as a partial replacement of cement binder in concretes has been explored. Concretes with 10%, 20%, and 30% substitution (by weight) of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) by OLED powder were developed, and the resulting mechanical properties and durability characteristics were evaluated. The results showed that OLED addition leads to strength improvement of up to 8% after 28-day age. Also, the resistance to chloride-ion penetration and sulfate attack improved considerably. The chloride binding capacity for the developed concretes was also investigated. It was demonstrated that the OLED powder incorporation is beneficial in improving the corrosion resistance of the modified concrete. The enhanced mechanical and durability properties of modified concrete point toward the excellent performance of OLED-incorporated concrete for improved service life. Incorporating OLED display waste in concrete as a partial cement replacement can also reduce environmental burden and concrete cost.

Determining the Fracture Process Zone Length and Mode I Stress Intensity Factor in Concrete Structures via Mechanoluminescent Technology.

The mechanoluminescent (ML) technology that is being developed as a new and substitutive technology for structural health monitoring systems (SHMS) comprises stress/strain sensing micro-/nanoparticles embedded in a suitable binder, digital imaging system, and digital image processing techniques. The potential of ML technology to reveal the fracture process zone (FPZ) that is commonly found in structural materials like concrete and to calculate the stress intensity factor (SIF) of concrete, which are crucial for SHMS, has never been done before. Therefore, the potential of ML technology to measure the length of the FPZ and to calculate the SIF has been demonstrated in this work by considering a single-edge notched bend (SENB) test of the concrete structures. The image segmentation approach based on the histogram of an ML image as well the skeletonization of an ML image have been introduced in this work to facilitate the measurement of the length of ML pattern, crack, and FPZ. The results show ML technology has the potential to determine fracture toughness, to visualize FPZ and cracks, and to measure their lengths in structural material like concrete, which makes it applicable to structural health monitoring systems (SHMS) to characterize the structural integrity of structures.

High Sulfate Attack Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Flumes Containing Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Waste Glass Powder.

To prevent chemical erosion of concrete and improve chemical resistance, reinforced concrete flumes were manufactured, conforming to the Korean Industrial Standards (KS). Two different sizes of liquid crystal display (LCD) waste glass powder (LWGP) particles were used (i.e., 5 and 12 µm) with two substitution types with cement in concrete (i.e., 10% and 20%). Changes in compressive strength, pore structure, weight, volume, and strength of the concrete flumes after immersion in two sulfate solutions (i.e., Na2SO4 and MgSO4) for 84 and 182 days were measured for sulfate attack resistance. The applicability of the LWGP concrete flume with a 0.5 mm crack width was also evaluated based on the bending strength results. The LWGP5, which has a smaller particle size among LWGPs, filled the smaller pores, thereby reducing the porosity and contributing to the compressive strength gain. Higher volume and weight change ratios for all specimens immersed in MgSO4 solution were found than those immersed in Na2SO4 solution under identical conditions. Flexural loads of all the LWGP concrete flumes with 0.05 mm crack widths were greater than 48.5 kN, as required by the KS code; however, these flexural loads were lower than those of ordinary Portland cement. The applicability was also validated via a flexural test complying with KS.

Incorporating Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Glass Waste as Supplementary Cementing Material (SCM) in Cement Mortars-Rationale Based on Hydration, Durability, and Pore Characteristics.

This paper assesses the feasibility of using liquid crystal display (LCD) waste glass as a supplementary cementing material in cement mortars. Two different sizes of LCD waste glass powder (LGP) particles were used (5 µm and 12 µm) with two substitution levels with cement in mortar (10% and 20%). The resulting mortars were evaluated for strength, hydration, porosity and durability through various experimental techniques. It was found that LGP particles lead to appreciable strength gain at all ages in comparison with control mortar, especially significant strength gain of 18% was observed at 28-day. This is attributed to the greater gel-space ratio as corroborated by the experimental determination of porosity, which is found less for LGP-incorporated mortars as compared to control cement mortar. The smaller particle size of LGPs not only accelerates the pozzolanic reaction in alkaline cementitious matrix, but also fills the smaller pores, thus reducing porosity and contributing to strength gain. Increased hydration was also elucidated qualitatively by backscattered electron imaging. Due to the increased hydration in LGP-incorporated pastes and mortars, the durability (in terms of chloride ion permeability) has also been found improved. Thus, it is established that 10% (by weight) of cement can be replaced with 12 µm LGP, whereas 20% can be replaced with 5 µm LDP for improved strength and durability. Incorporating LCD waste in mortars and concretes as partial replacement of cement can not only help utilize this potentially hazardous waste, but also significantly reduce the associated carbon dioxide emissions, thus promoting sustainable development.

Synergistic Benefits of Using Expansive and Shrinkage Reducing Admixture on High-Performance Concrete.

High-performance concrete (HPC) is widely used in construction according to great mechanical properties, but it has a high risk of shrinkage cracking due to autogenous shrinkage stress. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the effect of a combination of expansive admixture (EA) and shrinkage reducing admixture (SA) on the autogenous shrinkage of high-performance concrete without heat treatment. Two different EA to cement weight ratios of 0.0, 5.0%, and two different SA to cement weight ratios of 0.0, and 1.0% were combined and considered. To investigate the differences in the time-zero conditions effect on the autogenous shrinkage behaviors, four different initial points were compared. The test results indicate that the EA and/or SA content was conductive to a little bite increase compressive strength (22.6⁻37.9%) and tensile strength (<4.8%). According to the synergistic effect of the EA and SA on the HPC, the autogenous shrinkage significantly decreased (<50%), as compared to those specimens with only one type of admixture (EA or SA). Furthermore, all the specimens incurred restrained autogenous shrinkage cracks at an early age, except the specimen using the combined EA and SA. Therefore, it can be concluded that the combination of EA and SA is effective for improving the properties of HPC.

Flowable Backfill Materials from Bottom Ash for Underground Pipeline.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between strength and strain in manufacturing controlled low strength materials to recycle incineration bottom ash. Laboratory tests for controlled low strength materials with bottom ash and recycled in-situ soil have been carried out. The optimum mixing ratios were 25%-45% of in-situ soil, 30% of bottom ash, 10%-20% of fly ash, 0%-3% of crumb rubber, 3% of cement, and 22% of water. Each mixture satisfied the standard specifications: a minimum 20 cm of flowability and 127 kPa of unconfined compressive strength. The average secant modulus (E50) was (0.07-0.08) qu. The ranges of the internal friction angle and cohesion for mixtures were 36.5°-46.6° and 49.1-180 kPa, respectively. The pH of all of the mixtures was over 12, which is strongly alkaline. Small-scale chamber tests for controlled low strength materials with bottom ash and recycled in-situ soil have been carried out. Vertical deflection of 0.88-2.41 mm and horizontal deflection of 0.83-3.72 mm were measured during backfilling. The vertical and horizontal deflections of controlled low strength materials were smaller than that of sand backfill.