Development of Preplaced Alkali-Activated Coral Concrete for a Marine Environment
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 1
Abstract
The use of coral aggregate (CA) in marine concrete can greatly reduce project costs and periods. An environmentally friendly alkali-activated material (AAM) was used to grout CA to produce preplaced alkali-activated coral concrete (PAACC), reducing the binder amount and achieving environmental benefits. The alkali-activated grout (AAG) determined the performance of PAACC and acted as the main load-bearing structure, and the size of the CA slightly affected the PAACC. The compressive strength of PAACC reached about 55% that of AAG, ranging between 35 and 46 MPa at 28 days, with low chloride content (0.006%–0.016%), meeting the requirements for most marine structures. Additionally, PAACC had accelerated early strength development (approximately 5% higher than grout) due to the moisture released from the CA. PAACC had an excellent interfacial transition zone, with strengthened CA in the concrete composite, potentially increasing the practical use of PAACC.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The project was supported by Open Fund of Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Construction of Fabricated Retaining Structures (22K02).
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 1 • January 2024
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 4, 2023
Accepted: Jun 16, 2023
Published online: Oct 26, 2023
Published in print: Jan 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Mar 26, 2024
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