Browsing by Author "Zarrinkoub, Mohammad"

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    Towards High-Strength and Low-Carbon Concrete Masonry Blocks Using Locally Available Materials
    (2023-04-21) Zarrinkoub, Mohammad; Khoshnazar, Rahil; Shrive, Nigel Graham; Wong, Joanna
    High-strength concrete masonry blocks are attracting attention to be used for loadbearing applications, such as tall walls. Such blocks can be achieved via modification of the dry mixture design and production methods. These modifications, however, may increase the carbon footprint of the concrete masonry blocks upon manufacturing. Careful selection of the mixture parameters is, therefore, necessary for the production of concrete blocks that have higher compressive strengths yet low carbon footprints. This study explored the effectiveness of using locally available materials for the production of dry concrete mixtures that can be used for the masonry block manufacturing. First, the suitability of utilizing pumice, sourced in British Columbia, as an alternative for Class F fly ash to partially replace the Portland cement in the concrete mixtures was studied. That was important as the availability of Class F fly ash is declining in Alberta and finding alternative replacements is imperative. To overcome the lower reactivity and strength development of pumice, a performance enhancing chemical admixture was used. Finally, recycled aggregates were obtained by crushing and pulverizing concrete masonry blocks that were used for structural testing in the laboratory. The so-produced aggregates were used as a replacement for the natural aggregates in the production of the dry concrete mixtures without and with pumice and chemical admixture. The resulting dry concrete mixtures were categorized into different classes of 30, 35, 40, and 50 MPa based on their average compressive strength at the age of 28 days in the laboratory conditions. Their mixture proportion with respect to their cement intensity (cement content per unit of strength) and application was discussed, and recommendations for future research were made. It is worth noting that although the results of this study were obtained for producing dry concrete mixtures, they can be extended for other concrete applications.