Low-Cost Sustainable Engineered Geopolymer Composites (EGCs) for Repair and New Construction of Transportation

Project Details
STATE

LA

SOURCE

RIP

START DATE

08/01/21

END DATE

02/01/23

RESEARCHERS

Momen Mousa, Gabriel Arce, Miladin Radovic

SPONSORS

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Research and Technology

KEYWORDS

Clay, Composite materials, Fiber reinforced materials, Fly ash, Geopolymer concrete, Polyvinyl acetate, Repairing

Project description

Engineered Geopolymer Composites (EGCs) are ductile strain-hardening geopolymer (GP) based materials that have been recently introduced as an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECCs). While EGCs exhibit mechanical properties exceedingly superior to those of conventional Portland cement concrete (PCC), mass adoption of these emerging composites is expected to be hindered by their cost, which is mainly driven by the use PVA reinforcing fibers, silica fume, and manufactured microsilica sand. To address this key shortcoming, the multidisciplinary team form Louisiana State University and Texas A&M university will develop and characterize novel low-cost EGC materials for repair and new construction of transportation infrastructure in Region 6 by evaluating the use of: (1) calcined clays and fly ash as replacements of commonly used silica fume for GP binders; (2) low-cost PP fiber, PVA fiber, and hybrid systems of PP and PVA fiber; and (3) natural sand instead of commonly used manufactured microsilica sand. To achieve this objective, several GP matrices, and fiber-reinforced GP composites will be developed and comprehensively studied to identify fundamental relationships between materials composition, properties, and microstructure. In turn, this will allow for rational material design and optimization.
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