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A comparative study on concrete slurry waste: performance optimization from the wet-milling process

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Abstract

Concrete slurry waste (CSW) is a mixture of fine aggregates, cement hydration products and residual cement particles obtained from the sedimentation pits during the production of concrete. In the present study, CSW with different grinding durations were evaluated; the properties of the CSW and the CSW-cement composition were compared under the influence of wet-milling. The results indicated that the particle size of the CSW decreased and the dispersion stability of the slurry was improved after wet-milling treatment. The increasing ettringite peak suggested that the mineral admixture hydrated during wet-milling. However, carbonization also occurred during the process. The nucleus effect of wet-milled CSW not only increased the hydration heat and compressive strength of cement, but also significantly enhanced the pore structure and chloride penetration resistance of the mixtures. Although the gel pore volume fraction for the mixture containing original CSW is higher than that of the reference mixtures, the compressive strength and chloride penetration resistance are weak due to the loose structure caused by the dilution effect.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51978544), Major Technical Innovation Project in Hubei Province of China (2019ACA146), the Cscec Technology Research and Development Plan (CSCEC-2020-Z-39), the Doctoral grant competition VSB—Technical University of Ostrava, reg. no. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/19_073/0016945 within the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education, under project DGS/INDIVIDUAL/2020-007, "The research on hydration kinetics, mechanical properties and volume stability of weak alkali-activated nickel slag". The project No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_048/0007373 "Damage Prediction of Structural Materials" within the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education financed by the European Union and from the state budget of the Czech Republic.

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Strnadel, B., Ma, M., He, X. et al. A comparative study on concrete slurry waste: performance optimization from the wet-milling process. Mater Struct 54, 184 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-021-01771-1

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