High cement content is often found in concrete mix designs to achieve the unique fresh-state behavior requirements of 3D Printable Concrete (3DPC), i.e., to ensure rapid stiffening of an extruded layer without collapsing under the stress applied by the following layers. Some materials with high water absorption, such as recycled concrete aggregates, have been incorporated in concrete mix designs to minimize environmental impact, nevertheless, the fine powder fraction that remains from the recycled aggregate processing still poses a challenge. In the case of 3DCP, few studies are available regarding mix designs using Recycled Concrete Powder (RCP) for 3D printing. In this context, this study presents the use of RCP as a filler to produce a printable mixture with low cement content. An RCP with 50 μm average particle size was obtained as a by-product from Recycled Concrete Aggregate production. Portland cement pastes were produced with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of cement mass replacement by RCP to evaluate its effects on the hydration reaction, rheology, and compressive strength. It was found that the studied RCP replacement was not detrimental for the hydration reaction of Portland cement during the initial hours, and at the same time it was capable of modifying the rheological parameters of the paste proportionally to the packing density of its solid fraction. The obtained results indicated the viability of 3DCP with up to 50% cement replacement by RCP. It was concluded that RCP presents good potential for decreasing the cement consumption of 3DPC, which in turn could decrease its associated environmental impact while providing a destination for a by-product from recycled concrete aggregate production.

In light of the effort for decarbonization of the energy sector, it is believed that common geopolymer binding materials such as fly ash may eventually become scarce, and new geological aluminosilicate materials should be explored as alternative binders in geopolymer concrete. A novel, tension-hardening geopolymer concrete (THGC) that incorporates high amounts of semi-reactive quarry wastes (Metagabbro) as a precursor and coarse quarry sand (granite) was developed in this study using geopolymer formulations. The material was optimized based on the particle packing theory and was characterized in terms of mechanical, physical, and durability properties (i.e., compressive, tensile, flexural resistance, Young’s Modulus, Poisson’s ratio; absorption, drying shrinkage, abrasion, and coefficient of thermal expansion; chloride ion penetration, sulfate, and salt-scaling resistance). The developed THGC with an air-dry density of 1,940 kg/m³ [121 lb/ft³], incorporates short steel fibers at a volume ratio of 2% and is highly ductile in both uniaxial tension and compression (uniaxial tensile strain capacity of 0.6% at an 80% post-peak residual tensile strength). Using DIC, multiple crack formation was observed in the strain-hardening phase of the tension response. In compression the material maintained its integrity beyond the peak load, having attained 1.8% compressive strain at 80% post-peak residual strength whereas upon further reduction to 50% residual strength, the sustained axial and lateral strains were 2.5% and 3.5%, respectively. The material exhibited low permeability to chloride ions and significant abrasion resistance due to the high contents of Metagabbro powder and granite sand. The enhanced properties of the material, combined with the complete elimination of ordinary Portland cement from the mix, hold promise for the development of sustainable and resilient structural materials with low CO₂j, emissions while also enabling the innovative disposal of wastes as active binding components.

Pervious concrete is a stormwater management practice used in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, and many other countries. Yet the design of pervious concrete mixtures to balance strength and permeability requires more research. Sphere packing models of pervious concrete were used in compressive strength testing simulations using the discrete element method with a cohesive contact law. First, three mixtures with varied water-cement ratios (w/c) and porosities were used for model development and validation. Next, an extensive database of simulated compressive strength and tested permeability was created, including 21 porosities at three w/c. Analysis of the database showed that for pavement applications where high permeability and strength are required, the advised porosity is 0.26 to 0.30, producing average strengths of 14.4, 11.1, and 7.7 MPa for w/c of 0.25, 0.30, and 0.35. The model can guide the mixture design to meet target performance metrics, save materials and maintenance costs, and extend the pavement life.

Self-healing is a process by which concrete is able to recover its properties after the appearance of cracks, which can improve mechanical properties and durability and reduce the permeability of concrete. Self-healing materials can be incorporated into concrete to contribute to crack closure. This study aims to evaluate the influence of crystalline admixtures and silica fume on the self-healing of concrete cracks. The rapid chloride penetration test was performed on cracked and uncracked samples, from which it was possible to estimate the service life of concretes. The concretes were characterized by tests of compressive strength and water absorption by capillarity. The use of crystalline admixtures did not have a negative influence on concrete properties, but did not favor the chloride penetration resistance. The concrete with silica fume showed the lowest charge passed and highest values of estimated service life.

The creep and drying shrinkage of two alkali-activated concretes produced with low-calcium fly ash and rice husk ash (RHA) were investigated over a period of 1 year. The compressive strength of 100% low-calcium fly ash (100NFA) concrete and the concrete having 10% RHA replacement (10RHA) decreased from 49.8 to 37.7 MPa (7.22 to 5.47 ksi) and 30.2 to 18.3 MPa (4.38 to 2.65 ksi), respectively, between 28 and 365 days. The imbalance in the dissolution rate of the raw materials in the blended system (10RHA) could negatively influence the strength properties, which leads to poor matrix integrity and a highly porous structure when compared with 100NFA. The presence of the micro-aggregates due to the block polymerization provides the effect of increasing the aggregate content in the 100NFA concrete compared with the 10RHA concrete, which is hypothesized as one of the reasons creep and shrinkage properties deteriorated in 10RHA.