The Dutch Climate Act (2019) requires a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, targeting a 49% reduction by 2030 and 95% by 2050. The construction sector, which is responsible for 15% of the Netherlands' CO2 emissions, largely relies on concrete, a material that contributes up to 8% of global CO2 emissions, primarily due to cement production. Transitioning to sustainable concrete is vital for meeting these climate targets. This study explores how demand-side organisations, particularly purchasers, can facilitate the adoption of green concrete in the Netherlands by establishing environmental standards and prioritising sustainable materials in construction projects.

This research utilises qualitative methods, including literature reviews, stakeholder interviews, and case studies of both conventional and green concrete projects. The findings emphasise the importance of promoting the 'cement with purpose' concept, generating demand for near-mature innovations, providing extensive testing for emerging innovations, and contributing to the development of alternative materials beyond slag. At the project level, the successful adoption of green concrete is associated with clear sustainability targets, strong engineering capabilities, client willingness to accept risks, and the strategic use of pilot projects.

The study proposes a conceptual framework, the Green Concrete Adoption Strategy for Purchasers (GCAS-4P), which combines strategic and practical insights to assist demand-side organisations in advancing the green concrete transition. It also highlights the need for further research to consider supplier perspectives and broader regional transitions.

Cement production for concrete is responsible for 5-8% of the global anthropogenic emissions, making it essential to search for alternative binders. This study focuses on alkali-activated materials (AAMs) as a potential replacement for Portland Cement (PC) to reduce carbon emissions. The practical implementation of AAMs in the construction industry faces challenges, particularly related to volume instability caused by drying shrinkage. Drying shrinkage is linked to both water loss through evaporation and the hydration process. The underlying mechanism of drying shrinkage in AAMs is not well understood yet, hindering their widespread application.

The aim of this study is to advance the understanding of the drying shrinkage mechanism in AAMs, by considering the contribution of the pore size distribution and gel characteristics of AAMs. A detailed analysis is performed to identify the governing parameter related to the drying shrinkage mechanism. This is done by controlling the pore size distribution and total porosity at moment of exposure, while differences in the gel composition were obtained. Moreover, the impact of different mix design parameters of blended AAMs on drying shrinkage behaviour, weight loss, microstructural development, flexural and compressive strength are investigated. The selected mix design parameters in this study include slag-to-fly-ash ratio (1, 0.7 and 0.5), curing time (3, 7, 14 and 28 days) and Na₂O wt.% content (4 and 5 wt.%).

Results from the study indicate that drying shrinkage in AAMs is influenced by factors beyond water loss, diverging from the observed correlation in PC. The study highlights important findings related to mix design parameters. In terms of the slag-to-fly-ash ratio, an increase in ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) content correlates with reduced drying shrinkage, weight loss, refinement of the pore structure and total porosity. Regarding curing time, prolonged curing durations lead to decreased drying shrinkage and weight loss, coupled with improved flexural and compressive strength. As for activator content, an increased amount of activator refines the pore structure, resulting in reduced total porosity, weight loss, and increased compressive strength. However, drying shrinkage remains relatively constant over the 56 days exposure.

Based on the starting point that the pore size distribution of selected samples at the moment of exposure to drying was controlled, it is suggested that gel characteristics, i.e. reaction products, rather than pore size distribution, govern the drying shrinkage phenomenon in AAMs. Comparative analyses underscore the influence of homogeneous reaction products, a higher atomic Ca/Si ratio and the availability of sodium and silicate from the activator. At the moment of exposure, the type of gel is more crucial than the quantity, as demonstrated by the sample with more reaction products exhibiting greater drying shrinkage in the analysis.

The drying shrinkage mechanism in AAMs is strongly correlated with microstructure and the nature of reaction products. The comprehensive results of this study suggest that the gel characteristics have an crucial role as a driving force in the mechanism of drying shrinkage. The study underscores the substantial influence of mix design parameters on drying shrinkage, offering valuable insights for the practical implementation of AAMs in construction. This research marks a significant step forward in enhancing our understanding of this complex phenomenon for AAMs.

The study provides several recommendations for future research, including extending the range of mix design parameters and curing times to evaluate the findings of this study, assessing the rate of reaction of mixtures and considering the impact of drying on the exposed pore structure. Furthermore, the application of N₂ adsorption to detect the smaller range of pores in AAMs, the determination of the influence of internal relative humidity on drying shrinkage, and the investigation of cracking potential of AAMs related to drying shrinkage are also suggested.

The development of an efficient and sustainable transportation system is crucial for the effective functioning of economies. Concrete, a widely used material for road construction, poses significant environmental challenges. A sustainable alternative is to use alkali-activated concrete (AAC) for road construction. However, the aggregates used in AAC are generally mined, contributing to the negative environmental impact. To address this concern, municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ashes, specifically MSWI bottom ash (BA), can be utilised to replace natural aggregates. Thus the construction of pavements using sustainable concrete facilitates its growing demand without burdening the environment.

This research focuses on the utilisation of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWI BA) aggregates in AAC for potential application in pavements. The study was divided into five phases: aggregate characterisation, mechanical performance evaluation, long-term performance study, microstructure analysis, and life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis. The physical properties of MSWI BA aggregates indicated that the aggregates are porous and weak. Nonetheless, these aggregates showed comparable properties to natural aggregates and can still be used for pavement application. However, the metallic aluminium in the MSWI BA aggregates releases hydrogen gas leading to concrete cracking and swelling, thus, hindering its use in various applications. To address this concern, alkaline pre-treatment using sodium hydroxide solution was employed in this research. An optimal replacement level of 30% was chosen based on the effectiveness of the pre-treatment in removing metallic aluminium and the compressive strength of AAC containing MSWI BA aggregates.

In the next phase of the research, the mechanical and long-term performance of AAC with optimum replacement level was evaluated. The results demonstrated that the concrete satisfied the mechanical performance requirements for pavements. However, the freeze-thaw resistance of the AAC was below the norm requirement due to the air voids and associated cracking, which was confirmed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray computed tomography analysis.

SEM analysis revealed reactive phases in the MSWI BA aggregates and poor aggregate-matrix bonding for the coarser fraction compared to the finer aggregate fraction, leading to decreased mechanical performance. Despite these findings, the AAC containing MSWI BA aggregates satisfied the majority of the norm requirements, indicating its potential for road pavement application. However, evaluating the environmental impact of adding MSWI BA aggregates in concrete is essential. The life cycle assessment analysis demonstrated that the optimal MSWI BA sample exhibited better environmental effects, indicated by a lower environmental cost indicator value compared to AAC and ordinary Portland cement concrete samples with similar performance.

In conclusion, the pre-treatment method utilised in this research is optimal for a replacement level of 30% of gravel with MSWI BA aggregates. The AAC with 30% replacement level meets all the mechanical property requirements stipulated by the norm for pavement application, exhibits good air void distribution, and has limited environmental impact owing to the lower ECI value. This study evaluated the feasibility of applying MSWI BA aggregates in AAC for pavement application and showed promising results.

Geopolymer concrete, a relatively new building material has been suggested as an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) based concretes for within the building sector, due to it having a relatively low CO2 emission during production. An issue with geopolymer concrete however, is that high amounts of early age creep, shrinkage and decrease in elastic modulus over time has been observed which in conjunction with the existing research on geopolymer concrete having been predominantly conducted in laboratory settings, leads to questions about the applicability of these findings and thus the use of geopolymer concrete as a replacement for OPC based concretes in concrete structures. To address this issue, this study makes use of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) fiber optic sensors, placing them within reinforced steel which in turn are placed inside geopolymer concrete to obtain data that is more applicable to real world settings compared to prior findings observed within laboratory settings.
Four precast prestressed geopolymer concrete girders are produced and rebars containing FBG fiber optic sensors are placed prior to casting. Measurements before and after the release of prestressing are analysed to determine the apparent transmission length of the prestressing strands and compared to methods defined by Eurocode EN 1992-1-1. The applicability of these guidelines is evaluated, as these are intended for use with conventional concretes. The changes in strain over time, and elastic modulus changes during curing of the precast girder is monitored and analysed, focusing on the effect of time dependent changes of the concrete to the effectiveness of the prestressing forces. The girders are combined with a geopolymer concrete topping to form two beams and one slab. The beams are subject to a flexural test and a shear test respectively. The slab undergoes a cyclic loading test before being tested in two critical point load locations in two separate tests. The FBG measurements gained during the tests are evaluated using analytical methods.
The results show that the FBG fiber optic sensors integrated into steel rebar can deliver strain measurements in locations conventional strain sensors cannot be applied. The FBG data suggests that conventional concrete transmission length guidelines are applicable to this geopolymer concrete mixture. As the FBG-integrated rebars were all placed in the same location in the precast girder cross section, the strains measured by these FBGs are only representative of concrete near the core of the girder, where the concrete is not exposed to drying conditions. And because this geopolymer concrete is susceptible to drying, the difference between measurements and expected values such as the elastic modulus and the drying shrinkage can be explained by the low amount of drying that the concrete in the core of the girder experiences. Due to the positioning of rebar in the cross section of the precast girder in this study, crack initiation during the flexural test was not detected. The occurrence of cracks is detected in the measured strains as it diverged from the linear elastic model during the crack propagation phase. This shows that the cross sectional position of the sensors is important for the desired function and role of concrete in-situ FBG monitoring.
Overall, the data that the (rebar-integrated) FBG strain sensors can provide can be of great use towards the larger task of bringing geopolymer concrete structures to a real life application. In-situ FBG strain data of the precast prestressed girders provide additional information into the application of this SCGC mixture in larger scale structural elements. This data is a useful addition to the data gained through conventional methods, and results from lab testing. FBG monitoring can provide strain data from the core of structural elements, giving an insight of the behaviour during curing and (destructive) testing that is otherwise difficult to obtain.

Alkali-activated material (AAM) is one of the most attractive alternatives to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Recently, more and more research interests are devoted to durability performance. In cold areas, freeze-thaw resistance is a crucial durability factor for concrete. However, the understanding of the freeze-thaw resistance of AAMs is minimal. Accordingly, the subject of this thesis is drawn forth. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effects and mechanisms of using admixtures (SAP and AEA) to improve the freeze-thaw resistance of alkali-activated slag (AAS).
Regarding the general properties, such as workability and mechanical properties, it was found that the influence of adding SAP or AEA is acceptable. Then, the air-void systems created by SAP and AEA were reconstructed and characterized by the micro-CT scan. It was found that both SAP and AEA successfully entrained air voids into AASM, while the characteristics of the resultant air-void system were quite different. Further analysis on the surface condition of AASM undergoing 28-day sealed curing or preconditioning procedures in the CDF test, and the ASTM C672 test revealed that AASM shows a considerable surface microcracking potential. Samples sealed for 28 days showed a considerable extent of microcracking due to autogenous shrinkage. Samples that underwent 14-day drying after 7/14 days’ curing showed significant microcracking due to autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage. With the addition of SAP, the cracking caused by autogenous shrinkage was minimized, but the cracking caused by drying was only slightly reduced. With the addition of AEA, there was only a minor improvement in surface integrity.
The freeze-thaw resistance of AASM with or without the addition of SAP or AEA was investigated in the form of surface scaling damage by a modified CDF test. Plain AASM showed poor surface scaling resistance mainly attributed to the pre-existing surface microcracking. The addition of SAP and AEA successfully improved the surface scaling resistance of AASM. The improvement was more significant by adding SAP due to the effect of improving surface integrity. Based on the SAP mixtures, a good correlation was found between the SAP air-void system and the resultant surface scaling resistance. The final cumulative surface scaling generally decreased with higher entrained air content, denser air voids distribution, and smaller air voids size. A preliminary logarithm model was developed for the relationship between the reduction in surface scaling and the equivalent water/binder ratio and the air-void system. Finally, upscaling tests on the concrete scale also found that the addition of SAP improved the surface scaling resistance of AASC.
Overall, in this study, the freeze-thaw resistance of AAS was successfully improved by the SAP and AEA. The effects of adding SAP/AEA and the related factors on the selected properties of AASM were revealed. The mechanisms behind these observations were also understood and generated a series of further research possibilities. It is hoped that these findings and observations can give some guidance to the industrial applications of AAS and some inspiration to the scientific community.

In 2016 the Paris agreement was adopted by 196 parties. The main goal of this agreement is to obtain a climate-neutral world in 2050. The CO2 emissions should decrease as soon as possible to achieve this goal. Concrete is the world's most used building material, and with good reason, it provides cheap, solid and reliable products used for over 200 years. However, concrete is responsible for 5-10 % of the yearly CO2 emissions worldwide. These emissions are mainly because of cement production, the binding agent of concrete. Therefore, to lower the CO2 emissions from concrete, it is most effective to opt for an alternative binder. This research focuses on alkali-activated materials (AAMs), where an alkali-activated binder has replaced cement. This binder consists of a precursor and an alkaline activator. The materials most commonly used as precursors are blast furnace slag and fly ash, waste products. The production of these materials is not nearly enough to replace cement. Therefore, there is a need for alternative precursors. Volcanic materials can be an alternative precursor, and some have been successfully applied in AAMs before. However, since volcanic materials come in different forms, validation of a wide range of volcanic materials.

This research has investigated four European aluminosilicate volcanic materials: trass, phonolite, perlite and pumice. Each of these materials has been assessed on their particle size, chemical composition and microstructure to determine whether they exhibit (pozzolanic or latent hydraulic) reactivity. All four materials classify as inert. For trass and phonolite, the lack of reactivity is most likely because of their lack of amorphous phases (around 30% and 5%, respectively). For perlite and pumice, it is because of the too coarse particles.
The reactivity of trass and phonolite is enhanced by calcination, and the reactivity of perlite and pumice is enhanced by grinding. Determination of the reactivity shows that calcination had no or a negative effect on the reactivity of trass and phonolite. Most likely because of the lack of calcium and magnesium in these materials. Ground pumice does show an increase in reactivity. However, not sufficient to be classified as reactive. Ground perlite does show reactive behaviour and is classified as pozzolanic, less reactive.

Ground perlite and BFS are used as precursors in mortar to assess the contribution of perlite to compressive strength development. It shows that perlite contributes to the strength of mortar when combined with a sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide activator. Likely, the sodium silicate is necessary to delay the alkalinity of the mixture. This alkaline delay makes that perlite does not form a layer of hydration products over the particles, making it impossible for perlite to react further and contribute to the compressive strength. TGA measurements found that because of the silicates that perlite contributes to the mixture, the hydration products become denser, which seem to cause higher strength. However, it is also found that silicates from sodium silicate solution are more effective in providing silicates than perlite is.

Of all four materials, only perlite seems to be reactive enough to contribute to the strength of alkali-activated binders as precursors. Volcanic materials cannot be considered to be one material, and each one has to be assessed individually.

Research about alkali-activated materials or geopolymers has increased in the past decade as they are regarded as a potential replacement to cement-based materials. This is due to the fact that alkali-activated materials possess several advantages over cement-based materials, and the most important one is that they are more sustainable to the environment, as they have less CO2 emissions, less energy consumption during the production process, and the use of byproducts as a binder.
The main aim of this work is to develop a mixture that has superior buildability properties with an open time of two hours or more. In order to achieve this, the effect of admixtures, specifically retarders and viscosity modifying admixtures had to be studied. The use of admixtures in geopolymer has been regarded as a complex subject because multiple factors influence their effect on the mixture, like: binders used and their percentages, alkaline activator used, and liquid to binder ratio.
In this work, the effect of 3 retarders: sucrose, sodium chloride, and sodium borate on the setting time, flowability, and yield stress development was studied. Moreover, the effect of those retarders was studied with the addition of viscosity modifying admixtures: nano-clay (attapulgite), xanthan gum, sodium carboxymethyl starch, and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose on the same properties.
The binders and the alkaline activator used were fixed through out the entire work. the binder composed of 60% fly ash, 20% blast furnace slag, and 20% glass wool. The alkaline activator consists of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate with a SiO2/Na2O ratio of 1.5.
The addition of sucrose didn’t lead to any delay in the setting time. While both sodium chloride and sodium borate delayed the setting time, increased the flowability, and improved the extrudability of the mixtures. Out of the viscosity modifying admixtures, attapulgite had the most positive effect as it improved the thixotropic behaviour of all the mixes and improved the yield stress. Sodium carboxymethyl starch and cellulose almost had the same effect on the all the mixtures as they both improved extrudability and the yield stress in a similar trend. Xanthan gum was considered a poor admixture to be added to this mixture as it led to significant dryness which led to loss in fluidity which affected both flowability and extrudability.
The most suitable design was the B3lbA0.5 mixture which has 3% borax and 0.5% attapulgite and a liquid to binder ratio of 0.45. It had an initial setting time of more than 8 hours, flowability was maintained for 2.5 hours and it remained extrudable for 2 hours. Its yield stress ranged from 1360.87 Pa to 1977.78
Pa. After 28 days, it had a flexural and compressive strength of 5.72 MPa and 30.42 MPa respectively. Moreover, the flexural and compressive strength of 3D printed prisms was tested in the vertical and horizontal direction on the 7th day. The results showed that the flexural strength of the 3D printed prism tested in the vertical direction was the highest compared to the cast prism and 3D printed prism tested in the horizontal direction by 0.29% and 0.43% respectively. While the compressive strength of 3D printed cube tested in the horizontal direction was higher than both the cast cube and the 3D printed cube tested in the vertical direction by 0.24% and 0.32% respectively. The strength results indicate that
the mixture could be used in structural applications. The tensile bond strength was 0.69 MPa and the failure occurred near the glue, meaning that the interface is stronger than the material. In 3D printed concrete, usually the interface between the layers is the weakest point, however due to the addition of attapulgite the interface was strengthened. This explains why the compressive strength in the horizontal direction was higher than the vertical one as the interface was no longer the weak link in the specimen. The mixture’s buildability wasn’t optimal as the bottom layer had a slight big deformation and it had only
ten layers of printed material, but that is reasonable since the open time is 2 hours. This means that for big spans this mixture can be useful as it can be printed for a long period of time and its yield stress will develop.
In order for the mixture to be printable, it had to have an initial setting time higher than three hours, a spread diameter between 150-200mm and a yield stress above 1400 Pa. The above mentioned results
fall within the range of values that were needed to have a printable mixture. However, after printing the mixture it was concluded that a spread diameter of 150-180mm and a yield stress above 1600 Pa would be more suitable for both printability and buildability, because when the spread diameter was above
180mm and the yield stress was lower than 1600 Pa, the mixture’s viscosity impacted the buildability.

Alkali activated concrete is seen as possible contender to alleviate the environmental footprint of the concrete industry. The goal of this research is to evaluate the extend to which ground granulated blast furnace slag and calcined clay-based alkali activated concrete can be utilized in concrete revetment applications with equal performance in freeze-thaw and sulfate attack resistance and lower environmental impact compared to blast-furnace slag cement concrete. This research uses a combination of ground granulated blast furnace slag and calcined clay as precursor blend which is combined with sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide activator solution. An upscaling methodology is used such that differences in material behavior between each upscaling step (paste, mortar, concrete) is explained. Mix designs are developed with the Taguchi method.The alkali activated concrete mix designs develop good compressive strength, where both mix designs reach over 12MPa after 24 hours of ambient curing and over 37MPa after 28 days of ambient curing. It fulfills the requirement for revetment products and outperforms cement concrete.The water absorption is on the high side. It does not fulfill the requirement, but the high value is attributed to non-optimal compaction as the concrete phase uses a special vibration and pressure compaction machine, which does not represent the compaction enabled in a factory process as the reference concrete also fails to meet this requirement.Freeze-thaw performance of the alkali activated mortar is sufficient as 5 of 9 mortar mix designs meet the requirement from the CDF test. Inclusion of calcined clay and the effect of the modulus clearly results in worse freeze-thaw performance due to more difficult compaction, higher absorption and more interconnected pores resulting in more scaling as the de-icing solution can penetrate further in the specimens. Freeze-thaw of the alkali activated concrete and reference concrete is insufficient with large amount of scaling at the end of the test, partially attributed to compaction. However, the retarding scaling behavior of alkali activated concrete indicates good long term performance.Sulfate attack performance is tested at mortar level where specimens are exposed to 10 % MgSO4 solution for 14 days. No degradation is visible in terms of scaling and compressive strength. Slight formation of ettringite is observed, thus it is recommended to extend the testing period.LCA is performed on product level and does not consider service life and recyclability. The alkali activated concrete mix designs show the potential to reduce the milieukostenindicator with 48 % to €5,72 and reduce the CO2 emissions with 63% towards 48kg per m3 produced concrete. These are significant reductions, but for full validation of environmental footprint performance of alkali activated concrete, service life and recyclability should also be involved in the calculations.The research proves that alkali activated concrete is a very interesting alternative for cement concrete in revetment products where the saturated Dutch GGBFS market can be alleviated partially by substitution of calcined clay. However, to apply the alkali activated concrete in revetment products, more research should be carried out with regards to durability, curing methods, recyclability and service life.

In this research work, the possibility of self healing of surface micro-cracks under the fog curing conditions has been studied for early age concrete. Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) technique has been implemented to detect the micro cracks in concrete caused due to the cyclic loading. 30 load cycles has been for varying load levels and it's effect on the mechanical properties has been analyzed for early age concrete.

This research aims to improve the sustainability of Dutch prestressed concrete railway sleepers. Approximately 100.000 to 200.000 sleepers are used every year, corresponding to 12.000 to 24.000 tonnes of concrete. This will be done by replacing cement with an alkali-activated binder. The cement industry is responsible for approximately 5 to 7% of the global CO2 emission, whereas the alkali-activated binder uses no cement. Instead, by-products will take over the role of cement in concrete, activated by high pH alkalies. This research can be subdivided into four parts: Deciding the requirements, designing for the mechanical properties, determining the durability properties and conducting a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The main requirements follow the product specification of the railway infrastructure manager ProRail. Some requirements on manufacturability follow from a market consult. Ground granulated blast furnace slag is used as a precursor due to its availability in the Netherlands, unlike other potential candidates. An iterative mix design procedure is conducted to come to three mixes, meeting the requirements for the fresh concrete and the mechanical properties. The three mixes differ based on the binder content and activator dosage. Nineteen different mixes are designed, of which the final three meet all the mechanical and manufacturability requirements. These three mixes are subjected to tests to determine non-required mechanical properties, such as the tensile strength or the material’s elastic modulus. Finally, the durability of the newly designed alkali-activated slag concrete is assessed. Results show the designed concretemeets the requirements for fresh and hardened concrete. The results of the other mechanical properties are similar or better to the concrete mixes used nowadays to produce sleepers. However, not all requirements on durability are met. Due to the unavailability of certain test conditions, a direct result cannot be given. Therefore, the three durability properties are assessed by comparing the results of this research with results from the literature. The comparison for electrical resistivity shows an excellent behaviour, better compared to similar OPC concretes and on par with CEM III/B concrete types. The alkali-activated binder demonstrates less damage under a freeze-thaw attack with de-icing salts than other alkali-activated concretes but still fails to meet the requirement set by ProRail. The accelerated carbonation test indicates a similar carbonation resistance compared to other alkali-activated concrete types but a lower resistance compared to similar concrete. More research is necessary to investigate these properties further. The environmental impact of the concrete used to produce a sleeper is reduced by 34 to 68%compared to a CEM III/B or OPC binder, respectively. Taking into account the global warming potential only, these numbers increase to 75 to 90% respectively. The total environmental impact of a complete sleeper, including steel and plastic components, is lowered by 12 to 35%. This is explained by the fact that the steel and plastic components contribute 75% to the environmental cost, and improving the cost of these components is beyond this research’s scope. This research shows a significant potential to improve the sustainability of concrete structural elements by replacing the cement binder with an alkali-activated binder. This binder is capable of meeting the mechanical requirements, shows good workability. The compressive strength values are comparable to high strength concrete. Further research has to be conducted in the fields of behaviour under carbonation and freeze-thaw attacks. With these results and conclusions, this research has attributes to realizing more sustainable railway sleepers using an alkali-activated binder.

Currently, Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete accounts for the world's 8-10% anthropogenic carbon/ greenhouse (GHG) emissions, where 90-95% of the emissions are due to the production of OPC. A 200% increase in OPC demand is projected by 2050 from 2010 levels. Therefore, it is urgent to reduce these emissions arising from its production. Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) has gained significant attention from researchers worldwide for being a sustainable alternative to OPC concrete. AAC completely substitutes Portland cement with industrial by-products, such as BFS (blast furnace slag) and FA (fly ash). An alkaline activator is used to activate the BFS or FA to form a hardened binder. Despite comparable or even better technical performance than OPC concrete, worldwide usage of AAC is not yet observed. The challenges for the commercial scalability of AAC have rather increased with the onset of coal phase-out law in many parts of the world. This limits the availability of FA and thus forcing researchers to find alternative binders to make AAC, such as using BFS as the sole binder. Therefore, while other technologies develop and blast furnaces are phased-out, it is essential to effectively use the available BFS from the steel industries to produce alkali-activated slag concrete (AASC). Although various studies proved that AASC has significantly higher compressive strength than OPC concrete, numerous researchers have reported poor workability and rapid-setting. AASC also has higher drying & autogenous shrinkage. However, despite having a higher autogenous shrinkage, AASC shows moderate-low cracking potential compared to OPC concrete. A self-compacting AASC is expected to follow the same behaviour. However, very few studies have focused on the self-compacting behaviour of AASC, which, therefore, limits AASC for various structural applications where an SCC is required. In order to upscale the commercialization, a comprehensive study is needed that provides detailed insights on the development of a SCAASC (without FA) with an appropriate mixture-design and optimization procedure, desirable fresh properties, hardened properties, sustainability analysis and commercial viability. Hence, the main research question is: Is it possible to develop a self-compacting alkali-activated concrete made from 100% BFS as a binder and currently available raw materials without using any FA? If so, What is the optimal mixture design that results in desirable fresh and hardened properties suitable for real structural applications? Is the developed concrete sustainable and ready for commercialization? And if not, what are the commercial barriers? Attempts are made to answer these questions through various laboratory experiments and stakeholder interviews. The final mixture design is developed in a 5 step optimization process. It involves studying the effect of a particle packing based mixture design method, curing temperature, silica modulus (Ms) content and different admixtures on the workability and compressive strength (1, 7 and 28 days) development of the SCAASC. In this process, an optimal mixture design with desired workability and strength properties is developed and an optimal curing and mixing regime is also suggested. This developed SCAASC is further tested for all the SCC like fresh properties. Various hardened properties such as compressive and splitting tensile strength, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, bond strength to reinforcement, free drying and autogenous shrinkage are also investigated at different ages for different curing regimes. The cracking potential is also investigated for the first time using a TSTM (Temperature stress testing machine). Furthermore, the environmental footprint and material costs are evaluated through an LCA (life-cycle analysis). Lastly, stakeholder interviews were conducted with an international and local construction company to validate the developed SCAASC and exploit its commercial viability. From the experiment results and conclusions drawn from the interviews, the developed SCAASC is commercially scalable for its desirable fresh and hardened properties. It can be used in various industrial applications where an SCC is used. The 80% less CO2 emissions from a reference OPC concrete further bolster its market acceptance. However, high market costs and lack of available standards are still the major challenges.

Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) has emerged as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional concrete, as It is a cement-free concrete made by activating precursors (mainly low-cost, low-CO2 industrial by-products) with alkalis. AAC has demonstrated some remarkable mechanical properties and long-term performance (e.g., high strength, chemical durability, and fire resistance). However, high drying shrinkage in AAC, causing cracks degrading the long-term durability of AAC, is one of the obstacles that must be overcome before it can be widely applied in the construction field.
This study investigates the mechanisms of drying shrinkage, provides a survey and evaluation of the influencing factors, and accordingly proposes an integral solution to mitigate drying shrinkage in AAC. This was done through a qualitative approach based on literary research.
The investigation showed that the main driving forces of drying shrinkage are surface, disjoining, and capillary tension forces, and they are related to relative humidity (RH) and meniscus radius. Further, different reaction products' characteristics can be attributed to different drying shrinkage mechanisms, as they have a critical role in determining AAC properties. Furthermore, poor mechanical properties of AAC often lead to a higher drying shrinkage rate. Surveying the influencing factors of drying shrinkage of AAC, in terms of raw materials, mix designs, and curing conditions showed their significant effect on drying shrinkage magnitude and mechanical properties. These factors were accordingly evaluated and systematized. Therefore, based on the survey and evaluation, a strategy was proposed to mitigate drying shrinkage in AAC.

In spite of the fact that there are many advantages of alkali activated materials (also called geopolymers) over the cement-based materials, geopolymer concrete has been used in the past for construction purposes on a very limited level. Among the many advantages of geopolymers compared with the cement-based materials is less CO2 emission, it uses byproducts as a binder, less energy consumption during its production, more durable as a material, fast setting time and high strength development. This work is an attempt to exert some light on the usability and applicability of geopolymers in the field of construction with concentration on its use in the 3D printing. The main aim of this study is to propose a design methodology for geopolymer paste mixture to be used in 3D printing process. For achieving this goal, one paste mixture design was selected among six ones on the bases of longer workability/flowability, suitable extrudability and specific setting time. These six designs have different binder ratios. The selected mixture design, named S20, was tested further to find out its suitability for 3D printing process. This S20 mixture was tested on compressive strength, setting time, rheological properties, open time, buildability and 28 days tensile bonding strength of two layers. To find the best suitable design, modifications were done on the S20 mixture by changing the ratios between the used alkaline solutions Na2SiO3 and NaOH (0.25 was selected). These alkaline solutions played a major role in delaying the initial setting time for rheological tests (90 minutes were selected) and the extrudability for the 3D printing process. Another factor for the best design is the Acti-gel as an additive. This additive has a direct link with the buildability, extrudability and viscosity when added with different percentages. The best selected percentage of the Acti-gel was 0.75% for this mixture design. The open time and the 28 days tensile bonding strength tests were selected to be 33 minutes and 1.32 MPa respectively. Comparing the measured plastic viscosity to the open time test, the extrudability of the mixture is not anymore valid beyond 8.8 Pa.s plastic viscosity. This short open time of 33 minutes for such geopolymer mixture design needs a fast-performing 3D printer. This might help in achieving construction projects within short time.

It has been reported that due to the rapid urbanization and economic growth the municipal solid waste (MSW) would double in volume from 1.3 billion tons per year (in 2012) annually by the end of 2025, challenging environmental and public health management worldwide. Given that, most of the MSW incineration (MSWI) bottom ash (BA) are disposed in landfill currently, and technically and economically viable techniques for the reuse and recycling of MSWI BA is still at a premium. This issue would seriously challenge the environmental and public health management worldwide.
In some European countries and the US, MSWI BA has been utilized as aggregate in pavement construction or as aggregate in concrete. Previous studies also proved the feasibility of using MSWI BA in concrete, either as aggregates or binder substitute materials. However, it is worth noticing that there are several significant drawbacks of using MSWI BA in concrete, including the potential risk of leaching due to the existence of heavy metals and harmful salts, the low reactivity due to high content of quartz and unburned organic matters, and the metallic aluminum-induced expansion.
Therefore, in this study, a characterization of as-received MSWI BA was conducted at the beginning to find out the potential problems when used in concrete, namely the metallic aluminum content, low reactivity and unburned organics. A comprehensive pretreatment was performed subsequently to solve the problems. Specifically, both physical and chemical treatments were carried out to get rid of the metallic aluminum in BA. Afterwards, thermal treatment was conducted to enhance the reactivity of BA and remove the unburned organics. Pre-treated BA samples were characterized again to reveal the effectiveness of pretreatment. The results showed that both chemical and physical treatment were highly effective in removing metallic aluminum. Meanwhile, thermal treatment was proved to be a proper activation method which also removed the remaining organic matters through the high-temperature process.
Subsequently, the investigations of the effects of pre-treated BA addition on compressive strength, reaction products and hydration heat development were conducted on cement paste level by varying the replacement material (BA with different treatment methods) and ratio. A proper method of pretreatment was proposed as well as an optimization of a maximum replacement level of BA in cement paste without detrimentally influence the performance of concrete paste was studied. Compared with nonreactive micronized sand (only works as filler) and pure cement, the addition of physically treated BA has a certain amount of contribution to the hydration process from the viewpoint of heat release. Results show that BA do have pozzolanic activity but is much lower than cement, and physically treated BA is suitable to be used as filler in concrete. Additionally, physically treated BA was further activated through thermal treatment according to the result of compressive strength test, which delivered the highest strength among all the treated BA under the same replacement ratio.
Finally, to extend the application of MSWI BA in concrete, the mix design was made by blending treated BA with the highest compressive strength into concrete and make it suitable for structural application. The effects of treated BA addition on the workability and compressive strength of concrete were investigated. The addition of treated BA brought slight negative impact both in workability and strength due to the existence of nonreactive phases in BA (quartz and organics).
Accordingly, this study proved the potential of BA with proper treatment to be used as a cement substitute material in concrete as well as promoted the understanding of the influence of BA on the hydration process, which also brings the possibility that BA could be widely reused in concrete system in future industry.