Durability assessment of the complex bonding mechanism between alkali activated materials and reclaimed asphalt aggregates

CEFET-MG (Brazil) and UAntwerpen started a joint Phd in order to investigate the use of geopolymers and Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement aggregates (RAP) as an alternative for cement-treated base material for road.The main objective of this PhD research is to determine whether a concrete produced with "Alkali Activated" binder and RAP aggregates as replacement for natural aggregates, can yield a material (RAP-AAM) with acceptable strength, durability and low environmental impact to be used as subbase/base layers of pavements. The project contains an extensive experimental test program in order to validate several geopolymers and the binding with RAP. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy is used to evaluate the bonding area on mortars and Digital Image Correlation will reveal the effect of bending mechanism on the mixtures. An LCA will calculate the environmental impact of geopolymers as an alternative for cement.

Keywords:RECYCLING, CONCRETE, GEOPOLYMER

Disciplines:Construction materials, Life cycle analysis of construction materials