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Project

Conception, Development and Characterization of a Ca-Fe-rich Binder / Mortar for Sustainable Construction Applications

In the world today, both developed and developing countries are faced with the challenge of reaching and/or maintaining their economic goals and expected lifestyle standards for a continuously growing population, avoiding during this process placing more pressure on the environment while keeping a balance in terms of resources availability, energy usage andthe related emission release. Moreover, the construction sector has been identified as one of the most energy intensive and resource demanding among the different economic activities. This project aims to provide construction products and their correspondent design methodology bridging the gap between this industrial sector and the current environmental needs.
The PhD research project will be focused on the conception, characterization and development of an innovative Fe rich binder and mortar from the valorisation of secondary materials generated by the metallurgical industry. A completely new process to modify the chemistry of slagproduced in steel industry will be carried out in order to generate binding properties through innovative modifications during its generation process.  Additionally, this developed binder will be used to fulfil specific needs of the construction sector regarding mechanical performance, durability and fireproof capacity, including the very conceptionof the construction elements as well. At the same time, as an additional outcome of the project, a general methodology to develop construction materials compatible with the current environmental and financial constraints will be stated, in order to provide a guideline for industry (either for markets in developed and developing countries) to facilitate its implementation according to the new emission reduction, energy efficiency and resource optimization requirements. More specifically, the developed material and the construction elements made from it are expected to present the same mechanical performance of current products made with traditional binders but having at the same time smaller CO2 footprint and better durability.
In an initial stage of the project the assessment of basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag coming from the steel productionindustry as possible binder precursor will be performed. In order to develop the desired binding properties in the slag, innovative processes will be introduced during both the hot stage and cooling stage of this material production, based on the impacts and effects that different components mixtures have on the binder performance. Nevertheless, depending on the evolution of the research, the possibility of using other materialsources, including mixtures with traditional binders to reach the desired behaviour will be also considered. Such activities will involve the appropriate chemical and mechanical characterization and required understanding of the studied materials (both basic components and potential mixtures) working in close connection to the research projects being currently executed by the SREMat group. The aim at this point will be obtaining a preliminary knowledge on the main parameters of the material and itsimpact over the binding properties and sought characteristics.
Once this fundamental information is gathered, a selection of the most appropriate mixtures, regarding their potential for construction sector, will be generated leading to the subsequent design and evaluation of suitable construction elements (pavers, bricks, tiles, precast elements, etc.). For such purpose, an analysis of the physical behaviour of the units (flexural and compression strength, stress and heat transmission properties, among others) will be carried out using both computer modelling andlaboratory testing at different scales (lab, pilot-tests, large scale).Subsequently, the idea will be to optimize the mechanical behaviour of the construction elements (as single units and as a system of units), either to compensate or improve identified characteristics that could compromise the performance of the material in comparison with current competitors; in the same way, an assessment of the energy and resources involved during the whole production process will be carried out and taken into account to establish and further analysed the necessary measures for adaptation to full industrial scale. Finally, an important remark is thatthe whole project will involve a close collaboration of one of the biggest Flemish steel producers (AM Gent) and a consortium of several local construction companies (CRH) giving direct insight and feedback of actual industry needs.
 

Date:5 Nov 2014 →  9 Sep 2022
Keywords:Sustainable construction materials, Alkali activated materials
Disciplines:Ceramic and glass materials, Materials science and engineering, Semiconductor materials, Other materials engineering
Project type:PhD project