Characterization of Eco-Friendly Lightweight Aggregate Concretes Incorporating Industrial Wastes

Towards the sustainable development goals in the built environment, the use of waste and recycled sources has been attaining great interest among researchers and policy-makers, especially in concrete as the most used construction material. Excess use of natural aggregates, as one of the main components of concrete, causes the depletion of natural resources and the associated environmental problems, thus, the use of artificial and recycled aggregates is of great importance. In this regard, the production of lightweight artificial aggregates from industrial and hazardous wastes may be a promising solution that not only mitigates the depletion of natural resources but also stabilize those kinds of wastes. This study aimed to investigate the production of concrete with recycled aggregates from industrial wastes, mainly municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI-FA). To this end, different kinds of mix designs to manufacture the aggregates were developed based on MSWI-FA, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), marble sludge (MS), and cement. The concrete samples containing different artificial aggregates, as well as recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the sand form, were produced and the properties, including compressive strength and thermal insulation, were evaluated. The obtained results of the lightweight concrete demonstrated enhanced thermal property (up to 30%), but at least 30% lower resistance with respect to the normal concrete produced from the natural aggregate.