Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Development of a fly ash-based geopolymeric concrete with

construction and demolition wastes as aggregates in acoustic barriers
C. Arenas, Y. Luna-Galiano , C. Leiva, L.F. Vilches, F. Arroyo, R. Villegas, C. Fernndez-Pereira
University of Seville, School of Engineering, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n 41092, Seville, Spain

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

Double objective: to recycle residues

and reduce the noise in geopolymer
concrete.

Two residues: fly ashes and
construction and demolition waste in
great proportions.

Sound absorption and mechanical
properties similar to commercial
products.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present study aims to determine and evaluate the applicability of a new product consisting of a fly
Received 28 December 2015 ash-based geopolymeric porous concrete with construction and demolition wastes as aggregates in the
Received in revised form 29 November 2016 field of road noise barriers. In this work the main physical, mechanical and acoustic properties of a fly
Accepted 21 December 2016
ash-based geopolymeric concrete were analyzed. To develop a porous matrix that absorbs the sound
Available online 3 January 2017
energy, two different aggregates were studied, crushed granite (usually utilized in concretes) and con-
struction and demolition waste. The geopolymeric concretes were prepared using sodium silicate and
Keywords:
sodium hydroxide in two different proportions in order to study the influence of the Na2O/SiO2 ratio
Fly ash
Geopolymer concrete
in the properties. The geopolymer/aggregate ratio was studied as well. The construction and demolition
Construction and demolition waste waste used as aggregate in geopolymeric porous concretes presents better mechanical and acoustic prop-
Acoustic properties erties than the crushed-granite aggregates in geopolymeric concretes. The activating solution in the
Leaching geopolymerization of the fly ash has a significant influence in the mechanical properties mainly but
not in the acoustic properties. From an environmental point of view, the use of fly ashes and construction
and demolition waste in these materials do not present any leaching problem.
2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Generation of residual combustion products is a worldwide
problem with implications in the human health, the environment
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yluna@us.es (Y. Luna-Galiano).
and the industry. Fly ash is the main coal combustion waste, which
has applications in many fields, mainly in the construction indus-
try [1] due to the good pozzolanic and cementitious properties
[2,3]. The recycling rate of fly ash is quite low, only 43% of the
ash produced in Europe in 2010 was used (see www.ecoba.com)
[4], principally in the cement and concrete industry, as a low cost
material resource for the cement industry, but the crisis of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.12.119
0950-0618/ 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
434 C. Arenas et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442
construction sector in Spain has diminished the Spanish cement
consumption and the fly ashes recycled in this field, so it is neces-
sary to explore new applications of medium/high value, where the
fly ash can be used.
A considerable and growing amount of construction and demo-
lition waste (CDW) is produced in Europe each year; in 2006
around 970 million tonnes [5] were generated. Despite the reduc-
tion of the CDW volume due to the economic crisis, in 2009 the EU
produced approximately 530 and Spain approximately 35 million
tonnes of CDW [6]. As a result, special attention must be paid to
CDW management at the European level, which is having implica-
tions for national-level policies. CDW management is steered in
particular by the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC)
[7], which sets a target for the recycling of non-hazardous CDW
at a minimum of 70% of its weight by 2020. According to this,
the politic strategies of the European Commission to move towards
more a circular economy envisages measures to stimulate markets
in recycled materials derived from construction and demolition
waste [8]. The tendency in the field of construction is to consider
CDW as inert waste to be deposited in landfills, and, in some cases,
in uncontrolled dumps. Accordingly, the recycling of the CDW has
other problem, its transformation into a potential new material
used in construction has a higher cost than the natural source
materials that the CDW aims to replace. Thus, CDW management
requires a tendency change towards prevention of the generation
of waste and, failing this, towards waste recycling and re-use
and/or energy recovery [9]. Some of the environmental impacts
of generation of CDW are: generated volume, contamination of soil
and water resources by uncontrolled landfills, deterioration of the
landscape, and above all, waste elimination without recycling or
re-using the material. Another important aspect in order to prop-
erly manage CDW is the classification, for example, concretes,
bricks, tiles or ceramics are the most representative components
according to the National Plan of Construction and Demolition
Waste (Spain ME 2001) [10]. Kourmpanis [11] used the European
Environmental Agency statistics (EEA 2002) [12] to characterize
CDW and to establish a management system in order to control
waste in demolition works. Other authors [13] characterize CDW
waste according to American and Japanese classification lists in
order to establish a methodology for the reuse of gypsum and
wood. Although the reutilization of CDW wastes as coarse aggre-
gates in concrete production has been studied previously [14
17], it use in structural concrete is not a common practice [14].
Because of this, it is necessary to found new specific engineering
applications of non-structural concretes with recycled aggregates
to improve its recycling and to prevent the disposal and thus to
save natural resources.
Geopolymers are new materials produced in the reaction
between a solid aluminosilicate and an activating solution of alka-
line silicate or hydroxide at ambient temperature or at slightly
high temperature [18]. Geopolymers present an enormous poten-
tial as a source of products with a wide spectrum of applications
[19], mainly in the construction field where geopolymers are com-
petitive with the cement based product [20]. Some of these prop-
erties are high compressive resistance and high structural
integrity [21], high level of resistance to acid and salts attack
[21,22], low permeability [21] and good resistance to thaw-
freeze cycles [23,24]. Although the construction world crisis would
affect both, cement use and geopolymer use, the amount of fly ash
utilized in geopolymeric materials (80%) are higher than in ordi-
nary cement (3040%), so the possibilities of recycling fly ash are
incremented.
Another environmental problem, which is becoming an increas-
ingly significant concern because of its negative impact on human
health, is noise pollution. The source of most outdoor noise world-
wide is mainly transportation systems, including motor vehicle,
aircraft and rail noise. The World Health Organization (WHO)
report says that each year Europeans lose at least one million
healthy life-years due to disability or disease caused by traffic
noise. Changes in the Regulations have led to the creation of pro-
grams under the European Directive on the Assessment and Man-
agement of Environmental Noise [25], which are likely to lead to
growth in the use of noise barriers as a way of reducing traffic
noise.
Conventional acoustics barriers are generally designed to reflect
a large proportion of traffic noise, which creates a problem when a
minimization of sound reflection towards noise sensitive areas
adjacent to the highway is required. Therefore, there is a need
for traffic noise barriers to absorb noise, leading to major develop-
ments in the field of sound absorbing materials [26]. One of the
most common materials used for highway noise barrier applica-
tions is the porous concrete, which is made by mixing large aggre-
gate material with mortar, creating lots of voids in the cast
concrete. As a result, the pores inside the material absorb sound
energy through internal friction [27]. The porous concrete has been
made with different materials: lightweight aggregate (expanden
clay, perlite and vermiculite) [2731], coarse aggregate [27,32
35], recycled aggregate [36], fiber [27,3741], entrapped air [42],
vegetal material [43,44] and waste materials such as rubber [45
49], petrolatum coke [50], expanded shale [35] and others [51,52].
The purpose of this research has a double environmental aspect.
From one side, recycling an industrial by-product, and to the other
hand, reducing traffic noise pollution levels. The objective of this
study is to design a porous geopolymeric concrete so that it can
be applied in the field of road noise barriers. In order to achieve
the greatest acoustic insulating behaviour of the product, the influ-
ence of the fly ash/aggregate ratio, the type of aggregate (gravel or
construction and demolition waste) and the Na2O/SiO2 ratio of the
activating solution have been studied.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
Fly ash (FA) from the combustion of high quality pulverized coal
in one of the largest coal power plants in the south of Spain (Los
Barrios, Cdiz (550 MWe)) was used as geopolymeric precursor.
Two aggregates are used as filler, a coarse aggregate (CA) in form
of crushed granite (Fig. 1) and a construction and demolition waste
(CDW) (Fig. 1) from the Environmental Complex Mancomunidad
de la Vega, Seville, Spain. The CDW used in this work is a product
from the sieve refuses at 5 mm prior separation of wood, plastic
and metals. As can be seen, type of surface of both aggregates is
very different, CA presents a rounded shape, while CDW presents
an irregular surface. The chemical composition of the materials
was determined after chemical attack and dissolution at 750 C
(ASTM D-3682-78) [53] using atomic absorption spectroscopy
and the data are given in Table 1. Fly ashes present low calcium
contents and they can be classified as ASTM class F [54].
CA is mainly composed by SiO2 and the CDW have SiO2, CaO and
Al2O3. LOI in CDW is higher than that of natural aggregates due to
the Portland cement and gypsum contained in recycled aggregates.
The specific gravity is measured according ASTM C 127-93 (1993)
[55] and is detailed in Table 1. As can be seen, the recycled aggre-
gate specific gravity is lower than that of natural aggregates, as a
consequence of the mixture of materials (Portland cement, gyp-
sum) that forms the CDW. The grain size distribution of materials
was determined and detailed in Fig. 2. One of the most important
problems of CDW is its very heterogeneous composition, but in
previous studies [56] the particle size is the most important factor
in the acoustic properties of porous concretes, more than the
chemical composition. The producers of CDW aggregates produce
 C. Arenas et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442 435

Fig. 1. Coarse aggregate (CA) and construction and demolition waste aggregate (CDW).

Table 1
Chemical composition of fly ash, coarse aggregate and CDW.

LOI 750 C Chemical composition

Fe2O3 CaO MgO SiO2 Al2O3 Na2O K2O SO3 P2O5 Specific gravity (g/cm3)
FA 3.32 5.86 3.94 1.84 63.9 21.5 0.68 1.67 <0.01 <0.01 2.69
CA 0.95 2.92 0.46 0.3 85.5 4.96 1.14 0.99 0.03 0.95 2.48
CDW 9.19 3.54 17.9 2.45 57.8 9.57 0.61 1.87 0.42 0.11 2.05

Fig. 2. Particle size distribution of the raw materials.

Table 2 The weight Na2O/SiO2 ratio of the solution is 0.29. In order to

Characteristics of sodium silicate solution. increase this ratio up to 0.98, sodium hydroxide is dissolved in
SiO2 (%wt) Na2O (%wt) Na2O/SiO2 (wt) Density 20 C (g/cm3) the sodium silicate solution.
NaSil 27 8 0.29 1.34
2.2. Geopolymer preparation

these materials in different size. In the current work, the CDW has
been sieved and it have been chosen particle with the same size
that the coarse aggregate. Thus, the only factor that can affect
the porous concrete properties is the type of aggregate, not the
granulometry. As can be seen, the size distribution of FA is much
finer tan CA and CDW.
A commercial solution of sodium silicate (NaSil) was used as
activating solution. The characteristics are detailed in Table 2.
Geopolymers were prepared using the same methodology uti-
lized in previous studies [57]. The solution and fly ash were mixed
during 4 min approximately, until a workable and thixotropic
paste was obtained. The aggregate (CA or CDW) was added to
the geopolymer and they are mixed until the materials are com-
pletely impregnated. Cylindrical plastic moulds (30 mm-diameter
and 41 mm-height) were filled with the concrete obtained and
compacted. Geopolymers samples were cured at ambient
436 C. Arenas et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442

Table 3
Composition of the geopolymeric concrete.

Aggregate (wt%) Fly ash (wt%) Sodium silicate NaOH Na2O/SiO2 molar ratio
CA CDW SiO2 Na2O Water Na2O OH
CA80FA20-0.98 80 20 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.2015 0.1105 0.98
CA50FA50-0.98 50 50 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.2015 0.1105 0.98
CA20FA80-0.98 20 80 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.2015 0.1105 0.98
CA80FA20-0.29 80 20 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.29
CA50FA50-0.29 50 50 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.29
CA20FA80-0.29 20 80 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.29
CDW80FA20-0.98 80 20 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.2015 0.1105 0.98
CDW50FA50-0.98 50 50 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.2015 0.1105 0.98
CDW20FA80-0.98 20 80 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.2015 0.1105 0.98
CDW80FA20-0.29 80 20 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.29
CDW50FA50-0.29 50 50 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.29
CDW20FA80-0.29 20 80 0.216 0.064 0.52 0.29

Fig. 3. Measurement of sound absorption coefficient by impedance tube.

temperature for 28 days (average temperature: 20 C; average rel-
ative humidity: 45%). The composition is detailed in Table 3.
As comparative purpose, a conventional porous concrete (CPC)
was prepared using an ordinary Portland cement (CEM II/B-L
32,5N) according to EN 197-1 [58] (OPC II) and CA in a proportion
of OPC II: 20/CA: 80.
2.3. Methods
2.3.1. Physical properties
The density (q) of the mortar was measured by weight and vol-
ume (dimensions) measurements. The open void ratio has been
measured because it is strongly related to the acoustic behaviour
of the products. The method of vacuum water saturation has been
followed in the determination of open void ratio (VR %) [59]. Sam-
ples were oven-dried at 105 5 C. Subsequently, they were
weighed (W1) and left under water in a vacuum vessel until satu-
ration was reached. After 24 h they were removed and weighed
again (W2). The open void ratio was calculated by VR (%) = VW/
VS  100, where VW is the volume in the sample occupied by water
and VS is the total volume of the sample. The volume of water can
be found as VW = (W2  W1)/qw, where qw is the density of water.
2.3.2. Mechanical properties
The compressive strength (RC) of the pastes was also evaluated
using a compressing test machine (Tinius Olsen-TO317EDG) (EN
196-1 [60]). The compressive strength tests were performed on
40-mm-high, 35-mm-diameter cylinders. Four samples were used
to measure the compressive strength.
dicularly strikes the material surface. The sound absorption coeffi-
cient has been determined in a Kundt tube or impedance tube
(Fig. 3), following the transfer-function method described in the
standard EN ISO 10534-2 [61], at a frequency range of 0
5000 Hz. A random sound source generates a plane wave inside
the tube. This wave is longitudinally propagated in the tube, and
then reflected back by the material located at the end, resulting
in a standing wave. Two microphones measure the acoustic pres-
sure, from which the acoustic absorption is determined. An ACU-
PRO system has been used implemented by Spectronics Inc.,
with two microphones and a SAMSON signal amplifier. The cir-
cumferential edge of the test sample was carefully sealed with
paraffin, as recommended by the standard, to ensure a good fit
between the sample and the tube. The acoustic absorption mea-
surements were carried out for each specimen and thickness and
each value represents the average value obtained after testing
three times each specimen. Some pictures corresponding to speci-
mens of CDW80FA20 and CDW50FA50 are showed in Fig. 4.
2.3.4. Leaching study
In order to become construction materials, the new products
developed in the present work must conform to a low toxicity
level, which is proportional to the leached metals in the sample.
The environmental study, EN 12457-4 [62], is carried out to char-
acterize the FA and CDW and to evaluate the possible applications.
CA and OPC II, commercialized products, were subjected to the
same test in order to compare the leaching results.
3. Results and discussion

2.3.3. Acoustic properties 3.1. Physical and mechanical properties

The sound absorption coefficient is the absorbed fraction (or
non reflected) of the acoustic power of a sound wave that perpen- Table 4 shows the results of open porosity of the concretes.
 C. Arenas et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442 437

Fig. 4. Geopolymer concretes specimens CDW80FA20 and CDW50FA50.

Table 4
Open porosity (%) of geopolymeric concretes. Comparing the density of the concretes with the two aggregates,
the CA-concretes show higher density than the CDW-concrete. This
Activating solution
is due to the different specific gravity of both aggregates (2.48 g/
Na2O/SiO2 = 0.98 Na2O/SiO2 = 0.29 cm3 of CA and 2.05 g/cm3 of CDW) and the similar size distribution.
CA-FA 8020 24 27 Regarding the use of the activating solution with different Na2O/
5050 14 17 SiO2 ratio, the concretes prepared with a solution with a Na2O/
2080 3 6
SiO2 ratio of 0.98 are denser than those prepared with a solution
CDW-FA 8020 28 30 with a ratio of 0.29. Open porosities of concretes are similar, but
5050 18 20
the density of the geopolymer itself (alone, without aggregate)
2080 6 9
was determined and the values are 1.77 g/cm3 for the geopolymer
with Na2O/SiO2 ratio of 0.98 and 1.53 g/cm3 when the activating
Firstly, as it can be seen, the open porosity increases as the pro- solution has a ratio of 0.29. It is well known that an increment in
portion of the aggregate in the concrete increases, using both the Na2O/SiO2 ratio in the activating solution by introducing NaOH
gravel or construction and demolition waste because the size of produces an increment of the dissolution rate of fly ash (mainly
the particles of aggregates is higher than fly ashes. Secondly, in due to the effect of hydroxide anions) and an improvement of
general, open porosity of concretes prepared with CDW is slightly the formation of polymeric structure (mainly due to the effect of
higher than prepared with coarse aggregate due to the irregular sodium extra) which produce a denser matrix and high develop-
shape of its surface, which produces more porosity. Finally, the ment of the geopolymeric gel [63], without significantly affecting
open porosity does not vary depending on the Na2O/SiO2 ratio of to the porosity. The density of the CPC is 1.72 g/cm3, that is, it is
the activating solution because the differences produced by the dif- in the same order of magnitude of the geopolymeric concrete CA-
ferent ratios could be only in the range of gel and capillary pores FA: 80-20.
and their volumes are insignificant compared with the big porous Figs. 6 and 7 shows the compressive strength results of the con-
produces by a high proportion of aggregates. cretes respectively after 7 and 28 days of curing.
The open void ratio of the CPC is 26%, in the same orders of Figs. 6 and 7 show that compressive strength, as well as the
magnitude than geopolymeric concrete with 20% of geopolymer density, increases as the proportion of the aggregate fraction
and 80% of aggregate, although slightly lower than the concretes decreases in the mixture. Higher contents of aggregates develop
prepared with sodium silicate with Na2O/SiO2 ratio of 0.29. a more porous matrix, causing the reduction of the cohesion
Fig. 5 represents the variation of density with the aggregates, between the binger and the aggregates and, thus, the compressive
the ratio FA/aggregate and the ratio Na2O/SiO2 of activating strength [64].
solution. Comparing the compressive strength results of mixtures of con-
As can be seen, the density increases as the geopolymer/aggre- cretes with CA and CDW, it is observed that concretes with CA are
gate ratio increases, due to the decreasing of the open porosity. less resistant than those prepared with CDW, although those are
438 C. Arenas et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442

Fig. 5. Density of geopolymeric concretes.

Fig. 6. Compressive strength for Na2O/SiO2 ratio of 0.98 at 7 and 28 days.

Fig. 7. Compressive strength for Na2O/SiO2 ratio of 0.29 at 7 and 28 days.

 C. Arenas et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442 439

the denser concrete. To explain this behaviour there must be taken

into account the different type of surface of both aggregates (Fig. 1)
since it can affect to the type of adhesion between the binder and
the aggregate [65]. As the aggregate surface is smooth and
rounded, as in the traditional coarse aggregate used in this work,
a little adherence between the aggregate and the binder can be
produced, as it can be seen in Fig. 1-left. However, in concretes
with rough surface aggregates (like the construction and demoli-
tion waste (Fig. 1-right)), the adhesion between binder and aggre-
gate is improved and the possibilities of crack decrease and the
compressive strength increase. Besides the effect of the aggregate
surface, the chemical composition has to be taken into account,
especially the CaO content in the CDW that can react with the
unreacted silicate of the fly ash based geopolymer and form the
CASH gel (calcium aluminate silicate hydrated gel) [66], which
can produce an increment of the compressive strength.
For both aggregates, the use of an activating solution with a
Na2O/SiO2 ratio of 0.98 produced harder and stronger concretes Fig. 9. Sound absorption coefficient for different type of aggregates.

than those manufactured using the activating solution with a ratio

of 0.29, because higher Na2O/SiO2 ratio increases the dissolution
rate of fly ashes, and the formation of geopolymeric structure is
improved [63].
The results of compressive strength at 28 days of curing have
been compared with the values of CPC at 28 days, which have a
resistance of 4.5 MPa. As can be seen, the compressive strength
of geopolymeric concretes with similar aggregates content shows
slightly high values to CPC.
3.2. Acoustic properties
The sound absorption of a porous material is related to the
energy loss by friction produced in the walls of its pores [36]. As
a result, a concrete with higher open void ratio presents, in general,
greater sound absorption coefficients in the whole range of fre-
quencies [42].
Fig. 8 shows the influence of the aggregate/geopolymer ratio for
CDW and 0.98 of activating/solution ratio. As it can be seen in
Fig. 8, when the aggregates/fly ash ratio is increased the sound
absorption coefficient is greater in all the frequencies measured.
In accordance with the open void ratio results previously showed
in Table 4, the most porous matrix corresponding to CDW80-
FA20 presented the best sound absorbing behaviour. There is a
big leap in the sound absorption curves when the proportion of
coarse changes to 80%. It was studied before [52] that the internal
structure of a material becomes not only more porous, but the
pores start to be connected to each other when the proportion of
coarse aggregate in the mortar is above 70%. This fact influences
the sound absorption of the material since this property is strongly
related to the airflow resistivity of the material [67]. The airflow
resistivity represents the delay by friction, which means the resis-
tance to the quasi-static airflow through the pores of the material.
Compositions with 50% of coarse aggregates presented an open
void ratio of 20%, but it was assessed that the porosity was super-
ficial, so the pores were not connected (see Fig. 4). In order to
develop a sound absorbing material, it is necessary to create tortu-
ous paths where the sound energy can be dissipated, being espe-
cially good in frequencies in the range 3001000 Hz, that are the
frequencies of the noise traffic [68].
Fig. 9 shows the influence of the different types of aggregates
and binders for CPC, and CDW-concretes and CA-concretes for
aggregate/geopolymer ratio of 80/20, with activating/solution ratio
of 0.29 and 0.98. An aggregate/geopolymer ratio of 80/20 was cho-
sen because these compositions showed the greatest sound
absorption coefficients. As it can be seen, the sound absorption
coefficient curves are similar in all the cases, due to the similar
open porosity (the open porosity of CPC is 26%). This fact shows
that the sound absorption coefficient depends fundamentally on
the ratio aggregates/binder, and not on the type of binder and/or
aggregates (if the different aggregates have similar size distribu-
tions) or the activating solution ratio. It is important to remark
here as well that the maximum peak is slightly higher in the case
of samples made of CDW aggregate, due to its irregular surface
which develops a more tortuous internal structure.

Fig. 8. Sound absorption coefficient for CWD geopolymer concretes. Fig. 10. Influence of thickness of specimens in sound absorption coefficient.
440 C. Arenas et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 433442
Table 5
Metal concentration in EN 12457-4 leachates (lg/L).
Element Limit CDW
As 50 <5
Pb 100 2 <1.5
Cd 5 <1
Cr 100 18
Cu 200 <2
Ni 100 <5
Zn 400 <1
Since the acoustic absorption of a material depends on the
thickness of the specimens tested, a study of the influence of the
thickness on the acoustic properties has been carried out on a
CDW-concrete (CDW80-FA20). Fig. 10 shows the sound absorption
coefficient curves of samples with 40, 80 and 120 mm thickness.
The acoustic absorption spectra of all specimens shifted towards
lower frequency levels as the thickness of the samples changes,
although the magnitude of the peak absorption coefficients
remained practically uniform. This phenomenon can be explained
through the relationship between the peak frequencies and the
thickness of specimens, which can be expressed by an equation
obtained from the concept of the absorbing mechanism of a porous
material [69].
2n  1c
fp  l Const:
4 would let the reuse of any type of construction and demolition
where fp is the frequency at the peak, n is the number of peaks (con-
stant), c is the sound speed of air (fixed for temperature), and l is the
thickness of the specimen. This fact produces that materials with
120 mm of thickness are appropriated as noise road traffic devices,
due to this road noise is produced at low frequencies [70].
3.3. Leaching study
The Introduction to the EN 1794-2 standard [71] for noise
reducing devices indicates: While performing their primary func-
tion, road traffic noise reducing devices should not pose hazards to
road users or other people in the vicinity or to the environment at
large. EN 1794-2 establishes that road traffic noise reducing
devices must specify any physical or chemical condition which
could cause environmental problems. This regulation also men-
tions: They (the noise reducing devices) should be made from
materials which do not emit noxious fumes or leachates as the
result of natural or industrial processes or as the result of fire.
In the case of recycled materials are used, the main environmental
problem could be the release of heavy metals into the environment
through leaching. However, as the leachability was assessed, nei-
ther standard leaching tests nor any pollutant concentration limits
that restrict their use in this kind of application could be found.
Therefore, the wastes was submitted to the EN 12457-4 [62]
test, a leaching test commonly used in the Waste Management
field. Table 5 shows the leachate results obtained for FA, CDW,
CA and OCPII compared with the limits stated by German standard
for CDW [72]. As it can be seen all the analysed elements are below
of German standards for wastes materials, and in some cases (Cr
and Zn), the leaching content of OCP II is higher than waste
materials.
4. Conclusions
The main goal of this experimental study was to develop a por-
ous concrete product using a fly ash-based geopolymer as binder
and construction and demolition wastes as aggregate, presenting
FA CA OCPII
<5 <5 <5
<1.5 <1.5
<1 <1 <1
<2 <2 76
<2 <2 <2
<5 <5 <5
<1 <1 105
good noise absorption characteristics. In the course of this study,
the following conclusions were obtained:
- The aggregate/geopolymer ratio affects to all properties.
Increasing this ratio in the material, it produces an increment
of porosities and an improvement of acoustic properties, but
with a detriment of densities and mechanical properties. When
the ratio is above 50%, the sound absorption of the materials
became relevant with peaks between 0.7 and 0.9, due to the
development of a tortuous internal structure with intercon-
nected pores.
- The construction and demolition waste used as aggregate in
geopolymeric porous concretes presents better mechanical
and acoustic properties than the traditional coarse aggregate
when the size distribution of both aggregates is similar. This
waste as aggregate, regardless of their variety of chemical com-
position, but always maintaining the particle size distribution
in order to keep the sound absorbing properties.
- The activating solution in the geopolymerization of the fly ash
has influence in the mechanical properties. The use of an acti-
vating solution with a Na2O/SiO2 ratio of 0.98 developed struc-
tures with better mechanical resistance than those made with a
ratio of 0.29.
- The acoustic absorption coefficient spectra depend on the thick-
ness of the specimen tested. The principal maximum peak of
the absorption coefficient displaces to lower frequencies when
the thickness increases up to 120 mm.
From the results obtained, construction and demolition wastes
can be potentially recycled manufacturing a porous concrete that
can be applied for manufacturing sound absorbing reducing
devices. The sound absorption coefficient determined in the impe-
dance tube gives accurate results of the acoustic behaviour of pan-
els at industrial scale, as previous publications by the authors have
demonstrated [67]. The fly ash-based geopolymer noise barrier can
compete with the traditional concrete barriers, since the properties
measured in samples with the recycled aggregate are similar or
even better than those of the porous concrete traditionally used
in similar applications.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thanks to Raul Villa from Environmen-
tal Complex Mancomunidad de la Vega, Seville, for the supply of
the CDW and Patricia Nieto Naranjo for the contributions in the
development of the work.
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