Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes

There is a growing need for alternative low carbon construction materials due to recent demand in road development. Traditional methods of building road pavement using virgin aggregates and cement have caused significant strain on the environments with high carbon output. As by-products of agricultu...

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Main Authors: Tung Doan, Arul Arulrajah, Annan Zhou, Suksun Horpibulsuk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025008643
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author Tung Doan
Arul Arulrajah
Annan Zhou
Suksun Horpibulsuk
author_facet Tung Doan
Arul Arulrajah
Annan Zhou
Suksun Horpibulsuk
author_sort Tung Doan
collection DOAJ
description There is a growing need for alternative low carbon construction materials due to recent demand in road development. Traditional methods of building road pavement using virgin aggregates and cement have caused significant strain on the environments with high carbon output. As by-products of agricultural industry, rice hush ash (RHA) and bagasse ash (BA) were both investigated as novel replacement binders for pavement base applications. Various geotechnical tests were adopted to evaluate the strength performance of the new geopolymer binders in stabilizing demolitions wastes (C&D) including compaction tests, repeated triaxial loading tests (RLT), and unconfined compressive strength tests (UCS). Demolition wastes such as recycled concrete (RCA), crushed brick (CB), and reclaimed asphalt (RAP) were selected to be the main aggregates of the study. Laboratory calcination at 700 °C was implemented for RHA and BA production. Outcomes from this study showed significant strength development of RHA and BA geopolymer mixtures when combined with RCA at 10 % ratio while RAP could not attain sufficient strength development at 10 % precursor ratio due to poor gradation. In contrast, all CB mixtures delivered low strength outcomes at 7 days and 20 °C curing condition. Resilient modulus (Mr) results indicated stronger strain recovery behavior for RHA geopolymer mixtures than BA in general. Overall, both RHA and BA geopolymer were found to be suitable for pavement base applications when combined with RCA aggregates at 10 % precursor ratio in standard conditions, indicating great potential in replacing cement as the main binder for road pavement construction.
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spelling doaj-art-c51c09a79c83415b84a4afde6bc67db52025-08-20T03:05:17ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302025-06-012610478710.1016/j.rineng.2025.104787Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastesTung Doan0Arul Arulrajah1Annan Zhou2Suksun Horpibulsuk3Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, AustraliaDepartment of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia; Corresponding author at: Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia.Discipline of Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, School of Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, AustraliaSchool of Civil Engineering and Center of Excellence in Innovation for Sustainable Infrastructure Development, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand; Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand; Corresponding author at: School of Civil Engineering, Institute of Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.There is a growing need for alternative low carbon construction materials due to recent demand in road development. Traditional methods of building road pavement using virgin aggregates and cement have caused significant strain on the environments with high carbon output. As by-products of agricultural industry, rice hush ash (RHA) and bagasse ash (BA) were both investigated as novel replacement binders for pavement base applications. Various geotechnical tests were adopted to evaluate the strength performance of the new geopolymer binders in stabilizing demolitions wastes (C&D) including compaction tests, repeated triaxial loading tests (RLT), and unconfined compressive strength tests (UCS). Demolition wastes such as recycled concrete (RCA), crushed brick (CB), and reclaimed asphalt (RAP) were selected to be the main aggregates of the study. Laboratory calcination at 700 °C was implemented for RHA and BA production. Outcomes from this study showed significant strength development of RHA and BA geopolymer mixtures when combined with RCA at 10 % ratio while RAP could not attain sufficient strength development at 10 % precursor ratio due to poor gradation. In contrast, all CB mixtures delivered low strength outcomes at 7 days and 20 °C curing condition. Resilient modulus (Mr) results indicated stronger strain recovery behavior for RHA geopolymer mixtures than BA in general. Overall, both RHA and BA geopolymer were found to be suitable for pavement base applications when combined with RCA aggregates at 10 % precursor ratio in standard conditions, indicating great potential in replacing cement as the main binder for road pavement construction.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025008643Bagasse ashRice husk ashDemolition wasteGeopolymerRecyclingGround improvement
spellingShingle Tung Doan
Arul Arulrajah
Annan Zhou
Suksun Horpibulsuk
Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes
Results in Engineering
Bagasse ash
Rice husk ash
Demolition waste
Geopolymer
Recycling
Ground improvement
title Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes
title_full Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes
title_fullStr Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes
title_full_unstemmed Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes
title_short Utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes
title_sort utilizing calcined agricultural biomass for the geopolymer stabilization of demolition wastes
topic Bagasse ash
Rice husk ash
Demolition waste
Geopolymer
Recycling
Ground improvement
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025008643
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AT arularulrajah utilizingcalcinedagriculturalbiomassforthegeopolymerstabilizationofdemolitionwastes
AT annanzhou utilizingcalcinedagriculturalbiomassforthegeopolymerstabilizationofdemolitionwastes
AT suksunhorpibulsuk utilizingcalcinedagriculturalbiomassforthegeopolymerstabilizationofdemolitionwastes