João Castro-Gomes

Properties of tungsten mine waste geopolymeric binder

Abstract Tungsten mine waste mud (TMWM) geopolymeric binder is a new cementitious material with a very high early age strength. It is obtained from dehydroxylated mine waste powder mix with minor quantities of calcium hydroxide and activated with NaOH and waterglass solutions. Tests on properties of TMWM binders such as workability, setting time, unrestrained shrinkage, water absorption and static modulus of elasticity were carried out and the results are reported in this paper. This is followed by comparisons with literature related data and a discussion about it. The results showed that current devices use to assess OPC fresh properties are not recommended to evaluate TMWM binders. It has also been found that traditional procedures used to evaluate unrestrained shrinkage may be responsible for misleading results when using those new binders. Water absorption data shows that TMWM has a very compacted structure. Results concerning the static modulus of elasticity are similar to the ones obtained by other authors. However the hypothesis related to modulus of elasticity decrease due to the use of high Al/Si alkali activated mixtures was not confirmed.

Carbon Fiber Epoxy Composites for Both Strengthening and Health Monitoring of Structures

This paper presents a study of the electrical and mechanical behavior of several continuous carbon fibers epoxy composites for both strengthening and monitoring of structures. In these composites, the arrangement of fibers was deliberately diversified to test and understand the ability of the composites for self-sensing low strains. Composites with different arrangements of fibers and textile weaves, mainly unidirectional continuous carbon reinforced composites, were tested at the dynamometer. A two-probe method was considered to measure the relative electrical resistance of these composites during loading. The measured relative electrical resistance includes volume and contact electrical resistances. For all tested specimens, it increases with an increase in tensile strain, at low strain values. This is explained by the improved alignment of fibers and resulting reduction of the number of possible contacts between fibers during loading, increasing as a consequence the contact electrical resistance of the composite. Laboratory tests on strengthening of structural elements were also performed, making hand-made composites by the “wet process”, which is commonly used in civil engineering for the strengthening of all types of structures in-situ. Results show that the woven epoxy composite, used for strengthening of concrete elements is also able to sense low deformations, below 1%. Moreover, results clearly show that this textile sensor also improves the mechanical work of the strengthened structural elements, increasing their bearing capacity. Finally, the set of obtained results supports the concept of a textile fabric capable of both structural upgrade and self-monitoring of structures, especially large structures of difficult access and needing constant, sometimes very expensive, health monitoring.

The Effect of Latex and Chitosan Biopolymer on Concrete Properties and Performance

this paper presents the results of a study in which the combination of two polymeric additives in concrete with the intention of improving its mechanical and durability performance is analysed. The additives are a synthetic latex and a biopolymer – chitosan. An evaluation of the mechanical properties as well as the phases formed based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed. The concretes were prepared with each of the polymers separately, and the results were ordinary. However, when combined, the results show an interesting interaction improving the mechanical strengths of the concrete. Several concrete samples were prepared with 0 – 4 % of each polymer with 1 % increments. The mechanical properties were shown to be sensitive to the incorporation of polymers. The desired effect of the interaction between the biopolymer and the latex was observed, because the strengths increased when both additives were present, namely for the combination of 2 % of each polymer. SEM images revealed a heterogeneous distribution in the polymer cementitious matrix, mainly with regards to latex. The presence of well defined polymer fibers on a fracture surface of composites prepared with biopolymer (4 %) was observed, indicating that the fibre pullout and not fracture was the cause of failure, resulting from the poor adherence of the fibers in matrix. Composites prepared with both polymers revealed abundant formation of C-S-H and the absence of ettringite, explaining the improvement of mechanical properties. The presence of reticulated structures of C-S-H dispersed in the microstructure and involving the calcium hydroxide corroborates the results of mechanical properties, mainly for the percentages of 3 % of biopolymer and 1 % of latex.

Evaluation of the Stability of Waste-Based Geopolymeric Artificial Aggregates for Wastewater Treatment Processes under Different Curing Conditions

Waste geopolymeric artificial aggregates (WGA) with different atomic ratios of mining waste mud/Na2SiO (4 to 5) and Na2SiO/NaOH (1.25 to 5) were produced using curing temperatures of 20°C and 130°C and its structural stability and pH variation after immersion in water was observed during 3 months. Results showed that WGA with mud/Na2SiO and Na2SiO/NaOH of 5 and 4, respectively, cured at 20°C presented good stability in water and pH decreased from 10 to 7 in 24 days. Compressive strength was determined in additional samples cured at 20°C and 80°C in dry conditions, for 13 curing ages and 15 water immersion periods (up to 14 weeks). Results of this second stage showed that increasing temperature to 80°C accelerated compressive strength gain but only during the first 3 weeks (up to 15.4 MPa). After 24 h in water compressive strength decreased to half of the initial values determined in dry conditions in all samples and, therefore, the increase of temperature did not bring benefits to WGA strength in water. Regardless the curing temperature and the dry curing age comprehensive strength stabilizes between 1 MPa and 2 MPa after 4 weeks immersion in water, which are values that makes WGA suitable to be used as bed material for wastewater treatment processes.

Towards preparation conditions for the synthesis of alkali-activated binders using tungsten mining waste

Partial financial support from the European Commission Horizon 2020’s MARIE Sklodowska-CURIE Research and Innovation Staff Exchange Scheme through the grant 645696 (i.e. REMINE project) is greatly acknowledged. The first author thanks, Thomas Gerald Gray Charitable Trust and Brunel University London for providing fees and a bursary to support his PhD study.

Study of Geopolymeric Binders of Fly Ash/Metakaolin Mixtures Cured at Room Temperature

Geopolymerization is a chemical process in which aluminosilicate materials are precursors to obtain binders that have a low environmental impact. Fly ash has been used as a precursor for the development of these binders. However, thermal curing is needed to accelerate the polycondensation of aluminosilicate, which limits the application of this new binder in the construction industry. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility to obtain such binders with good mechanical properties when cured at room temperature. The precursor material consisted of different mixtures of fly ash and metakaolin that were activated using combined sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate alkaline solutions. The effect on the compressive strength of different proportions of the alkaline solutions was studied. Compressive strengths of about 40 MPa were achieved at 91 days for the samples containing 70% fly ash and 30% metakaolin, activated using an alkaline solution of 50% sodium hydroxide and 50% sodium silicate. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the formation of natrite in geopolymeric samples, as well as the presence of crystalline compounds, such as quartz, mullite and hematite, in fly ash and metakaoline. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that in geopolymeric mixtures with higher compressive strength dissolution of fly ash and metakaolin particles occurred almost completely and that aluminosilicate dense gel has been formed extensively.

Life cycle analysis of a new modular greening system

The construction and use of buildings represent about half of the extracted materials and energy consumption, and around one third of the water consumption and waste produced in the European Union. Therefore it is becoming more important to use sustainable materials that reduce the environmental impacts of construction, by conserving and using resources more efficiently. Green walls can be used as a sustainable strategy to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. The aim of this study is to evaluate the environmental impact of a new modular system for green roofs and green walls (Geogreen) which uses waste and sustainable materials in its composition. A life cycle analysis (LCA) is used to evaluate the long term environmental benefits of this system. The life cycle analysis (LCA) is carried according to ISO 14040/44 using GaBi software and CML 2001 impact category indicators. The adopted functional unit is the square meter of each material required to assemble the Geogreen system. This study also compares the environmental performance of the Geogreen system with other living wall systems and other cladding materials using data from the literature. This LCA study of the Geogreen system became relevant to identify a curing process with a major impact on GWP due to the energy consumed in this process. A change on this process allowed reducing 74% of the overall GWP. After this change it can be noticed that the Geogreen System presents one of the lowest environmental burden when compared to other construction systems.

Reuse of mining waste into innovative alkali-activated-based materials for road pavement applications

Based on the initial results obtained in the research program REMINE (H2020 RISE-Marie Curie Action) in progress, authors discuss the potential use of Panasqueira mine waste aggregates and fillers in the production of construction materials for transportation infrastructures. An estimate of the economic and social impact that this form of recycling could have on the local communities and on the perspective of other mining activities in Portugal and Europe is given. The main goals of the project are to explore materials design methods of alkali-activated composites from mining/quarrying wastes based on the demanding requirement of rheology to fit for various processing techniques and applications. The development of artificial aggregates through alkali-activation of mining waste presents itself as a viable technical solution to compete with other commonly adopted materials and may lead to the manufacturing of less porous and harder aggregates for the production of most of the road paving materials. 1 SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINING ACTIVITIES 1.1 Panasqueira mine and its ores Panasqueira is one of the oldest underground mines in Portugal. The mine has been active for over 125 years. Panasqueira contains one of the largest economic viable tungsten vein deposits in the world. The tungsten is the main product of exploitation of Panasqueira. The mine is today operated by Sojitz Beralt Tin & Wolfram (Portugal) SA. The ore deposits consist of a series of stacked, sub-horizontal, hydrothermal quartz veins that lead into mineralized wolfram-bearing schists and shales (Cavey & Gunning, 2006). The mineralized zone has dimensions of approximately 2,500 m in length, varying in width from 400 m to 2,200 m, and continues to at least 500 m in depth. Wolframite, cassiterite and chalcopyrite are the extracted minerals obtained. Such minerals are treated to make concentrates of tungsten, tin and copper, respectively. The current extraction methodology is a mechanized room-and-pillar method, based on an analysis of geological and geomechanical characteristics of the rock mass. The ore treatment process begins with heavy media separation for the coarse fractions of material. It enables removing about 80% of the ore that has no tungsten content. Afterwards, this pre-concentrated material is subjected to a conventional gravity concentration method, followed by sulphide removal using flotation and final dry magnetic separation (Franco et al., 2014). Until 1996, the pre-concentrates were transported to the Rio plant, but today, the final separation procedures are carried out exclusively in the Barroca Grande plant. A huge tailings

Smart Textiles for Strengthening of Structures

Abstract This paper presents results of mechanical tests on a prototype of an innovative structural strengthening in form of self-monitoring fabric. Smart textile employs carbon fibers conductivity for measuring strains while monitoring changes of electric resistance under increasing load. A general solution was tested in a series of calibrating tests on strengthening of small size concrete slabs. Promising results of simple specimen, has encouraged the research team to perform the next tests using mastered carbon fibre reinforced fabric. Main tests were performed on natural scale RC beam. Smart textile proved its efficiency in both: strengthening and monitoring of strains during load increase. New strengthening proposal was given 10% increase of loading capacity and the readings of strain changes were similar to those obtained in classical methods. In order to calibrate the prototype and to define range limits of solution usability, textile sensor was tested in areas of large deformations (timber beam) and aswell as very small strains (bridge bearing block). In both cases, the prototype demonstrated excellent performance in the range of importance for structural engineering. This paper also presents an example of use of the smart strengthening in situ, in a real life conditions.