• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.4
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• pp.349-362
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• 2024

High-performance fiber-reinforced cement composites (HPFRCC) are new materials created and used to repair, strengthen, and improve the performance of different structural parts. When exposed to tensile tension, these materials show acceptable strain-hardening. All of the countries of the globe currently seem to have a need for these building materials. This study aims to create a low-carbon HPFRCC (high ductility) that is made from materials that are readily available locally which has the right mechanical qualities, especially an increase in tensile strain capacity and environmental compatibility. In order to do this, the effects of fiber volume percent (0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 2%), and determining the appropriate level, filler type (limestone powder and silica sand), cement type (ordinary Portland cement, and limestone calcined clay cement or LC3), matrix hardness, and fiber type (ordinary and oxygen plasma treated polypropylene fiber) were explored. Fibers were subjected to oxygen plasma treatment at several powers and periods (50 W and 200 W, 30, 120, and 300 seconds). The influence of the above listed factors on the samples' three-point bending and direct tensile strength test results has been examined. The results showed that replacing ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) in mixtures reduces the compressive strength, and increases the tensile strain capacity of the samples. Furthermore, using oxygen plasma treatment method (power 200 W and time 300 seconds) enhances the bonding of fibers with the matrix surface; thus, the tensile strain capacity of samples increased on average up to 70%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.151-152
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• 2023

This study investigates the effect of nano-silica and nano-calcite on the hydration properties and mechanical performance of limestone calcined clay cement (LC³) paste. The pastes were synthesized by replacing limestone with nano-silica and nano-calcite in order to enhance the mechanical properties in both early and late stages of hydration. The nano-calcite enhanced the strength of LC³ pastes at 1 day of hydration, however, the strength decreased compared to the ordinary LC³ pastes afterwards due to excessive amount of carboaluminate produced in the pastes. On the other hand, nano-silica improved the mechanical properties of LC³ pastes at all ages of hydration. This is mainly due to the nucleation effect and pozzolanic reaction of nano-silica, affecting the early age and late ages of hydration, respectively. The nucleation effect of both nanomaterials were confirmed by the analysis of hydration heat, supporting the enhanced early age strength of nanomaterial incorporated LC³ pastes. Furthermore, the dense matrix was shown in the pore size distribution, and the increased C-S-H due to the pozzolanic reaction evidence the improved compressive and splitting tensile strength of nano-silica incorporated LC³ pastes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2021.11a
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• pp.133-134
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• 2021

Limestone-calcined clay-Cement (LC3) concrete provides a solution for sustainability, durability, and profitability of concrete industry. This study shows experimental studies of the macro properties (residual compressive strength), the meso properties (mesoscopic images), and micro properties (thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectra, Raman spectra, Mercury intrusion porosimetry, and SEM) of LC3 paste with various mixtures and at high elevated temperatures (20 ℃, 300 ℃, 550 ℃ and 900 ℃). We find (1) Regarding to macro properties, LC3 cementitious materials are at a disadvantage in compressive strength when the temperature is higher than 300 ℃. (2) Regarding to meso properties, when the temperature reached 550 ℃, all samples generated more meso cracks. (3) Regarding to micro properties, first, as the substitution amount increases, its CH content decreases significantly; second, at 900 ℃, for samples with calcined clay, a large amount of gehlenite crystalline phase was found; third, at elevated temperatures (20 ℃, 300 ℃, 550 ℃ and 900 ℃), there is a linear relationship between the residual compressive strength and the cumulative pore volume; fourth, at 900 ℃, a large amount of dicalcium silicate was generated, and damage cracks were more pronounced. The experimental results of this study are valuable of material design of fire resistance of LC3 concrete.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.263-278
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• 2022

Limestone calcined clay cement (LC³) is a low carbon alternative to conventional cement. Literature shows that using limestone and calcined clay in LC³ increases the thermal degradation of LC³ pastes and can increase the magnitude of fire risk in LC³ concrete structures. Higher thermal degradation of LC³ paste prompts this study toward understanding the fire performance of LC³ concrete and the associated magnitude of fire risk. For fire performance, concrete prepared using ordinary Portland cement (OPC), pozzolanic Portland cement (PPC) and LC³ were exposed to 16 scenarios of different elevated temperatures (400℃, 600℃, 800℃, and 1000℃) for different durations (0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, and 4 h). After exposure to elevated temperatures, mass loss, residual ultrasonic pulse velocity (rUPV) and residual compressive strength (rCS) were measured as the residual properties of concrete. XRD (X-ray diffraction), TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) and three-factor ANOVA (analysis of variance) are also used to compare the fire performance of LC³ with OPC and PPC. Monte Carlo simulation has been used to assess the magnitude of fire risk in LC³ structures and devise recommendations for the robust application of LC³. Results show that LC³ concrete has weaker fire performance, with average rCS being 11.06% and 1.73% lower than OPC and PPC concrete. Analysis of 106 fire scenarios, in Indian context, shows lower rCS and higher failure probability for LC³ (95.05%, 2.22%) than OPC (98.16%, 0.22%) and PPC (96.48%, 1.14%). For robust application, either LC³ can be restricted to residential and educational structures (failure probability <0.5%), or LC³ can have reserve strength (factor of safety >1.08).

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.577-594
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• 2023

Engineered cementitious composites with calcined clay limestone cement (LC³-ECC) as a kind of green, low-carbon and high toughness concrete, has recently received significant investigation. However, the complicated relationship between potential influential factors and LC³-ECC compressive strength makes the prediction of LC³-ECC compressive strength difficult. Regarding this, the machine learning-based prediction models for the compressive strength of LC³-ECC concrete is firstly proposed and developed. Models combine three novel meta-heuristic algorithms (golden jackal optimization algorithm, butterfly optimization algorithm and whale optimization algorithm) with support vector regression (SVR) to improve the accuracy of prediction. A new dataset about LC³-ECC compressive strength was integrated based on 156 data from previous studies and used to develop the SVR-based models. Thirteen potential factors affecting the compressive strength of LC³-ECC were comprehensively considered in the model. The results show all hybrid SVR prediction models can reach the Coefficient of determination (R²) above 0.95 for the testing set and 0.97 for the training set. Radar and Taylor plots also show better overall prediction performance of the hybrid SVR models than several traditional machine learning techniques, which confirms the superiority of the three proposed methods. The successful development of this predictive model can provide scientific guidance for LC³-ECC materials and further apply to such low-carbon, sustainable cement-based materials.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.219-226
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• 2020

Over the last decades, great efforts have been devoted to reuse industrial wastes and by-products from various industries as supplementary cementitious materials in order to reduce carbon dioxide(CO₂) emission by reducing the use of Portland cement in construction. Oyster shell waste, originating from the fishery industry, is available in huge quantities in certain areas, and is generally discarded or landfilled. In this study, we aimed to reuse oyster shell as an alternative to limestone in limestone calcined clay cement(LC³). The oyster shell calcined clay cement(OC³) paste were produced and were characterized via X-ray diffraction, isothermal calorimetry, compressive strength tests, and thermogravimetry. The results revealed that OC³ pastes exhibited similar strength development and reactivities by pozzolanic reaction with LC³, which implies that oyster shell could be used as a substitute for limestone in LC³.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.252-260
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• 2022

In Korea, low-quality kaolin has significantly greater reserves and superior economic efficiency than high-purity kaolin. However, the utilization is low because it does not match the demand conditions of the market, and it is difficult to find a suitable source of demand. The purpose of this study is to derive the possibility and optimal calcination temperature of domestic low-quality kaolin that can be used as a raw material for limestone plastic clay cement (LC³). Isothermal calorimetry, X-ray diffraction analysis, Thermogravimetric Analysis, and compressive strength tests were conducted to evaluate hydrate generation and mechanical properties of LC³ paste according to calcination temperatures (600 ℃, 700 ℃, 800 ℃, 900 ℃). As a result, although 50 % of the clinker was replaced, the domestic low-quality kaolin clay produced calboaluminate hydrate and C(A)SH from the 3rd day of hydration, showing almost equal or higher strength to OPC, and there was a big difference in strength depending on the firing temperature.