Study on Alkali-Activated Prefabricated Building Recycled Concrete Powder for Foamed Lightweight Soils

Abstract

The advantage of a prefabricated building is its ease of construction. Concrete is one of the essential components of prefabricated buildings. A large amount of waste concrete from prefabricated buildings will be produced during the demolition of construction waste. In this paper, foamed lightweight soil is primarily made of concrete waste, a chemical activator, a foaming agent, and a foam stabilizer. The effect of the foam admixture on the wet bulk density, fluidity, dry density, water absorption, and unconfined compressive strength of the material was investigated. Microstructure and composition were measured by SEM and FTIR. The results demonstrated that the wet bulk density is 912.87 kg/m3, the fluidity is 174 mm, the water absorption is 23.16%, and the strength is 1.53 MPa, which can meet the requirements of light soil for highway embankment. When the foam content ranges from 55% to 70%, the foam proportion is increased and the material’s wet bulk density is decreased. Excessive foaming also increases the number of open pores, which reduces water absorption. At a higher foam content, there are fewer slurry components and lower strength. This demonstrates that recycled concrete powder did not participate in the reaction while acting as a skeleton in the cementitious material with a micro-aggregate effect. Slag and fly ash reacted with alkali activators and formed C-N-S(A)-H gels to provide strength. The obtained material is a construction material that can be constructed quickly and reduce post-construction settlement.