BUILDING TOMORROW: ZEOLITE-ENHANCED CONCRETE FOR SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE

The objective of this project is to gain a comprehensive evaluation of zeolite-based high-performance concrete (HPC) systems. The demand for supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) has been increasing due to the negative impact of cement industry in the environment, and hence the necessity to study sustainable supplementary material like zeolite. The study encompasses the performance of zeolite-based concrete from the instance of fresh state up to 91 days, with particular emphasis on non-destructive testing methods, durability assessment, and service life prediction modeling. The research addresses various research gaps from fresh properties to hardened characteristics and long-term durability performance of zeolite as SCM. The research includes investigation of zeolite along with other supplementary cementitious materials including metakaolin, silica fume, slag, pumice, class C and F fly ash in the form of zeolite-based binary and ternary mixtures. The research is divided into six different chapters- use of fresh electrical resistivity to investigate the early hydration mechanism, validation of the accuracy of maturity method up to 56 days, effect of various parameters in the hardened concrete resistivity, aging factor and initiation time for corrosion, use of various models to compute corrosion propagation time and service life, and service life estimation using robust correction factors. The objective of each chapter is to investigate and explore the understanding of the various aspects of zeolite-based concrete systems. The superior performance of zeolite-based mixtures compared to the control mixture is obvious and is recommended for the eco-friendly, sustainable and durable concrete structures, with the service life of the most optimized mixture exceeding 150+ years.