What is green concrete | Advantages, and Disadvantages

What is green concrete?

What is green concrete | Advantages, and Disadvantages

In today’s world, all structures and creations are made ecofriendly. so that it doesn’t make any negative impact on the environment. Green concrete is one example of the creation made to make the balance between nature and structures.

  • It was invented in 1998, Denmark.
  • It is the conventional concrete, is made up of waste cementitious material so that it doesn’t make any environmental impact.
  • When Portland cement is mixed with the eco-friendly cementitious material to some extent, the green concrete is formed.
  • The commonly used partial substitute for Portland cement is sand, glass aggregate, fly ash, etc. And when this substitute is added to the Portland cement, this mixture is considered as the green concrete.

Manufacturing of green concrete

Materials required for green concrete

  • Recycled waste aggregate
  • Recycled concrete aggregate  
  • Blast furnaces slag
  • Manufacturing sand
  • Fly ash
  • Glass aggregate
  • Manufacturing process

The formation of green concrete has resulted when a certain percentage of Portland cement in concrete mix gets substituted by eco-friendly Cementous material. When this eco-friendly material is mixed with OPC it is considered green concrete.

Composition of green concrete

  1. 40% of Portland cement
  2. 25% of ultra-fine ash
  3. 25% of ultra-fine slag
  4. 10% of silica flume
  5. 4% volume of steel fiber

The activator dissolves out aluminum and silicon molecules from slag and ash. These molecules then link together forming much longer molecules forming the geopolymers.

When geopolymers link themselves together they create a vast three-dimensional network, which gives cement the strength it needs, and the production of CO2 is stopped.

What is green concrete | Advantages, and Disadvantages

Application

  • In Nepal, the emission of CO2 is rapidly growing during 2016. It has been 45% more than in 2015. So, the use of this concrete can reduce the emission of CO2.
  • The industrial cementitious waste can be reused, decrease industrial waste, and save money. This can be very helpful for low economic countries like Nepal.
  • For the developing country like Nepal, This concrete can be very profitable as it is very sustainable, have high strength for using in structure, and reduces pollution.

Advantages

  • It uses less energy in its production and produces less carbon dioxide than normal concrete.
  • It gets early strength as compared to normal strength.
  • It has a low rate of shrinkage.
  • Reduces environmental pollution and is sustainable.
  • The industrial waste can be reused.
  • The structure can resist the temperature change as this concrete reduce energy consumption.
  • Have more workability and less maintenance is required.

Disadvantages of green concrete:

  • The structure will have a less life span than normal concrete structure.
  • It has the less split tensile strength.
  • Have high cost than ordinary concrete as we use stainless steel.

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"Structural Engineer" with over 5 years of experience in estimation, structural design, and surveying. I am passionate about using his skills to create safe and sustainable structures. I am also a keen writer, and I enjoy sharing my knowledge and experiences with others.

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