Papers by Author: Valeria Corinaldesi

Abstract: In this work an attempt was made to reuse wooden waste for producing lightweight mortars by replacing natural sand. In fact, manufacturers of wooden product and furniture generate sawdust and offcuts. These are produced by cutting, drilling and milling operations where wood is removed from a finished product; they are often collected in filter bags or dust collectors. Three different percentages of substitution have been tried: 2.5%, 5% and 10% by volume of sand. Wooden waste was always pre-soaked in water and sometimes in calcium hydroxide aqueous solution in order to obtain wood mineralization before adding it to the mortar mixture. Mortars containing wooden waste were characterized by means of compression and bending tests, free drying shrinkage and thermal conductivity measurements.

Abstract: According to the concept of sustainable development, the environmental load of a building must be evaluated throughout its life cycle, from design to construction, maintenance or repair, demolition, and rubble disposal. Therefore, from a holistic point of view, sustainable construction means designing a reinforced concrete structure with proper durability during a specified service life. This paper discusses the effect of partial and full replacement of natural aggregates by recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) in a fly ash concrete. Engineering properties and durability performance have been examined for mixtures designed with various proportions of the RCA by mass. Results obtained showed that the addition of RCA lowers concrete performance, but the combined use of RCA and fly ash could allow to achieve adequate engineering properties and durability.

Abstract: Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) is a cement-based material, which behaves like a low-porosity ceramic material with excellent mechanical performance. This work was aimed to study soft cast (flowable at casting time) UHPFRCs and, in particular, UHPFRC mechanical performance was monitored by means of compression, bending and splitting tension tests. Two different kinds of mineral addition were compared: silica fume and fly ash. In the case of fly ash, several water to cement ratios were tested ranging from 0.20 to 0.25. Moreover, steel fibers and acrylic-based superplasticizer were employed to prepare the UHPFRC mixtures.