Different materials, such as triturated waste tire (WT) particles, have been proposed as aggregate to improve mortar properties and reduce its cost in recent years. Using WT as aggregate implies material recycling, providing an environmental benefit. Previous studies show controversy on the chloride ion diffusion coefficient in mortar test specimens as a function of the WT content. The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the corrosion rate of steel reinforcement embedded in mortar specimens using WT as aggregate when exposed to chlorides. Electrochemical techniques, mercury intrusion porosimetry and scanning electron microscope were used to measure corrosion rate, porosity and microstructure of mortar matrix, respectively. Corrosion rate and porosimetry results were found to directly correlate for test pieces with 7.5% of WT compared with control samples and test pieces containing 5%, 10% of WT; such results are supported by visual inspection of steel reinforcements. Our results show that substituting 7.5% of sand with WT when preparing mortar provides the optimum protection.

Environmental issues related to CO2 emissions have become a key focus for many different industries, including the cement and concrete industry. An environmentally optimized ‘green’ concrete can provide a much needed alternative to conventional concrete to reduce the carbon foot-print of the construction industry. This can be achieved through high Portland cement replacement by fly ash and with the inclusion of activators to enhance the rate of development of strength and other properties. This study evaluates different fly ashes and different activators (Na2SO4, lime and quicklime) that are added to enhance the reaction of the fly ash to achieve a comparable performance to that of standard Portland cement in mixes of much lower CO2 emissions. TGA, XRD and SEM are used to determine the development of hydration products and the consumption of portlandite by the fly ash. It is found that the amorphous content of the fly ash is an important parameter influencing compressive strength evolution. Based on the results, Na2SO4 as an activator, and a fly ash with high reactive SiO2 and Al2O3 contents and low Fe2O3 are found to provide the best options for producing a high volume fly ash matrix with the potential to show comparable behavior to a Portland cement control mix.

At the present time, no material is known that is completely inert to chemical or biochemical action and immune to weathering damage. Concrete is no exception, but, under what might be considered normal exposure conditions, it has a very long life. Concrete made by the Romans from natural cement is in excellent condition after more than 2000 years of service. The controversies generated by contradictory expert testimonies in several lawsuits involving sulfate attack on concrete, and by the large numbers of recently published papers containing data on the subject, have caused considerable anxiety about sulfate attack mechanisms and the service life of concrete structures. Furthermore, frequently the physical attack by salt crystallization is being confused with the classical sulfate attack, which involves the chemical interaction between sulfate ions from an external source and the constituents of cement paste. In addition, there is also an internal sulfate attack –a chemical attack in which the source of sulfate ions resides in the concrete aggregates or cement–. Additionally, modern concrete as been affected by the products of microorganism metabolism, in particular sulfuric acid, this damage done to hardened concrete is known as concrete biodeterioration and also known as microbiologically induced corrosion of concrete (MICC). Being perhaps this biodeterioration the most important cause of concrete decay and perhaps the true explanation of sulfate attack on concrete. Some of the controversies about sulfate attack are addressed in this article, we have studied the case applying simple considerations concerning concrete composition and flouting at the same time some of the stricter observed paradigms in the cement and concrete industry. It is concluded that a holistic approach is necessary to separate the real causes of sulfate attack on concrete from the imaginary ones.

It has been an increase on the number of concrete structures with corrosion induced damage in Mexico in recent years. It is also well known that cathodic protection (CP) is the only method that stops corrosion in an efficient way. Since the 1990’s Florida and other USA states have been installing in concrete pile substructures, in bridges and piers, a three part hybrid galvanic CP system. This hybrid galvanic CP system includes a thermal sprayed part (located at the aerial zone of the pile), a zinc mesh encapsulated in mortar and inside a glass fiber jacket (located at the change in ties zone), and a submerged zinc bulk anode (in the submerged zone). From a previous investigation performed by the present authors, it has been found that the mortar inside the fiberglass form may decrease the mesh anode activation and thus decrease the CP system efficiency. Therefore, this investigation includes an evaluation of different additions placed in mortar to increase its electrical and ionic conductivity to increase the efficiency of the entire hybrid system. Additions include carbon, zinc and alumina powders, and this investigation presents preliminary experimental results obtained from the tested mortars (i.e. mortar physical characterization: electrical resistivity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and total void content).

The paper presents the brief information on particular results of experimental studies dealing with the problems of properties of materials based on fibre-cement and fibre-concrete composites, which are being recently developed, tested and verified, to use them in the plated components of load-carrying structures of building constructions. The problems mentioned are solved in the co-operation with the company of the Research Institute of Building Materials Inc. (“VUSTAH a.s.”) at Brno city in the Czech Republic. The attention is paid to two basic types of material: (i) fibre-cement composite used for the slab components intended for vertical or horizontal building or technology structures, such as permanent shuttering of bridges, timber floor structures and slab flooring, the wall cladding of buildings and formwork of components in manufacturing plants of the concrete units; (ii) glass-fibre-concrete composite mainly intended for the building façade claddings, but also for the objects of daily use. The experimental verification has been mainly oriented to the investigation of physical-mechanical properties, like as the tensile-bending strength, as well as the corresponding modulus of elasticity.

An investigation on composite geopolymeric binders, based on alkali activated fly ash (PFA) substituted with low-alumina calcium aluminate cement (CAC), was carried out using a Factorial experimental design in which the factors and levels were: %Na2O, 8-12%; modulus of the solution Ms=SiO2/Na2O =0 - 2, 10-30 wt% of CAC and fineness of PFA (D90) from 161.8 to 6.46 microns. The contribution of each factor was estimated with the 28-day compressive strength as the response variable. The curing temperature was 24h@60°C, and then at 20°C until mechanical testing. The specimens were also characterized by XRD and SEM. The results showed that the grinding modified the morphology of the PFA without changing the crystallographic or chemical characteristics as detected by XRD; and improved the mechanical properties of the geopolymers. The strength increased notably with the Ms up to 1, and reduced for Ms >1; the strength increased with the %Na2O and %CAC. Electron microscopy showed a higher densification at smaller PFA particle size, and the CAC addition promoted the formation of zeolite and Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O products.

Any world’s metropolis requires urban public water networks composed by thousands of kilometres of pipelines and various other installations. Such infrastructure ensemble is expected to be in service for rather long periods of time, as it involved decades of costly investments. Anyway, and independently of careful operation and maintenance of such assets, eventually and unavoidable they will decay and will need replacement. This will occur sooner when soil conditions, or operation and maintenance is unfavourable. The paper explores typical and general problems for renewing infrastructure, with examples from specific studies for some Mexican cities and from other countries found in literature. Also mentions usual materials and elements and their life spans under different conditions, along with replacement techniques and probable costs.

The topics, elements and focuses of attention around water infrastructure renewal are broad and varied and must cover the WHY, HOW, WHEN, WHERE, and WITH WHAT money. They range from technical, constructive and diagnosis tasks, to institutional organization, financial and public awareness. As it is impossible to cover everything in a single paper, the present one is a modest intent to give a brief panorama of the state of the art on several of those issues and focuses. The paper underlines and gives recommendations regarding gaps and needs requiring research, as well as the production of more technical papers and discussion forums particularly in Mexico and the Latin America Regions.

Pastes of waste glass (WG) and metakaolin (MK) were prepared by chemical activation with sodium silicate solutions of modulus Ms = 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.25 adjusted with sodium hydroxide. An experimental design was carried out using the Taguchi method. The compressive strength (CS) was followed for up to 120 days and then 4 selected formulations of the higher CS were further characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the CS depends on the experimental conditions of %WG, %Na2O and Ms and showed a maximum of 70 MPa after 120 days for the paste with 100%WG (%wt.), 8% Na2O and Ms=1.25; while a Portland cement specimen cured at 20°C reached 43MPa. The WG is more reactive than the MK under less alkaline conditions. The features of the microstructures varied notably with the %WG; however all showed relative dense matrices of reaction products, in agreement with the CS attained.

Hybrid nano/micro particles were investigated for their possibility to re-structure within local pH alterations, release certain active substance and further contribute to increased steel corrosion resistance. Two aspects with regard to corrosion control and self-healing in cement-based materials are discussed: the first aspect deals with the electrochemical performance of low carbon steel electrodes (St37) in model alkaline solutions (cement extract) in the presence of 4.9.10-4 g/l hybrid particles i.e. cement extract, containing PDADMAC (poly (diallyl, dimethyl ammonium chloride) / PAA (Poly (acrylic acid)/ PDADMAC over a CaO core. The second aspect refers to the performance of reinforcing steel (FeB500 HKN) in mortar specimens, containing hybrid particles in the mixing water in concentration of 3.6×10-4 wt. % per mortar weight. The main objective was to determine if these hybrids will lead to increased corrosion resistance of the steel surface layers, generally formed in the hereby investigated environmental medium (both liquid i.e. cement extract and solid i.e. mortar). Further, it was expected that when chlorides are involved, as corrosion accelerating factor, the presence of hybrid particles will delay corrosion initiation and will therefore lead to increased corrosion resistance. The results denote for indeed superior corrosion performance of steel in chloride-free and chloride containing medium, when hybrid particles are involved. The responsible mechanisms are related to increased barrier effects of the formed layer and self-repair upon morphological alterations of the hybrid particles, “nucleation sites effects” and/or Ca-core “release” on locally active (anodic) areas on the steel surface.

Supersulphated cements (SSC) are environmentally friendly binders that incorporate several raw materials, including byproducts. A systematic study was considered opportune considering the wide range of formulations found in the literature. The effect of the type and proportioning of components in the strength of SC was investigated using the Taguchi method to optimize the experimental work and to define the optimal conditions. The factors were: [A] %blast furnace slag (82.5-90%), [B] CaSO4 - alkaline activator ratio (1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 and 0:1), [C] type of CaSO4 (5 types) and [D] type of alkaline activator (portland cement, Ca(OH)2, KOH and NaCO3 and 2 combinations of these). Pastes were prepared and characterized for up to 28 days at 20°C. In general, for all values of [A] the best strength was for levels of [C] at 3:1, followed by the 1:1 and 1:0 ratios. The optimal conditions using the 28 day strength consisted of [A]= 82.5%, [B]= 3:1, [C]= flyorgypsum and [D] = portland cement, which developed excellent strength from day one and 35MPa. X-ray diffraction showed ettringite and C-S-H formation from the early ages. The microstructures showed dense matrices of reaction products well bonded to partially reacted slag grains, which in some cases showed rims of hydration products.

The effectiveness of lightweight aggregate (LWA) as an internal curing agent (ICA) to reduce concrete shrinkage is evaluated for repair concrete used in cultural heritage works (RCCHW) using curing periods of 30 days. Normal weight aggregate is replaced by LWA at volume replacement levels ranging from 10 to 14%. The mixtures contain Portland cement maintaining the paste content at approximately 24.1% of concrete volume. Comparisons are made with mixtures containing low-absorption granite and high-absorption limestone normal weight coarse aggregates. At the replacement levels used in this study, LWA results in a small reduction in concrete density, no appreciable effect on concrete compressive strength, and a decrease in concrete shrinkage for drying periods up to 30 days. With a curing period of 14 days, all mixtures with LWA exhibited less shrinkage than the mixtures with either low- or high-absorption normal weight aggregates.