Ants have strict requirements on the building materials of the nest, such as the size, weight, luster and color of soil particles. The soil of underground ant nests is composed of clay particles cemented together to form a hard brick-like material. The ant nest powder shows pozzolanic activity after calcination, which can meet the requirements for active admixture of concrete. Under the standard curing condition, the influence of calcined ant nest clay powder (CANCP) on the durability of concrete is evaluated by chloride penetration resistance, carbonization resistance and freeze-thaw resistance, and the influence of the powder content is investigated. The results show that when the content of CANCP is less than 10%, the chloride penetration resistance of concrete increases with content of CANCP. In the early stage of carbonation, the greater the content of CANCP, the higher the carbonization rate of concrete. In the middle and later stage of carbonation, the carbonation rate of CANCP concrete is significantly lower than that in the early stage, and the carbonation depth is linearly related to the carbonation time. When the content of CANCP is less than 20%, the freeze-thaw resistance of CANCP concrete is better than that of the reference concrete.
Keywords: calcined ant nest clay powder (CANCP); carbonization; chloride penetration resistance; durability; freeze–thaw resistance; underground ant nests.