Experimental Study and Analytical Modeling on Properties of Freeze-Thaw Durability of Coal Gangue Pervious Concrete

Materials (Basel). 2023 Nov 9;16(22):7104. doi: 10.3390/ma16227104.

Abstract

To assess the freeze-thaw (F-T) durability of coal gangue pervious concrete (CGPC) in different F-T cycle media (water, 3.5 wt% NaCl solution), experimental studies on 36 groups of cube specimens and 6 groups of prismatic specimens were carried out, with designed porosity, F-T cycling media, and F-T failure times as variables. The changes in apparent morphology, mass, compressive behavior, relative dynamic elastic modulus, and permeability coefficient have been analyzed in detail. To predict the compressive strength after F-T cycles, a GM (1,1) model based on the grey system theory was developed and further improved into a more accurate grey residual-Markov model. The results reported that the cement slurry and coal gangue aggregates (CGAs) on the specimen surface continued to fall off as F-T cycles increased, and, finally, the weak point was fractured. Meanwhile, the decrease in compressive behavior and relative dynamic elastic modulus was gentle in the early phase of F-T cycles, and they gradually became faster in the later stage, showing a parabolic downward trend. The permeability coefficient increased gradually. When F-T failure occurred, specimen mass dropped precipitously. The F-T failure of CGPC was more likely to occur in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution, and the F-T failure times of samples were 25 times earlier than that of water. This study lays the foundation for an engineering application and provides a basis for the large-scale utilization of CGPC.

Keywords: Markov process; coal gangue aggregates; grey theory; permeability; pervious concrete; relative dynamic elastic modulus.