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To date, incineration is the main method of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal. Fly ash and bottom ash (BA) are generated in large amounts from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI), but the disposal of incineration residues poses a significant challenge to large cities with limited landfill space. The feasibility of using MSWI-BA to replace natural sand in the preparation of self-compacting mortar (SCM) was investigated to realize the resource utilization of MSWI-BA. The changes in SCM regarding durability, mechanical properties and workability when MSWI-BA was added at varying ratios were explored in this study. In addition, the changes in SCM microstructure, dynamic modulus of elasticity (DME) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) under the impacts of MSWI-BA were investigated. Eventually, the environmental and economic effects of SCM were weighed via the material sustainability index. It was found that (1) there was a drop of 23.79–44.69% in the compressive strength of SCM and a drop of 12.22–30.99% in the flexural strength, due to the incorporation of MSWI-BA; (2) the drying shrinkage of SCM increased from 2.9 to 11.76%, and the chloride migration coefficient increased from 4.66 to 46.06%, due to the incorporation of MSWI-BA; (3) the production costs, carbon footprint and energy consumption of SCM could be reduced, due to the addition of MSWI-BA; and (4) SCM could satisfy the engineering requirements of durability, mechanical properties and workability. Therefore, MSWI-BA was found to be a feasible method for the production of SCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has attracted wide interests in civil engineering but it has large deadweight, which limits its application in lightweight structures and rehabilitation. Compromising the merits of UHPC and lightweight concrete, ultra-high-performance lightweight concrete (UHPLC) is a potential solution to solve the drawback of high self-weight. Based on particle densely packing theory, this study proposed a UHPLC manufacturing approach using shale ceramic sand and air-entraining agent (AEA). An experimental study was conducted to systematically examine the effects of the types and contents of AEA on various performances of UHPLC, including its workability, mechanical properties, durability and microstructure. The results show the following: (1) The addition of AEA resulted in the decrease of UHPLC in elastic modulus, compressive strength and flexural strength but bring UHPLC higher specific strength; (2) A void system that is featured with homogeneous distribution of pores and an appropriate size and could be formed by adding a suitable amount of AEA; (3) The optimum proportion of AEA in UHPLC was 0.01% in consideration of its influence on UHPLC from the perspectives of microstructure, durability and mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]