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To investigate the effect of fracture distribution on the mechanical responses and failure forms of coal–rock combined masses under impact loading, dynamic impact tests on coal–rock-like combined bodies containing pre-existing cracks were carried out using split Hopkinson pressure bar. The dynamic mechanical properties and the failure and fractal characteristics of specimens under different impact velocities were investigated. The obtained results showed that the strength of fractured combined bodies was influenced by the positions and angles of cracks. It was found that fractures in coal sections had great influence on specimen strength and the maximum influence was obtained for the angle of 30°. An obvious strain rate effect was also observed on the dynamic strength of RCB (combined body with fractures in rock section) specimens. Fractal dimensions of the coal sections of cracked combined bodies were close to those of intact ones when at angles 60° and 90°, while they were smaller at angle 30°. The existence of cracks changed stress concentration in specimens under impact loading, changing their dynamic mechanics and failure characteristics, where fractures in coal sections with lower strength had a greater effect on the overall stability of combined bodies. Therefore, strengthening supporting work on the weak part of combined or layered rock masses has to be conducted in engineering practice and the failure of rock masses due to crack propagation in adjacent rock masses should be prevented.

Alkali activated slag (AAS) mortar is becoming an increasingly popular green building material because of its excellent engineering properties and low CO2 emissions, promising to replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) mortar. However, AAS&rsquo, s high shrinkage and short setting time are the important reasons to limit its wide application in engineering. This paper was conducted to investigate the effect of internal curing(IC) by super absorbent polymer (SAP) on the autogenous shrinkage of AAS mortars. For this, an experimental study was carried out to evaluate the effect of SAP dosage on the setting time, autogenous shrinkage, compressive strength, microstructure, and pore structure. The SAP were incorporated at different dosage of 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 percent by weight of slag. The workability, physical (porosity), mechanical, and shrinkage properties of the mortars were evaluated, and a complementary study on microstructure was made. The results indicated that the setting time increased with an increase of SAP dosage due to the additional activator released by SAP. Autogenous shrinkage decreased with an increase of SAP dosage, and was mitigated completely when the dosage of SAP &ge, 0.2% wt of slag. Although IC by means of SAP reduced the compressive strength, this reduction (23% at 56 days for 0.2% SAP) was acceptable given the important role that it played on mitigating autogenous shrinkage. In the research, the 0.2% SAP dosage was the optimal content. The results can provide data and basis for practical application of AAS mortar.

Normal-strength concrete is widely used in construction sites considering the cost, technology, and structural safety. The ecological upgrade of such materials is more meaningful for the sustainable development in a greener way. To this end, the feasibility of ecological upgrade of normal-strength mortars (NSM) by using high volume of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) (70%–90%) was evaluated in this paper. Comprehensive experiments were conducted to investigate the influences of experimental variables such as content of cement, curing temperature, and mass ratio of water to binder (w/b) on the fresh properties, compressive strength, hydration products, microstructure, and pore structure of NSM. Ecoefficiency evaluation was conducted based on the energy requirement for the whole production of cement and GGBS. Experimental results showed that ecological upgrade of NSM was viable and feasible. When substituting 70% to 90% cement by GGBS, the energy requirement of 1 t binder can be accordingly saved by 67% to 86%, and the performance energy can be reduced from 25.4 (kWh/t)/MPa to 6 to 8 (kWh/t)/MPa. With proper contents of GGBS (70% or 75%), the 28 d compressive strengths were acceptable with reductions less than 10%. Evaluated curing temperatures and decreased w/b were viable methods to promote the early-age compressive strength of NSM incorporating high volume of GGBS. For instance, raising the curing temperature to 40°C can help achieve higher early-age compressive strength than that of the control group. In addition, the pore sizes within ZII (

Adding rubber to concrete aims to solve the environmental pollution problem caused by waste rubber and to improve the energy absorption and impact resistance of concrete. In this paper, recycled rubber particles were used to replace fine aggregates in Portland cement concrete to combine the elasticity of rubber with the compression resistance of concrete. Fine aggregates in the concrete mixes were partially replaced with 0%, 20%, 40%, and 60% rubber by volume, and the cement in the concrete mixes was replaced with 0%, 5%, and 10% of silica fume by mass. The properties of the concrete specimens were examined through compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural loading, and rebound tests. Results show that the compressive strength of concrete and the splitting tensile strength decreased to 11.81 and 1.31 MPa after adding silica fume to enhance the strength 37.8% and 23.7%, respectively, and the dosage of rubber was 60%. With the addition of rubber, the impact energy of rubberized concrete was 2.39 times higher than that of ordinary concrete, while its energy absorption capacity was 9.46% higher. The addition of silica fume increased its impact energy by 3.06 times, but the energy absorption capacity did not change significantly. In summary, the RC60SF10 can be used on non-load-bearing structures with high impact resistance requirements. A scanning electron microscope was used to examine and analyze the microstructural properties of rubberized concrete.