Durability analysis of pozzolanic cements containing recycled track ballast: Sustainability under extreme environmental conditions.

• Pozzolanic cements recycled track ballast have been studied by exposure to aggressive environments. • The larger sized pores were conducive to mobility, as well as breakage processes due to thermal changes. • The longer exposure time to a medium favors the ionic penetration of the ions under consideration. • The mobility of lead ions is quicker in the saline environment. • The specimens prepared with 10% ballast assisted the retention of the ions under study. Since the ratification of the Kyoto protocol by the EU in 2002, Members States have committed themselves both to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and to environmental sustainability, inter allia by using cements with alternative additions that incorporate industrial waste. In this paper, ionic mobility through a pozzolanic cement is studied. The cement contains substitutions of 10% and 20% rejected ballast waste and is prepared for railway infrastructure (slab or ballast less track) that is exposed to extreme climatic conditions (high thermal amplitudes and saline environments). Studied with CT-Scanning, ionic mobility can be observed along the cement pores. The cement with 10% substitutions of ballast waste was considered ideal to minimize ionic penetration and cement deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]