Diseño de una metodología para la optimización ambiental del concreto bajo restricciones presupuestarias

Nowadays most houses and buildings are made from concrete due to its advantages, especially for high rise construction. However, its elevated environmental load has led researchers to look for better and greener options. Several studies have been made to evaluate the environmental and financial feasibility of replacing materials of concrete (cement by Supplementary Cementing Materials -SCMs- and gravel by Recycled Concrete Aggregate -RCA-) in order of making it eco-friendlier, mostly by applying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Life Cycle Costs Assessment (LCCA) methodologies. Most of these studies have focused on the analysis of previously designed concrete mixes. Only a reduced number of studies have aimed at developing methodologies to design concrete mixes or to optimize them. This study introduces OptiCon, a linear binary programming model that generates concrete mixes under budgetary constraints, being the CO2 emissions associated with its fabrication the minimization objective, by using SCMs (fly ash, slag, silica fume) and RCA. To achieve this a partial LCA was conducted in order to obtain a generic equation of CO2 emissions; compressive resistance of the mix is validated and restrained to 28 Mpa using the W/C ratio (Abram’s Law); 42 concrete mixes of 28 Mpa were analyzed and linear regression models to predict the volume of sand and coarse aggregate based on the volume of cementing materials were developed; bounds for replacement materials and admixtures were proposed according to literature; a budgetary equation based on the cost of purchase and transportation was formulated as well as binary equations to guarantee that just one SCM was being used. To validate the model, 30 cases were simulated, and statistical analysis revealed that mixes generated by OptiCon reduce on average 39.74% of CO2 emissions, and cost on average 33.87% less when compared to conventional concrete mixes making it a great advancement towards sustainability in construction.

• Autores: Pineda Padilla, Angie Patricia
• Fecha de publicación: 2020
• Institución: Universidad del Norte
• Repositorio: Repositorio Uninorte
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:manglar.uninorte.edu.co:10584/8880
• Acceso en línea: http://hdl.handle.net/10584/8880
• Palabra clave: LCA; green concrete; optimization; Supplementary Cementing Materials; Recycled Concrete Aggregate; ACV; concreto verde; optimización; Materiales Cementantes Suplementarios; Agregados de Concreto Reciclado
• License: Universidad del Norte