CAREER: Alternative cements for sustainable development and concrete performance

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AbstractThe proposed career development plan emphasizes "sustainability" in both its research and educational components. The investigation will explore methods of reducing the environmental impact of concrete production while maintaining or improving current performance standards. This will be achieved through the synthesis of low energy, low CO2-emitting cements. The cements will be characterized and optimized with regard to their environmental impact, performance, and durability. As Portland cement concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world, even small improvements to this sustainability of this system could have a significant global influence. Cement production is energy intensive, accounting for almost 5% of global industrial energy consumption. Furthermore, cement manufacturing contributes significantly to the emission of greenhouse gases (5% of global anthropogenic CO2). In the proposed work, industrial wastes will be used as raw ingredients for synthesizing ordinary Portland and novel "green" cements. The use of industrial wastes in lieu of natural materials will reduce CO2 emissions from cement manufacturing with the additional benefit of landfill reduction. The novel "green" cements explored in this project will have both lower energy needs and lower CO2 emissions compared to Portland cement. All synthetic systems will be characterized extensively and optimized for concrete performance. Results from this project will advance the state of knowledge in the emerging research area of sustainable cements, particularly with regard to the effects of various raw materials on cement composition and properties. During the course of this work, new insights will be provided into the formation mechanisms of new and existing cementitious phases, hydration reaction mechanisms, and the inter-relationship between composition-processing microstructure- properties in cementitious systems. Advances in prediction models for cement phase formation and in analysis and characterization techniques are also anticipated.Approaching development in the context of sustainability has far-reaching societal and environmental benefits. A movement toward sustainable development demands not only new ways of engineering, but new mind-sets of those who engineer. This career development plan addresses both of these aspects in its research and educational components by valuing the environmental friendliness of a material on par with its performance, and teaching students the value of this methodology through new courses and course-enhancing modules. Modules will be distributed to other institutions upon their completion through educational workshops to encourage their use. Educating students in this paradigm is extended into the K-12 realm through outreach programs directed at students historically under-represented in engineering, including women.