Investigation of Mechanical and Thermal Performance of Concrete with Scallop Shells as Partial Cement Replacement: Alternative Binder and Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

The adverse environmental impacts of building materials can be achieved by reducing the amount of cement in cementitious composites, specifically when incorporating wastes as partial replacement for Portland cement. In this work, we substitute cement with shell by-products while keeping useful specific properties. Scallop shells are good candidates to replace part of the Portland cement as they contain calcium and are available in abundance. We present an experimental and numerical study on the mechanics, hygrothermal behavior, and life cycle analysis of scallop shell concrete. In the fresh state, the replacement of cement by up to 10 wt.% of scallop shells does not significantly affect mortar properties. The results indicate that including 10% shells represents a decrease of up to 40% in the environmental impact, depending on the category of impact considered. Furthermore, the addition of Scallop shells makes the material more porous, leading to the facilitation of moisture transfer.