Experimental and life cycle assessment of pumice-based lightweight mortars containing GGBFS and hybrid recycled PET fibers
Materials Research Express, cilt.13, sa.19, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 13 Sayı: 19
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1088/2053-1591/aea474
- Dergi Adı: Materials Research Express
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Compendex, INSPEC, Directory of Open Access Journals, Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: GGBFS, life cycle assessment (LCA), lightweight mortar, recycled PET fibers, sustainable cementitious composites, thermal conductivity, ultrasonic pulse velocity
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Pumice-based lightweight mortars (LWMs) have attracted increasing attention because of their low density, thermal insulation capacity, and potential contribution to sustainable construction. Although ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers have been individually investigated in cementitious materials, their combined use, particularly in hybrid (micro–macro) fiber configurations, together with a comprehensive environmental assessment, remains insufficiently explored. Therefore, this study experimentally investigates the influence of GGBFS and recycled PET fibers incorporated in single and hybrid configurations on the fresh, mechanical, thermal, microstructural, and environmental performance of pumice-based LWMs. The novelty of this study lies in integrating experimental characterization with life cycle assessment (LCA) to provide a unified evaluation of engineering performance and environmental sustainability. Fresh and hardened properties at 28 d were evaluated through spreading diameter, water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), compressive strength (CS), flexural strength (FS), thermal conductivity, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The incorporation of 20% GGBFS improved matrix densification, increasing UPV from 2720–2780 m s−1 and CS from 18.33–19.07 MPa. PET fibers reduced workability and CS (12.21–15.32 MPa), although hybrid fiber configurations consistently outperformed single-fiber mixtures. FS values ranged from 2.61–2.81 MPa, while thermal conductivity decreased from 0.343–0.324 W mK−1, indicating enhanced thermal insulation. A strong correlation was identified between CS and UPV (R2 = 0.98). LCA results showed that replacing 20% of Portland cement with GGBFS reduced the global warming potential by approximately 16%, demonstrating that the proposed hybrid system can simultaneously improve thermal performance and reduce the environmental impacts of pumice-based LWMs.