Investigation of the effect of curing type on the properties of pervious geopolymer concrete incorporating recycled brick aggregate

Pervious concrete is a special type of concrete that allows water to infiltrate into the underlying soil layers through interconnected macropores. In recent years, pervious geopolymer concretes have been produced by combining the advantages of geopolymers, which have emerged as alternatives to cement, with the benefits of pervious concrete, and the properties of these concretes have been investigated. Ambient curing and oven curing were frequently used in the production of pervious geopolymer concretes, and studies on alternative curing methods are ongoing. Today, in order to achieve more sustainable concrete production, studies are also being conducted on the use of recycled aggregates in new concrete mixtures. In this study, the use of recycled brick aggregate obtained from waste bricks in the production of pervious geopolymer concrete was examined, and the properties of fly ash-based geopolymer concretes containing recycled aggregate were investigated. In this context, pervious geopolymer concrete series were produced by replacing brick aggregate with limestone aggregate, and unit weight, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and water permeability were determined and compared with control series that did not contain recycled aggregate. Oven, microwave, and water curing methods were used as the curing types, and the effects of the curing type on these properties were examined. Additionally, fibers were added to a selected mixture to investigate the effects of fiber type and dosage on abrasion resistance and compressive strength. The results revealed that microwave curing holds potential for the production of pervious geopolymer concrete, and that curing performed at a power level of 600 watts for 5 minutes enables the production of microwave-cured pervious geopolymer concrete with reasonable compressive strength and high permeability properties. It was also found that while the use of recycled brick aggregate negatively affected compressive strength, it did not cause significant variation in permeability properties.