Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758

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Construction and Building Materials

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Study on frost resistance and vegetation performance of seashell waste

pervious concrete in cold area
Dongli Wang a,b, Qingxin Zhao b,⇑, Ce Yang a, Yaao Chi c, Wenyue Qi b, Zhenchao Teng a
a
College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northeast Petroleum University, No.99 XueFu Road, Daqing 163318, China
b
Key Laboratory of Green Construction and Intelligent Maintenance for Civil Engineering of Hebei Province, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
c
Key Laboratory of Continental Shale Hydrocarbon Accumulation and Efficient Development, Ministry of Education, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China

h i g h l i g h t s

It is found that the strength and freeze–thaw durability of factory shell waste are better.

The optimum percentage of silica fume is determined to be 5%.

Scallop shell is the preferred material for frost resistance of shell pervious concrete.

Oyster shell is the preferred material for plant-grown shell pervious concrete.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In order to study the frost resistance of different seashell waste pervious concrete in the cold coastal area
Received 20 April 2020 of northern China, the slow freezing method is used, with the mass loss rate, strength and effective poros-
Received in revised form 18 August 2020 ity as the evaluation indexes, which combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), backscatter
Accepted 28 August 2020
(BSE), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and atomic absorption spectrophotometer for comprehen-
Available online 18 September 2020
sive analysis. The freeze–thaw durability of pervious concrete prepared from kitchen (cook to 100 °C
at least once) oyster waste, factory (no cooking) oyster waste, kitchen scallop waste, and factory scallop
Keywords:
waste were researched separately. The results show that the addition of silica fume can significantly
Seashell waste
Pervious concrete
improve the compressive strength of the seashell pervious concrete, but the improvement of the resis-
Freeze-thaw cycles tance to freeze–thaw is limited, Choose 5% of silica fume as the optimal amount. The freeze-thaw dura-
Mass loss rate bility of pervious concrete made from scallop waste is better than pervious concrete made from oyster
Calcium ion concentration shells. however, oyster shells are powdery and fall off during the freezing and thawing process, and scal-
lop shells do not have this property. Finally, through three-year in-situ plant test and comparison of soil
water-soluble calcium ion concentration, the feasibility of the seashell pervious concrete in the cold area
of northern China is proved. At the same time, it is found that the calcium ion concentration in the per-
vious concrete plant soil layer of oyster shell has an increasing trend after 3 years of testing, which has a
more favorable effect on plant growth.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction as part or all of the coarse aggregates can produce non-structural

Seashell waste is abundant in some coastal area of China. In
order to reuse it in concrete production, a lot of scholars have car-
ried out relevant researches [1,2]. The results show that although
the shell-containing aggregates reduce the physical and mechani-
cal properties of parts of the concrete material [3], using seashells
⇑ Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of Green Construction and Intelligent
Maintenance for Civil Engineering of Hebei Province, Yanshan University,
Qinhuangdao 066004, China
E-mail addresses: dongli.w@126.com (D. Wang), zhaoqingxin@ysu.edu.cn
(Q. Zhao).
uses and low-strength structural functions of pervious concrete,
which can be used in the projects of vegetation slope protection
and roof garden in the construction of sponge cities [4,5].
In the cold area of north China, pervious concrete is often dam-
aged by freezing, which leads to the increase of maintenance costs.
In order to improve the frost resistance of pervious concrete, the
test results of Quan et al. [6] proved that the strength of pervious
concrete can be improved to a certain extent when the silica fume
content is 10%, and the effect of improving the frost resistance is
the best [7]. After 150 freeze–thaw cycles, Hu [8] found that the
loss of compressive strength of ordinary pervious concrete

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120758
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Wang et al.
exceeded 30%, and the loss of compressive strength of pervious
concrete mixed with silica fume and fly ash remained basically at
around 20%. In summary, silica fume had a significant effect on
improving the frost resistance of pervious concrete.
Seashell aggregates contain large amounts of organics, chlorides
and sulfates, which reduce the strength and durability of seashell
aggregate concrete [3,9]. In the Normandy and Brittany coasts of
France, Nguyen et al. [10] selected three kinds of local shells to
study the mechanical performance and freeze–thaw resistance of
pavement pervious concrete, and discussed the effects of Pavement
deicing salts on the freeze–thaw durability of such seashell pervi-
ous concrete. It was found that the freeze–thaw resistance of sea-
shell pervious concrete was lower than that of ordinary pervious
concrete, and the freeze–thaw resistance of seashell pervious con-
crete was not proportional to its mechanical performance. The
impact of certain chemical properties (chlorine ion and organic
matter content) of the broken seashell on the durability was
greater than the physical and mechanical performance of the per-
vious concrete [11,12]. Seashell waste of different types and differ-
ent sources had a great impact on the performance of pervious
concrete [13,14]. Richardson et al. [15] found that seashell substi-
tutes for coarse aggregates have better application prospects than
fine aggregates. The research in literature [16] showed that sea-
shells [10,17] are used as a substitute for the coarse aggregate of
pervious concrete, due to the non-round shape of shells, more
cement slurry is needed for preparation. Chiou et al. [18] found
that the concentration of leaching of heavy metals in oyster shells
was far below the prescribed limit. Carolina et al. [19] tested mus-
sels for extracts and classified them as non-hazardous waste
according to EU regulations. It shows that seashell pervious con-
crete is a safe inert waste [20–22].
Vegetation performance of seashell pervious concrete, espe-
cially in cold climates, the relationship between freeze–thaw and
vegetation performance remains to be raised. The effects of differ-
ent types of shells and collection methods on the freeze–thaw
durability of pervious concrete grown in cold area have not been
reported in related studies. The mechanism in the relationship
between the seashell vegetation pervious concrete and the growth
adaptability of northern plants needs further study. This paper
studies the freeze–thaw resistance and vegetation performance
of seashell pervious concrete prepared from different seashell
wastes in the sea area around Qinhuangdao, a coastal city in north-
ern China under cold climate conditions, and considers the reaction
mechanism of silica fume with seashell in the freeze–thaw cycle.
The effects of different types and collection methods of seashell
pervious concrete prepared from seashell waste on its freeze–thaw
resistance and vegetation performance are analyzed.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
Qinhuangdao local kitchen oyster waste CM, kitchen scallop
waste CS (Fig. 1a), factory oyster waste JM (Fig. 1b) and factory
scallop waste JS (Fig. 1c) were made into seashell pervious
concrete.
Choose dry seashells with a consistent shape, and carefully cut
each seashell into 1 cm square units, as shown in Fig. 2. The oyster
shell 2(a), the positions 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 23 and 24 are the
edge areas, the positions 31, 32, 33, 41 and 42 are the middle areas,
and the positions 51 and 52 are the inner areas. The scallop shell 2
(b), the positions 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,
55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 and 61 are the edge areas, the positions 21, 22,
23, 31, 32, 33 and 34 are the middle areas, and the positions 01, 02,
03, 11, 12 and 13 are the inner areas. The micro-control electronic
2
Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758
universal testing machine WDW-50 is used to test the compressive
strength of seashells. HV-1000A micro vickers hardness tester is
used to measure seashell hardness. Both the strength and hardness
tests are carried out with the inner surface of the seashell facing
upwards. The properties of the seashells used in the experiment
are shown in Table 1.
PO 42.5 Portland cement produced by Qinhuangdao Asano
Cement Plant, 5~20 mm continuous graded limestone gravel, rosin
pyrolytic polymer-type air entraining agent and polycarboxylate
superplasticizer were used. The silica fume was the densified silica
fume produced by Sichuan Liangjian Company, and the composi-
tion was shown in Table 2.
2.2. Freeze-thaw test method
The seashell waste was pretreated, washed and air-dried, and
crushed to the desired particle size. The volume method was used
to design the proportion. (Table 3). A certain proportion of shells,
cementitious material, water, and stones were put into a forced
mixer in order and stirred for 2 min. Adjust the amount of water
reducing agent so that the slump of the concrete was controlled
at about 0 mm and the cement slurry did not flow or sank to the
bottom. It was divided into three layers and each of them was arti-
ficially shaken and formed 25 times. The size of the specimen was
100 mm  100 mm  100 mm, 9 pieces in each group and the stan-
dard curing time was 28 days.
Based on the test of slow freezing method, which is closer to the
actual project [23], According to Chinese national standards [24],
the slow freezing method is selected for the freeze–thaw cycle test
of the seashell pervious concrete after 28 days of curing. Based on
the particularity of the research on the seashell pervious concrete
and its vegetation performance, the end standard of the slow freez-
ing method is relaxed. The mass loss rate is 5%, or the strength
value reaches 1.2 MPa (the strength of the conventional vegetation
pervious material of the roof garden), as the end of the freeze–thaw
cycle.
After every 10 freeze–thaw cycles, test the dry mass of the sat-
urated surface of the specimen, and calculate the mass loss rate Mt
according to formula (1) [25]; according to formula (2) [25], the
effective porosity P is measured by the hydrostatic balance.
mt  m0
Mt ¼  100% ð1Þ
m0
mt  mf
P ¼ ð1  Þ  100% ð2Þ
1000
where m0 and mt are the mass of the specimen in the wet state
before freeze–thaw and after t freeze–thaw cycles, respectively, g.
where mf is the quality measured by the electronic hydrostatic bal-
ance, after the specimen enters the water and the reading is stable,
g.
A seashell CM was selected and the cementitious material was
mixed with different amounts of silica fume (No. 101, 200, 300,
400) to prepare pervious concrete. At the end of the freeze–thaw
cycle, the sheet sample with thickness of 1 cm was cut with a cut-
ting machine and soaked in isopropanol for 7 days to stop hydra-
tion. Then vacuum drying and epoxy impregnation. The UNIPOL-
1200M polishing machine was used to polish the epoxy resin
impregnated specimen, as shown in Fig. 6 (a). The hydration reac-
tion at the interface between the seashell and the cementitious
material was observed in SEM and BSE modes for microscopic
analysis.
D. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758

(a) Kitchen waste (cook to 100 °C at least once) (b) Factory oyster waste (no cooking) (c) Factory scallop waste (no cooking)
Fig. 1. Test materials.

(a) Cut in to pieces of oyster shell (b) Cut into pieces of scallop shell
Fig. 2. Cut into pieces of seashells.
2.3. Vegetation test method
2.3.1. 1-year vegetation trials
In order to investigate the adaptability of plant growth and sea-
shell waste pervious concrete, an in-situ test of the roof garden was
designed. The test period was from May to October (plant growth
season in Qinhuangdao area). Inlet pipe is watered 3 times a
month, and reduced once during the rainy season. In order to facil-
itate observation, in a transparent glass container (drainable at the
bottom), in accordance with the structural hierarchy of the roof
garden in Qinhuangdao (as shown in Fig. 3). Plants selected for
planting are Pyracantha fortuneana with developed roots that are
easy to grow on the roof garden. As shown in Fig. 4, from the left
to the right, the water storage layer used No. 111 pervious con-
crete, plastic drainage board, No. 601 pervious concrete, and No.
200 pervious concrete as the permeable layer.
2.3.2. 3-year vegetation trials
Focusing on the seashell precipitates of oyster shell pervious
concrete that are constantly falling off during the freeze–thaw
cycle, the effects on plant growth are studied. For three consecutive
years, above the seashell pervious concrete of number 111, a cold-
resistant outdoor plant in cold areas, Sedum lineare Thunb, was
planted in situ on the roof garden. The original thickness of the
overburden was 5 cm. Observe the growth of plants above the sea-
shell pervious concrete and the plastic drainage layer to confirm
the feasibility of planting. Record the freeze–thaw damage of sea-
shell pervious concrete in three years.
The above test soils were local natural soils, and the water-
soluble calcium ion content in the test soils of each group was
tested to analyze the relationship between shells and plant growth
[26]. Different depths were measured before and after the test, and
three or more samples were collected randomly in layers to avoid
local error [27].
The repeatability of the results was verified by parallel test, and
the average value of the three samples was taken after the abnor-
mal data of test results were removed. Specific test method: the
soil sample was put into the electric air heating constant temper-
ature blast drying box of DHG9123A, and dried for 72 h at 60 °C.
The dried soil sample was taken through a 60-mesh sieve to
remove the roots and gravel of the plant to ensure that the soil par-
ticles were below 0.25 mm. After 5 g of soil was sieved by an ana-
lytical balance, 25 ml of deionized water was added at a ratio of 1:5
and oscillated at a constant temperature for 5 min. After the shak-
ing was completed, the solid–liquid mixture was placed in a cen-
trifuge tube. The centrifuge tube was placed in a TG16G high-
speed centrifuge, the control speed was 5000 r/min, and the cen-
trifuge was operated for 20 min. After centrifugation, the super-
natant was taken into a conical flask for measurement, and the
pH of the solution was measured using a PS-21 precision pH meter.
The supernatant was taken into a 25 ml colorimetric tube, diluted
to an appropriate multiple, and the calcium ion concentration was
measured by a TAS-990 flame atomic absorption spectrophotome-
ter, thereby comparing the changes of calcium ion concentration in
soil in different years.

Table 1
Basic properties of seashells.

Material apparent Water Compressive strength Compressive strength of Compressive strength Hv of edge Hv of middle Hv of inner
densities absorption of edge area (MPa) middle area (MPa) of inner area (MPa) area (MPa) area (MPa) area (MPa)
(kg/m3) (%)
CM 1625 3.204 8.7 10.4 14.5 230.6 534.1 789.8
CS 1714 0.687 16.9 18.1 20.1 783.9 1931.0 2165.2
JM 1808 2.764 9.8 15.8 16.2 237.5 541.2 840.4
JS 1839 0.698 17.8 18.7 21.6 1322.5 1929.6 2100.5

3
D. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758

Table 2
Chemical compositions and specific surface area of cement and fly ash/%.

Material CaO SiO2 Al2O3 SO3 Fe2O3 MgO K2O TiO2 P2O5 Specific surface area (m2g1)
Cement 62.3 19.7 5.84 4.14 3.13 3.03 0.87 0.49 0.12 350
Silica fume 0.77 48.50 0.38 0.79 – 2.29 0.35 – – 22

Table 3
Composition of different mixes proposed.

Numbering Shell Shell10-20 mm Shell16-20 mm P.O Air-entraining Water Stone 5–10 mm Silica fume
type (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) agent (%) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)
101 CM 750 500 0.2 160
111 JM 750 500 0.2 160
200 CM 750 500 0.2 160 25/5%
300 CM 750 500 0.2 160 50/10%
400 CM 750 500 0.2 160 75/15%
500 CM 260 550 0.2 160 900
601 JS 450 500 0.2 160
602 JS 380 500 0.2 160
603 CS 450 500 0.2 160

PVC partition A layer of geotextile 8-16mm ceramsite wet layer Seashell pervious concrete
Local soil Inlet pipe Perforated glass container at bottom

Fig. 3. Experimental installation pictures.

3. Results and analysis The seashell (calcium carbonate) is gradually dissolved through
the leaching mechanism, see reaction formula (4).
3.1. Analysis of freeze–thaw results of oyster shell pervious concrete
from different sources 2R - H þ Ca2 þ ! R - Ca - R þ 2H þ
ð3Þ

The relationship between the mass loss rate of oyster shell per-
vious concrete and the freeze–thaw cycle under different amounts
of silica fume is shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen from Fig. 5 that the
mass loss rate of 5% of the 111 specimens requires 40 freeze–thaw
cycles, which is significantly higher than the 101 specimens. It
shows that during the freezing and thawing process, the cracks
of 101 specimens developed faster. It can be seen from the 28-
day final compressive strength of the 111 and 101 specimens in
Fig. 6 that there is not much difference between the two. However,
the processing plant oyster waste JM has better freeze–thaw dura-
bility than kitchen waste oyster waste CM. The reason is that
although the kitchen waste shells have been cooked and have been
cleaned and dried, there are still some organics that are difficult to
clean and remove after cleaning. Organic matter can acidify the
solution according to the reaction of equation (3), and gradually
degrade the pervious concrete through the leaching mechanism.
4
CaCO3 ðsÞ þ H2 O ! Ca2 þ þ HCO3 þ OH ð4Þ
During the freeze–thaw cycle, after the reaction of (3) and (4)
[10], the aggregate cracking of the seashell pervious concrete is
the fundamental reason that the freeze–thaw resistance of the
kitchen seashell waste is lower than that of the factory seashell
waste.
3.2. Analysis of freeze–thaw results of different amounts of silica fume
It can be seen from Fig. 5 that the same oyster shell pervious
concrete CM, the mass loss rate of the samples with silica fume
in the freeze–thaw cycle are lower than those without silica fume.
For specimens of 101, 200, and 300, the curvature of mass loss rate
and times of freeze–thaw cycles are relatively close. The mass loss
rate of 400 increases more slowly, indicating that the 15% seashell
D. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758

No. 111 pervious concrete plastic drainage board No. 601 pervious concrete No. 200 pervious concrete

Fig. 4. 1-year Vegetation test of different permeable materials (May).

pervious concrete with silica fume has better freeze–thaw resis-

Fig. 5. Relationship between mass loss rate and number of freeze–thaw cycles.
tance. It can be seen from Fig. 5 that the quality of oyster shell per-
vious concrete decreases significantly during the first 10 freeze–
thaw cycles, and the later period is relatively flat, indicating that
the freeze–thaw damage of oyster shell pervious concrete appears
relatively quickly.
From the compressive strength (Fig. 6), it can be seen that the
28-day compressive strength of the 200 specimens with 5% silica
fume is 1.99 times that of the 101 specimens without silica fume.
This shows that silica fume has an obvious effect of increasing the
compressive strength. From the compressive strength of specimens
with different mix proportions (Fig. 6), it can be seen that the com-
pressive strength of the 200 specimens after 28 d after adding 5%
silica fume is 1.99 times that of the 101 specimen without silica
fume, indicating that silica fume has an obvious effect on increas-
ing compressive strength. From the relationship between the
porosity and the number of freeze–thaw cycles in Fig. 7, it can be
seen that the porosity of 400 is larger than that of 300 and 200,
and the strength is improved, but it is not obvious. It shows that

Fig. 6. Compressive strength of different test specimens. Fig. 7. Relationship between porosity and number of freeze–thaw cycles.

5
D. Wang et al.
the interface bonding effect of the 400 specimen group is more
ideal.
3.2.1. Effect of silica fume on crack resistance
As an important admixture of pervious concrete, silica fume has
excellent properties. First, the particle size of the silica fume parti-
cles is very small, which reduces the proportion of harmful pores
inside the pervious concrete. From the micro point of view, reduce
the number of cracks caused by capillary water inside pervious
concrete due to thermal expansion and cold shrinkage, improve
the frost resistance of pervious concrete. The specific surface area
of silica fume is about 22 m2/g, which is a kind of glass spherical
particles with good lubrication and filling effects. Secondly, SiO2
in silica fume undergoes complex chemical reaction with cement
hydration reaction products to produce C-S-H, reducing the parti-
cle size of the hydration products and enhancing the frost resis-
tance of oyster shell pervious concrete. At the same time, these
tiny products change the internal structure of pervious concrete,
making it more compact and stronger.
Due to the relatively loose structure of the oyster shell, the pore
distribution of the oyster shell aggregate is wider and more uni-
form than that of natural stone aggregate. Silica fume is supported
on the larger reaction area on the surface of oyster shell, which
increases the contact area between itself and cement hydration
reaction products, improves the reaction efficiency of cement
hydration reaction, and prevents the cracking of oyster shell in
freeze–thaw cycle to a certain extent.
(a) Dipping polishing (b) 101 Interface
(d) 200 magnification 5000 times (e) 200 magnification 10,000 times
Fig. 8. Backscattering test results.
6
Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758
In addition, the CSH gel can absorb some metal ions. The aggre-
gation of these metal ions lowers the PH value of pervious con-
crete. For alkaline pervious concrete aggregate and cement
slurry, this aggregation can reduce the acid-base reaction inside
the pervious concrete and improve the durability of the oyster
shell pervious concrete. However, the study in [28] shows that
when the amount of silica fume exceeds a certain limit (8%), it will
cause excessive expansion of cement binder. This expansion micro-
scopically reduces the specific surface area and increases the spac-
ing of particles. Moreover, because silica fume is relatively
expensive, and it can be seen from Fig. 6 that the strength incre-
ment of 400 and 200 specimens is not obvious. Considering the
performance reflected in the freeze–thaw cycles in Figs. 5 and 6,
the silica fume content is preferably 5%.
3.2.2. Microscopic mechanism analysis
Based on the backscatter (BSE) image, according to the mor-
phology of the interface transition zone between the seashell and
the cement paste, the microscopic mechanism after being mixed
with silica fume is analyzed. The silica fume has a fineness of about
100 times that of cement particles, and can fill pores that cannot be
filled by cement particles. Fig. 8 (b) and (c) are backscattered
images of the transition zone of the seashell pervious concrete
without silica fume and 5% silica fume after 30 freeze–thaw cycles.
Fig. 8 (d) to (f) are the gradual enlargement of the images 5000,
10000, and 40,000 times in the box in Figure (c). It can be seen
from (f) that the pores in the interfacial transition zone have been
(c) 200 Interface
(f) 200 magnification 40,000 times
D. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758

filled with silica fume particles and reactants. The outline of the
interface in figure (b) is clear, indicating that almost no hydrated
reactants are generated at the interface. By comparison, the inter-
face in Fig. 8 (c) is more blurred. It shows that the surface of oyster
shell has a certain hydration reaction with silica fume. From Fig. 8
(d) to (e), it can be seen that the surface layer of the seashell forms
a reaction layer about 1 mm thick, similar to the internal hydration
products around the core of the unhydrated cement. A consider-
able amount of C-S-H gel is also formed outside the reaction layer.
The above phenomenon shows that silica fume can fill the pores
between cement particles and the pores in the interfacial transition
zone. At the same time, it reacts with hydration products to form a
gel. Each atomic percentage is analyzed by EDS energy spectrum,
as shown in Table 4.
It can be known from Table 4 that the Si element in the interfa-
cial transition zone is significantly higher than that of the speci-
mens 200 than 101, which indicates the existence of silica fume
particles and reactants. The content of Mg element increased from
0 in the 101 specimens to 0.54, indicating that the silica fume
reacted with the alkaline material magnesium oxide to form a
gel. In addition, the atomic content of Na and Al in the specimens
200 has also been improved to some extent, indicating that the
C-S-H gel formed by the reaction of silica fume can absorb alkaline
ions, which reduces the overall pH of the specimen.
In summary, the particle filling and interface reaction layers
observed in the EDS and BSE images are consistent with the theo-
retical analysis. Silica fume can fill the pores between the cement
particles. At the same time, the gel formed by silica fume and
hydration products reduces the alkalinity of seashell permeable
concrete.
3.3. Frost resistance test results of oyster shell and scallop shell
pervious concrete
reach 70 times, far exceeding that of oyster shell pervious concrete
40 times. According to the appearance of the test block at the end
of the freeze–thaw cycle, the entire scallop shell of Fig. 10 is almost
complete, and the damage is caused by the cementitious material
reaching the strength limit. After the freeze–thaw of the oyster test
block in Fig. 11, some oyster shells have peeling off layer by layer,
which is caused by the destruction of the oyster shell itself. How-
ever, when the oyster shell is broken, it is rarely broken inside the
shell. Oyster shell pervious concrete is also damaged due to the
destruction of cementitious material.
Analysis of the reasons for the above phenomenon is related to
the chitin on the surface of scallops [29]. By comparing the micro-
scopic scanning of scallops and oyster shells, it can be seen that the
surface of scallop shells has a finer needle-like structure. Compared
with the surface of the oyster shell, the chitin on the surface of the
scallop shell forms a tighter structure to protect the scallop as a
whole, which is more conducive to its freeze–thaw resistance.
Therefore, after freeze–thaw, the pervious concrete of the scallop
shell still seldom produces damage and fracture in the shell. This
shows that the cuticle layer on the surface of the scallop shell,
chitin, is more dense and firm, which is more beneficial to the
freeze–thaw resistance of the pervious concrete.
3.4. Vegetation performance of seashell pervious concrete
In order to investigate the adaptability of plant growth and sea-
shell waste pervious concrete, the test results are shown in Fig. 12
after one year of growing season. It can be seen from the enlarged
picture in Fig. 12 ① that rhizomes have grown at the interface
between the plant roots and the concrete surface.

The factory waste scallop shell JS and oyster shell JM with better
freeze–thaw resistance are selected for analysis of the freeze-
resistant test results. The test results are shown in Fig. 9.
By comparing the mass loss rates of 111 and 500 specimens, it
can be seen that the number of freeze–thaw cycles with a mass loss
rate of 5% is 70. The loss of freeze–thaw quality with the addition
of 50% natural aggregate specimens is slower. After the addition of
natural aggregates, the specimens No. 500, after 70 freeze–thaw
damages, the strength is still more than 4 times the specimens
No. 111. This shows that seashell pervious concrete with different
strength and freeze–thaw resistance can be prepared by adjusting
the proportion of natural aggregate.
From the comparison of the specimens 111, 601 and 602 in
Fig. 9, it can be seen that 601 and 602 are seashell pervious con-
crete prepared from broken scallop and intact scallop, respectively.
Compared with seashell pervious concrete prepared from 111 oys-
ter, it has better freeze–thaw resistance. When the final strength is
close, the freeze–thaw cycles of scallop pervious concrete can Fig. 9. Relationship between mass loss rate and number of freeze–thaw cycles.

Table 4
Element composition of Fig. 8. (b), (c).

Position Element content (Atomic percentage)%

C O Na Al Si Ca K Mg
Spot1 5.53 55.48 0.98 0.54 2.73 33.59 0.88 0
Spot2 9.29 53.02 0 0 1.3 36.29 0 0
Spot3 9.47 56.12 0 0 1.44 32.90 0 0
101 mean 8.10 54.87 0.33 0.18 1.82 34.26 0.29 0
Spot1 8.74 51.41 3.5 1.96 10.87 18.84 0.38 1.61
Spot2 21.28 50.83 2.7 1.16 2.09 18.88 0 0
Spot3 16.65 55.35 0 1.16 3.16 29.84 0 0
200 mean 15.56 52.20 2.07 1.43 5.37 22.52 0.13 0.54

7
D. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758

Fig. 10. Appearance and SEM of scallop shell specimen 601 at the end of the freeze–thaw cycle.

Fig. 11. Appearance and SEM of oyster shell specimen 111 at the end of the freeze–thaw cycle.

Fig. 12. Pyracantha growth at the end of the test (October).

8
D. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 265 (2020) 120758

mixed with silica fume had the highest initial alkalinity. After
3 years, the pH of all soil samples approached 7.0, and the soil alka-
linity above 200 with 5% silica fume decreased the most. This is
consistent with the micro-analysis results of pervious concrete
mixed with silica fume.
The calcium ion concentration in the soil with a planting period
of 1 year was slightly lower than that in the initial period. How-
ever, the calcium ion concentration in the soil layer above the sea-
shell pervious concrete that had been frozen and thawed for
3 years in the outdoor environment did not decrease, but increased
significantly. This shows that during the freeze–thaw cycle of sea-
shell pervious concrete, the calcium ion concentration in the soil
increases, providing more calcium ions for the plant to absorb,
which is also consistent with the test results in Fig. 13.

4. Conclusions
Fig. 13. Comparison of vegetation results for No. 111 and plastic drainage boards
after 3 years.
1) Through the freeze–thaw durability test of factory seashell
waste and kitchen seashell waste, the reasons for the
difference were studied. It is found that the strength and
freeze–thaw durability of the factory seashell garbage pervi-
Table 5
ous concrete are better than those of kitchen waste seashell
Soil water-soluble calcium ion concentration and pH value.
garbage.
Number of permeable material 111 601 200 Plastic drainage 2) The addition of silica fume can help improve the strength
under soil sample board
and freeze–thaw durability of pervious concrete shells. It is
Soil pH 7.26 7.17 7.64 6.98 found that the theoretical basis of its strength increase
pH(1 a) 6.96 7.06 7.43 6.97
is consistent with microscopic test, and the reason why it
pH(3 a) 7.03 7.01 7.05 6.99
Soil calcium concentration (mg/kg) 254 251 258 256
is more suitable for seashell pervious concrete is found.
Calcium concentration (mg/kg)(1a) 240 246 200 255 3) Through SEM micro-analysis and freeze–thaw tests, it is
Calcium concentration (mg/kg)(3a) 270 259 262 253 found that the scallop shell microstructure has a fine
needle-like structure compared to the oyster shell, which
makes it have better freeze–thaw resistance performance.
Planting experiments have confirmed that all four kinds of Scallop shell is the preferred material for frost resistance of
plants above the permeable layer can grow. Among them, the oys- seashell pervious concrete.
ter shell pervious concrete with the number 111 and the seashell 4) Through in situ planting test of roof garden in Qinhuangdao
pervious concrete with the 5% silica fume with the number 200 area for 3 consecutive years, it is found that oyster shell per-
have relatively better growth. The plant body has increased by vious concrete has good vegetation performance and certain
9 mm and 10 mm, respectively. This shows that silica fume has frost resistance. Oyster shell is a better material for plant-
no obvious repulsion to plant growth. grown seashell pervious concrete.
The relatively poor growth is the pyracantha planted above the 5) The test results of the water-soluble calcium ion concentra-
plastic drainage water storage plate, see ② in Fig. 12, which is rel- tion in the soil by atomic absorption spectrometric method
atively low and yellowish compared to other pyracantha on other show that after 3 years of in-situ freeze–thaw cycle of the
seashell pervious concrete. This shows that seashell pervious con- oyster shell pervious concrete, the calcium ion concentration
crete has better vegetation performance than the traditional drai- in the soil increases to a certain extent, Once again, the oys-
nage board on the roof garden. ter shell pervious concrete has proven to have excellent veg-
The effects of shell precipitate from oyster shells during freeze– etation performance. However, its later growth trend and
thaw cycle on plant growth are studied. The bergamot is continu- the relationship between laboratory freeze–thaw and in-
ously planted for three years, and the test results are shown in situ freeze–thaw need to be further studied.
Fig. 13. The soil above the plastic plate loss more and the seashell
pervious concrete vegetation grows well. By touching the perme- CRediT authorship contribution statement
able material, it was found that Seashell Permeable Concrete No.
111 did not loosen or fall off after 3 years of natural freezing and Dongli Wang: Investigation, Methodology. Qingxin Zhao:
thawing environment in cold areas. However, the plastic board Funding acquisition, Methodology. Ce Yang: Project administra-
had cracks on the edges and is easy to bend after touching. It is fur- tion. Yaao Chi: Conceptualization. Wenyue Qi: Project administra-
ther proved that the seashell waste pervious concrete has good tion, Methodology, Investigation. Zhenchao Teng: Supervision.
frost resistance and adaptability to plant growth.
By sampling the four soils in the above planting test, the cal- Declaration of Competing Interest
cium ion concentration in the soil was analyzed. The supernatant
obtained after the soil sample treatment was placed in a colorimet- The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
ric tube and diluted to an appropriate multiple. The results of mea- cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
suring calcium ion concentration by atomic absorption to influence the work reported in this paper.
spectrophotometer are shown in Table 5.
It can be seen from the test results that the initial specimen of Acknowledgements
the seashell pervious concrete was relatively alkaline, and the pH
value was significantly greater than the pH value of the soil above Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation
the plastic drainage board. The soil above No.200 pervious concrete of China under the grants of 51578477, the Key Research and
9
D. Wang et al.
Development Project of Hebei Province under the grant of
19211505D, Science and Technology Research and Development
Plan Project of Qinhuangdao (201801B040), Cultivation Fund for
‘‘National Fund” of Northeast Petroleum University (2019YDQ-
02), Youth Science Fund of Hebei Province Natural Science
Foundation (E2020203077) are gratefully acknowledged.
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