Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Properties of mortar and pervious concrete with co-utilization of coal fly

ash and waste glass powder as partial cement replacements
Sangchul S. Hwang a,⇑, Carla M. Moreno Cortés b
a
Ingram School of Engineering, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, United States
b
Morris & Ritchie, 14280 Park Center Dr. #A, Laurel, MD 20707, United States

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

Mortar was optimized with co-

utilization of fly ash and glass
powder.

Prediction models were obtained
after Box-Cox transformation.

Properties of pervious concrete made
with optimized mortar was tested.

Sustainable production of mortar and
pervious concrete is feasible.

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

Article history: Cement mortar mix was optimized with coal fly ash (FA) and milled waste glass powder (GP) for the tar-
Received 18 August 2020 geted flow percentage (F%) at 110% and a maximum possible 28-day compressive strength (C28). Then,
Received in revised form 8 October 2020 pervious concrete was produced with the optimum mortar mix and tested for the permeability, compres-
Accepted 20 October 2020
sive strength and mass loss. The results showed that the flow at 109.7% and the maximum 28-day com-
Available online 2 December 2020
pressive strength at 82.6 MPa were achieved with a mortar mix of FA/binder at 14.3%, GP/binder at 7.3%
and water/binder at 30%. According to the prediction models, the ratios of FA/binder and GP/binder had a
Keywords:
statistical significance on the F% and the C28, respectively. The 28-day hardened pervious concrete made
Coal fly ash
Milled glass powder
of the optimized mortar mix had a permeability of 6.3 mm/s, a compressive strength of 15.2 MPa, and a
Mortar optimization mass loss of 44.8%. The co-utilization of FA and GP enhanced the rate and extent of compressive strength
Pervious concrete development for both mortar and pervious concrete. This study demonstrates that a sustainable produc-
Sustainability tion of green infrastructure pervious concrete is feasible with co-utilization of waste materials, FA and GP,
as the partial cement replacements.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Disposal of an industrial byproduct coal fly ash (FA) and waste

⇑ Corresponding author.
glass materials at landfills not only creates a negative environmen-
E-mail address: sanhwang@txstate.edu (S.S. Hwang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121415
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415

tal impact but is also costly. Taking benefits from environmental
and economic perspective, FA or milled waste glass powder (GP)
have been used to partially replace the Portland cement in concrete
production, which also promotes concrete sustainability [24,40].
The FA addition has generally shown an improvement in workabil-
ity of the freshly mixed concrete and the strength and durability of
the hardened concrete [22], although it typically reduces the rate
of strength development [18]. Similar to the FA, the GP as a cement
replacement also improves the workability of concrete mix and the
strength and durability of concrete increase with time due to a
pozzolanic reaction of the GP [19].
As a best management practice for stormwater runoff control,
pervious concrete pavement has shown to reduce the necessity
of water detention ponds, permit groundwater recharge, decrease
pollutants from runoff, and improve water quality. It also provides
safety enhancement while simultaneously reducing ponding and
hydroplaning [23,33].
In this study, in an effort to augment sustainability dimensions
in the production of pervious concrete and the management of
solid waste, cement mortar containing both FA and GP as partial
cement replacements was optimized simultaneously for the flow
percentage (F%) and the 28-day compressive strength (C28). Then,
pervious concrete was made with the optimized mortar mix. The
physical and structural properties of the cement mortar and pervi-
ous concrete mixes were characterized. To the best of the authors’
knowledge, this study is the first of its kind in cleaner and sustain-
able production of cement mortar and pervious concrete with co-
utilization of FA and GP as partial cement replacements.
2. Materials and method
2.1. Main materials
The main materials used for the mortar production were Port-
land cement, FA, and GP (Table 1). A Type GU Portland cement
was obtained from a local cement producer (Argos San Juan) and
the FA was obtained from a local coal-fueled power plant (AES
Puerto Rico). It should be noted that the FA complies with the Class
C FA specification for the most physiochemical characteristics,
except for its SO3 content (11.43%) and Loss-on-Ignition (7.62%)
that are higher than the maximum 5% and 6%, respectively, as
specified in the ASTM C618 [9].
For the GP production, the collected lime-soda amber glass bot-
tles were put in lime-saturated water for > 30 min for label
removal and then the bottles were thoroughly washed and dried
balls (2.54 cm in dia.). The chamber was rotated at 30 rpm for
4 h. The resulting GP had the particles in sizes of 0.07 mm to
30.1 mm with a mass median diameter of 8 mm according to the
ASTM D7928 [14] (Fig. 1). The GP was coarser than the FA based
on its Blaine and fineness, whereas it was heavier than the FA
based on its specific gravity. It contained a silica content
of ~ 60%. In fact, a soda-lime GP with an average particle size of
17 mm had a silica content of 69.6% [2]. Aliabdio et al. [3] also
reported a high silica content of 74.4% in their GP with a mass med-
ian diameter of ~ 22 mm.
Crushed limestone gravel in a size of 4.75 mm to 9.5 mm was
acquired from a local quarry (Procan, Inc.) and was used for the
production of pervious concrete with the mortar optimized for F%
and C28. The mass ratio of coarse aggregates to binder was fixed
at 4:1. In this study, the binder is defined as the total amount of
Portland cement, FA and GP. No fine aggregates (e.g., sand) were
used either in the mortar mix or in the pervious concrete mix in
the current study. A viscosity-modifying admixture (BASF Master-
Matrix VMA 362) was used to improve workability of the pervious
concrete mix.
2.2. Design of experiment for mortar optimization
The mortar optimization was designed in a two factor, two level
(22) central composite design with the factors of FA-to-binder (FA/
B) and GP-to-binder (GP/B) on the responses of the F% and C28
(Fig. 2). All mixes were prepared using tap water with a mass per-
centage of water-to-binder (W/B) at 30%. The viscosity-modifying
admixture was applied at 3.3 mL per kg binder.
A mechanical mixer was used to prepare the mortar mix in
accordance to the ASTM C192 [6]. The mortar mix was cast in plas-
tic molds of 50 mm in diameter and 100 mm in height and the
standard rodding consolidation method was used for compaction
of each specimen. After 24 h, the specimens were demolded and
cured in lime-saturated tap water for 28 days at ambient temper-
ature (24 ± 2 °C).
Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was utilized to optimize
the mix design in order to simultaneously obtain the maximum
C28 and the targeted F% at 110%. The F% of 110% was chosen as rec-
ommended by Jiménez-Quero et al. [25] for a cement mortar. The
second-order polynomial equation was used to fit the data to get
the predictive regression model as follows:
X
k X
k XX
k
Y ¼ b0 þ bi xi þ bii x2i þ bii xi xj þ e ð1Þ
i i¼1 i<j

prior to ball milling. Twenty-five clean bottles were put in a where Y represents the predicted response (i.e., flow percentage
0.03-m3 stainless ball mill chamber containing 30 stainless steel or compressive strength), b0 the intercept, bi the first-order (linear)
coefficient, bii the second-order (quadratic) coefficient, bij the coef-
Table 1 ficient of interaction effect, xi and xj the levels of the factors FA/B
Physiochemical properties of cement, fly ash and glass powder.
and GP/B, respectively, and e the associated random error [29].
Properties Cement Fly Ash Glass Powder The significance of the factors to the responses and their main,
Mineralogical composition (% wt.) interactive and quadratic effects on the responses were deter-
SiO2 19.80 30.84 59.47 mined by analysis of variance (ANOVA). A factor with the p-value
Al2O3 5.10 9.93 3.87 lower than 0.05 was regarded to be statistically significant. The
Fe2O3 3.10 5.01 0.66
relationship between the factors and the responses was evaluated
CaO 67.3 39.61 24.79
MgO 0.8 0.35 – by contour plots.
Na2Oae 0.41 1.56 10.99 An optimum mortar mix proportion was obtained by the Opti-
SO3 2.7 11.43 1.06 mizer (Minitab 17) for the targeted F% and the maximum possible
TiO2 – 0.45 0.04
C28. The accuracy of the prediction model was validated by com-
P2O5 – 0.11 0.03
Loss-on-Ignition (% wt.)b 6.8 7.62 0.86
paring the response values predicted by the model with the mea-
Blaine (m2/kg)c 488 441 358 sured ones from the validation specimens made of the optimum
Fineness (% wt.)d 92.5 73.7 69.3 mix design of 14.3% FA/B and 7.3% GP/B. An additional set of the
Specific gravity 3.1 2.55 2.8 mortar specimens were made with the optimum mix design and
a
Equivalent Alkalis, Na2Oe = Na2O + 0.658(K2O) were tested for the 7-, 28-, 56-, and 90-day compressive strengths
b
ASTM C114 [5]; c ASTM C204 [7]; d ASTM C430 [8] to understand the compressive strength development over time.
2
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of the GP.

Fig. 2. Two-factor, two-level central composite design for the optimization of mortar. The levels of each factor are shown in the parenthesis as (x,y) where x and y are for FA/B
and GP/B, respectively. B is the binder defined in this study as the total amount of cement, FA and GP.

2.3. Pervious concrete mix
The optimum mortar mix at 14.3% FA and 7.3% GP was used to
produce pervious concrete with coarse aggregate in sizes of
4.75 mm to 9.5 mm at a mass ratio to the binder at 4:1, a VMA
application at 3.3 mL per kg binder, and a W/B at 30%. The freshly
mixed pervious concrete mix was cast in plastic molds of 100 mm
in diameter and 200 mm in height. The same methods of com-
paction and curing as used for the mortar mix was applied for
the pervious concrete mix. The permeability and mass loss were
tested with the 28-day hardened pervious concrete and the
3
compressive strength was tested with the 7-, 28-, 56-, and 90-
day hardened pervious concrete.
2.4. Testing of mortar and pervious concrete
The F% of the freshly mixed mortar was determined by a single
measurement using a flow table in accordance with the ASTM
C1437 [10]. The compressive strength of the hardened mortar
was tested in triplicate in accordance to the ASTM C39 [4]. A cap-
ping rubber pad (Gilson HM-370) was placed on the mortar spec-
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés
imens to provide a uniform load distribution by the 3000 kN For-
ney universal testing machine.
For the hardened pervious concrete, the permeability, compres-
sive strength, durability, density and void content were measured.
The permeability was tested by a constant head method modified
from the ASTM D2434 [13]. The compressive strength was tested
in triplicate in the same manner as used for the mortar, except
for a different capping rubber pad (Gilson HM-362). The Los Ange-
les Abrasion test was conducted to measure a physical durability
(i.e., mass loss) in triplicate in accordance to the ASTM C1747
[11]. The density and void content were determined according to
the ASTM C1754 [12].
2.5. Production cost of pervious concrete
The production cost of the pervious concrete made of the opti-
mum mortar mix was estimated. It should be noted that this is a
preliminary cost estimation, that only the materials used were
taken into consideration, and that a safety factor of 1.25 was fac-
tored in the calculation (Table 2).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Prediction models for F% and C28 of mortar
The F% of the freshly mixed mortar ranged between 86.1% and
119.3% and the C28 of the hardened mortar was in the range of
74.0 MPa to 84.6 MPa (Table 3). The F% and C28 data distributions
had a coefficient of skewness of (-)0.96 and (-)0.45, respectively
and a coefficient of excess kurtosis of (+)1.74 and (-)0.71, respec-
tively. This indicates that the F% and C28 were not in a symmetrical
normal distribution. Instead, both F% and C28 data were slightly
skewed left and the F% data were leptokurtic in a slightly thin
and tall distribution, whereas the C28 data were platykurtic in a
slightly flat and wide distribution.
The prediction model for each response was obtained as
follows:
F % ¼ 178 þ 3:2ðGP=BÞ  9:02ðFA=BÞ  0:281ðGP=BÞ2
2
þ 0:215ðFA=BÞ þ 0:08ðGP=B  FA=BÞ
C 28 ¼ 84:2  2:72ðGP=BÞ þ 2:13ðFA=BÞ þ 0:073ðGP=BÞ 2
 0:093ðFA=BÞ2 þ 0:028ðGP=B  FA=BÞ
The ANOVA revealed that neither the main, interactive nor
quadratic term was statistically significant in the prediction model
of the F%. However, the p-value of the main term FA/B was 0.079
close to the level of statistical significance set at 0.05. For the C28,
the ANOVA showed a statistical significance (p = 0.036) of the main
term GP/B to the prediction model. The p-values of Lack-of-Fit for
the F% and C28 were 0.140 and 0.082, respectively, and were not
much different from 0.05, especially for the C28. In addition, the
Table 2
Unit costs of the main materials used for pervious concrete production.
Materials Unit cost ($/unit) Source
Gravel 0.13/kg Procan
Cement 0.19/kg Argos San Juan
Fly ash No cost AES Puerto Rico
Glass powder No cost Recycling
Water 7.43/m3 PRASAa
Viscosity Modifying Admixture 5.5/L BASF
a
Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authorit
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415
F% and C28 had a regression coefficient (R2) of 56.9% and 59.8%,
respectively. Therefore, it is hard to assure that the prediction
models adequately fit the data.
As such, the Box-Cox transformation was applied to obtain the
prediction models more adequate with the improved Lack-of-Fit
and R2. The Box-Cox transformation is a statistical way to trans-
form non-normal response variables into a more normal distribu-
tion so that such response variables can be modeled with better
accuracy [16,20]. The prediction model for each response after
the Box-Cox transformation was obtained as follows:
ðF % Þk  1
¼ 96 þ 3:64ðGP=BÞ  10:56ðFA=BÞ  0:105ðGP=BÞ2
k  g k1
þ 0:322ðFA=BÞ2  0:142ðGP=B  FA=BÞ ð4Þ
ðC 28 Þk  1
¼ 23:4  4:31ðGP=BÞ þ 1:45ðFA=BÞ
k  g k1
þ 0:1458ðGP=BÞ2  0:0672ðFA=BÞ2
þ 0:025ðGP=B  FA=BÞ ð5Þ
where k is the Box-Cox transformation parameter (8 for the F% and
17 for the C28) and g is the geometric mean of the response (106.5
for the F% and 79.3 for the C28). As can be seen in Fig. 3, the residual
plots showed an improved normality in the distribution of response
variables after the B-C transformation. As a result, an improvement
was found in the Lack-of-Fit to 0.248 for the F% and 0.212 for the C28
and in the R2 to 63.9% for the F% and 74.9% for the C28. The Box-Cox
transformation also made the adjusted R2 improved from 20.0% to
33.0% for the F% and from 25.3% to 53.4% for the C28. Similarly, the
standard error of the regression was improved from 7.5% to 6.8%
for F% and from 2.8 MPa to 2.4 MPa for the C28 after the Box-Cox
transformation.
The ANOVA after the Box-Cox transformation showed that the
main term FA/B significantly influenced the F% (p = 0.021), whereas
the main term GP/B made a statistically significant influence on the
C28 (p = 0.007). As such, the above Eqns. (4) and (5) can be modified
with the only statistically significant terms as follows:
ðF % Þk  1
¼ 50:6  2:219ðFA=BÞ ð6Þ
k  g k1
ð2Þ
ðC 28 Þk  1
¼ 17:03  0:916ðGP=BÞ ð7Þ
k  g k1
ð3Þ where k is 7 for the F% and 11 for the C28 and g is 106.5 for the F%
and 79.3 for the C28.
3.2. Effects of the factors on the responses
In general, the F% was reduced with an increase of the FA/B or
GP/B. Such an effect of the FA/B and GP/B on the F% was more sub-
stantial when the FA/B and GP/B were higher than ~ 15% and ~ 10%,
respectively (Fig. 4a). It is known that the FA addition improves the
F% of cement mortar due to the ball bearing effect of the spherical
shapes of FA particles [26,34]. However, this was not the case in
the current study. It is speculated that due to the coarser character-
istics of the FA with smaller values of Blaine and Fineness than the
cement (Table 1), the FA did not exert a ball bearing effect but lim-
ited the F% of the mortar. This reduced workability of mortar with
the FA addition is consistent with results of other studies. For
example, Nguyen et al. [30] also found that the FA-containing con-
crete had a slightly lower initial slump of 8.0 cm than the cement-
only concrete (7.5 cm).
On the contrary to the findings of Afshinnia and Rangaraju [2],
the GP addition did not improve the workability (i.e., the F%) of
4
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415

Table 3
Testing results of the flow percentage, F% of freshly mixed mortar and the compressive strength, C28 of the 28-day hardened mortara.

Run # Factors and Levels (% wt.) Responses

2 b
2 CCD point FA/B GP/B F% (%) C28 (MPa)
1 FP 12.5 7.5 110.4 81.8 (3.3)
2 CP 15 10 101.0 79.3 (1.2)
3 FP 17.5 7.5 98.5 81.5 (1.5)
4 CP 15 10 108.4 82.3 (1.5)
5 FP 17.5 12.5 106.9 74.4 (3.7)
6 FP 12.5 12.5 116.8 74.0 (2.9)
7 CP 15 10 113.9 81.9 (0.7)
8 AP 20 10 103.5 75.0 (1.6)
9 CP 15 10 107.9 79.4 (1.1)
10 AP 15 5 111.9 84.6 (2.2)
11 CP 15 10 109.4 80.0 (2.3)
12 CP 15 10 102.0 76.6 (4.6)
13 AP 10 10 119.3 80.8 (0.7)
14 AP 15 15 86.1 79.5 (2.1)
a
F% was determined by a single measurement, whereas C28 was tested in triplicate. Therefore, C28 values are shown with the average of triplicate specimens and standard
deviations in parenthesis.
b
FP: factorial points, CP: center points, AP: axial points (as shown in Fig. 1)

Fig. 3. Histogram plot of F% and C28 residuals: (a) and (b) are for the F% before and after, respectively, the Box-Cox transformation. (c) and (d) are for the C28 before and after,
respectively, the Box-Cox transformation.

the mortar. Like the FA, it is speculated that the coarser character-
istics of the GP particle (Table 1), could have limited the F% of the
mortar. A similar decrease of workability was reported by Aliabdo
et al. [3]. In their study, 35 MPa concrete had a decreased slump by
approximately 20% with the 15% GP addition. They speculated that
increased cohesion of concrete mix due to finer GP particles was
responsible for the decreased slump. However, it should be noted
that Afshinnia and Rangaraju [2] and Aliabdo et al. [3] utilized their
GP as a single replacement of cement, whereas the current study
co-utilized the GP and FA as dual cement replacements. In addi-
tion, the physiochemical properties of the GP were all dissimilar.
Therefore, a need clearly exists to further investigate the influence
of GP addition on the workability of the cement and concrete
mixtures.
As shown in Fig. 4b, increasing GP/B generally decreased the
C28. When the GP/B was below 10%, changes in the FA/B had little
influence on the C28 with a given GP/B. On the contrary, at a GP/
B>10%, increasing of the FA/B decreased the C28. This was contrary
to the findings of Aliabdo et al. [3] who reported an enhanced con-
crete compressive strength, tensile strength, and voids ratio for
33 MPa concrete grade with the GP addition up to 15%. An
improved compressive strength could have been obtained if the
mortar had been cured for a longer period than 28 days, as is
shown in the section 3.3 where a maximum compressive strength
of 94.3 MPa is estimated in the long run for the mortar specimen
made of 14.3% FA/B and 7.3% GP/B. In fact, a better mechanical
and durability properties of a GP-added concrete was reported
after hardening for one year [19].

5
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415

Fig. 4. Contour Plots of the F% (a) and C28 (b) in a function of FA/B and GP/B.

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is the reaction of amorphous silica

of aggregates with a highly alkaline pore solution in the concrete
binder matrix, resulting in the production of the expansive ASR
gel. ASR may cause detrimental effect on the strength and dura-
bility of concrete. The GP addition may induce the ASR, depend-
ing on the GP particle size. For example, Du and Tan [19]
reported no deleterious ASR with the GP particle size smaller
than 75 lm. In this regard, the current study did not take into
account a GP-induced ASR because the GP used was in a size
of 0.07 lm to 30.1 lm. Also, it was reported that the addition
of FA in the binder matrix decreased pH in the pore solution
by alkali binding and therefore reduced the aggregate dissolution
rate and swelling pressure of the ASR gel [35]. Further research
is, however, recommended to elucidate the net effect of co-
utilization of FA and GP on the ASR of reactive aggregates.

3.3. Characteristics of mortar made of optimum mix design

The optimum mix proportion of 14.3% FA/B and 7.3% GP/B pre-
dicted to produce the mortar with the F% at 109.7% and the C28 of
82.6 MPa (Fig. 5). These predicted values were attained with a
composite desirability at 0.90 and a response-specific desirability
at 0.99 for the F% and 0.82 for the C28.
As shown in Table 4, the validation mortar reproduced almost
the same F% of 110.4% that the prediction model had (109.7%)
and, therefore, an absolute relative percent error (PE) was only
0.5%. This is indicative of a prediction model with good accuracy Fig. 5. D-optimal plots showing the optimum levels of the factors in red and the
for the F%. The validation of C28 also revealed that the model pre- corresponding predicted responses in blue. (For interpretation of the references to
dicted the C28 accurately, with a PE being at 2.1%. colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 6 shows the trend of compressive strength development of
the optimum mortar mix with FA 14.3% and GP 7.3% as a function
of age. For the purpose of comparison, Fig. 6 also contains the trend
of compressive strength development of two other mortars that Table 4
were made with and without the same type of FA that was used Comparison of the predicted responses with the validated responses of the optimum
in the current study. In general, the co-utilization of FA and GP mortar.
as cement replacements had the greatest mortar compressive Flow percentage, F% (%) 28-day compressive strength, C28
strength at both early and later ages, compared to those mortar (MPa)
mixes of [38]. To interpret the data in a more quantitative manner, Predicted 109.7 (101.8, 115.0)a 82.6 (81.1, 83.9)a
the maximum compressive strength (Cmax) and the time it takes to Validated 110.4 ± 2.1b 80.9 ± 1.8b
reach a half Cmax (k1/2) were estimated with the following PE (%)c 0.5 2.1
Michaelis-Menten-like saturation equation: a
95% confidence interval
b
C max  t Standard deviation (n = 3) 


v alue   100%
Ct ¼ ð8Þ c
Absolute relative percent error¼ 1  vpredicted
alidatedv alue
k1=2 þ t

6
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415

Fig. 7. An inverse correlation between the permeability and compressive strength

Fig. 6. Trend of compressive strength development of mortar with time.
of 28-day hardened pervious concrete.

where Ct is the compressive strength (MPa) developed at the time, t

(days). As shown in Table 5, the optimum mortar containing 14.3%
FA and 7.3% GP was predicted to reach the Cmax at 94.3 MPa that
was greater by > 25% than the 0%-FA mortar and > 30% than the
40%-FA mortar. The co-utilization of FA and GP also shortened the
k1/2 by > 40%, compared to the FA utilization alone at 40%.
It has been reported by numerous studies that FA replacement
of cement makes mortar/concrete to reduce the rate of strength
development and to have a lower early-stage strength but reach
a similar or even greater later-stage strength. This is attributed
mainly to the pozzolanic reactivity of FA that consumes the port-
landite (Ca(OH)2) with the silica of FA to form more calcium-
silicate-hydrate gel (CSH) [18,36,38]. Similarly to the FA, the GP
addition has also shown to enhance the strength and durability
of mortar/concrete with the pozzolanic reactivity and/or filling
effect of the GP [3,19,41]. Therefore, the superior development of
compressive strength of the mortar in the current study can be
directly related to the enhanced pozzolanic reactivity of co-
utilized FA and GP promoting the formation of more CSH.
3.4. Characteristics of pervious concrete made of optimum mortar mix
The permeability of the 28-day hardened pervious concrete
made with the optimum mortar mix was measured to be
6.3 ± 0.1 mm/s (n = 3). This was in good agreement with the range
of permeability for Portland cement pervious concrete of 1.3 mm/s
to 12.3 mm/s [1]. This value of permeability also fell in the range of
2.4 mm/s to 17.6 mm/s of other pervious concrete containing the
same type of FA that used in the current study (Fig. 7). An inverse
correlation is also shown between the permeability and the com-
pressive strength of pervious concrete (Fig. 7). In addition, the
Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r value) was calculated to be (-)
0.620 (p = 0.001), indicative of a mild inverse correlation between
two responses.
The C28 of the pervious concrete made of the optimum mortar
mix was found to be 15.2 ± 2.5 MPa (n = 3) that was in good agree-
ment with the reported values of 2.8 MPa to 28 MPa [1] and
3.4 MPa to 24.3 MPa of the pervious concrete made of the same
type of FA that was used in the current study (Fig. 7). Also, the per-
vious concrete made with the optimum mortar mix had the greater
compressive strength with time than the pervious concretes with
0% FA ad 21.4% FA (Fig. 8). It had the Cmax at 18.7 MPa that was
greater by > 40% than the pervious concretes containing 0% or
21.4% FA in its mortar and the k1/2 shorter by > 50% than the per-
vious concrete with 21.4% FA in its mortar (Table 5).
It is known that the mortar or paste plays a critical role in the
strength development of concrete. Pavia et al. [31] reported a lin-
ear relationship between the compressive strength of metakaolin
mortars and the compressive strength of corresponding concretes.
Also, they reported that, up to 20% metakaolin addition, the value
of mortars’ compressive strength was about 83%, on average, of the
concretes’ compressive strength. Similarly, Xie et al. [39] found
that the compressive strength of pervious concretes (Fc) increased
linearly with the increase of the compressive strength of cement
paste (fc), with a relationship of Fc = 0.279*fc – 0.213
(R2 = 0.886). In the current study, the Fc was about 20% of the fc
with time, with their linear relationship of Fc = 0.176*fc + 2.362
(R2 = 0.998) (Fig. 9).
The density and void content of the 28-day hardened pervious
concrete made with the optimum mortar mix were measured to

Table 5
The maximum compressive strength (Cmax), the time taking to reach a half Cmax (k1/2) and the regression coefficient (R2) of mortars and pervious concretes.

Cmax (MPa) k1/2 (days) Regression coefficient, R2

a
Mortar 14.3% FA + 7.3% GP 94.3 5.4 0.973
0% FAb 74.6 3.7 0.959
40% FAb 71.9 9.3 0.989
Pervious concrete 14.3% FA + 7.3% GPc 18.7 4.1 0.952
0% FAd 12.8 3.3 0.984
21.4% FAe 12.6 8.5 0.998
a,b,c,d,e
The same types of FA and cement were used.
a,c
Current study
b
Soto-Pérez and Hwang [37]
c,d,e
The same type of coarse aggregate was used at a mass ratio of 4 to 1 (coarse aggregate to cement).
d
The control pervious concrete in the current study.
e
Hwang et al. [23]

7
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés
Fig. 8. Trend of compressive strength development of pervious concrete with time.
be 1,873 kg/m3 and 25.8%, respectively. These values were within
the reported density from 1,650 kg/m3 to 1,943 kg/m3 and the
reported void content from 22.6% to 37% [1,15].
The mass loss of the 28-day hardened pervious concrete made
with the optimum mortar mix was determined to be 44.8% after
500 revolutions in the LA abrasion machine. Marines-Muñoz [28]
also reported a mass loss of 46.1 ± 3.8% for pervious concrete with
a porosity of 25.4 ± 2.0%, a nominal maximum aggregate size of
9.5 mm, and a W/B of 30%, which were very similar to those of
the pervious concrete in the current study that had a void content
of 25.8%, coarse aggregate in sizes of 4.75 mm to 9.5 mm, and a W/
B of 30%.
3.5. Pervious concrete production cost
The production cost of pervious concrete made with the opti-
mum mortar mix containing 14.3% FA and 7.3% GP in the current
Fig. 9. Correlation the compressive strength between the mortar and the pervious concrete.
8
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121415
study was calculated to be $345/m3. This was in good agreement
with a typical material cost of Portland cement pervious concrete
ranging from $140/m3 to $425/m3 [1]. It should, however, be noted
that a safety factor of 1.25 was factored in the calculation of the
production cost of pervious concrete in the current study. This
safety factor was to consider the unknown transportation and pro-
cessing costs of the main materials, especially FA and GP. Also,
poorer pumpability from the mixer truck encourages to make extra
pervious concrete at the field. The same safety factor of 1.25 was
used in the previous research [27].
3.6. Improved sustainability
Pervious concrete pavement is one of sustainable, low impact
development tools as it inclusively aims for stormwater manage-
ment, livability improvement, and safety enhancement [17]. The
current study demonstrated a sustainable way to produce an envi-
ronmentally friendly and economical pervious concrete by incor-
porating an industrial byproduct, FA and milled waste GP. These
materials are typically landfilled if not properly reutilized. As such,
the utilization of these materials in pervious concrete production is
beneficial as it lessens the burden in solid waste management.
Additionally, FA and GP replacement for cement can reduce CO2
emission during the cement production. In fact, the manufacturing
of cement accounts for ~ 5% of the total anthropogenic CO2 release
to the atmosphere [32]. From an economic perspective, it is also
known that a cheaper production of resilient pervious concrete,
as a best sustainability practice, with recycled and locally available
waste materials creates an added depth to social and economic
sustainability [21].
4. Conclusions
In this study, cement mortar containing both FA and GP was
first optimized for a targeted F% at 110% and a maximum possible
C28 simultaneously and then pervious concrete was made with the
optimized mortar mix. The physical and structural properties of
S.S. Hwang and C.M. Moreno Cortés
the mortar and pervious concrete were then characterized. The fol-
lowing conclusions can be withdrawn:

An F% at 109.7% and a C28 at 82.6 MPa can be achieved for the
optimized mortar mix with FA/B at 14.3%, GP/B at 7.25% and
W/B at 30%. The Cmax was estimated to be 94.3 MPa. The Box-
Cox transformation revealed that the F% and the C28 decreased
in a statistically significant manner with an increase of the
FA/B and GP/B, respectively.

Pervious concrete made of the optimized mortar and coarse
aggregate in sizes of 4.75 mm to 9.5 mm at a mass ratio to
the binder at 4:1 had a permeability of 6.3 mm/s, a C28 of
15.2 MPa, and a mass loss of 44.8%. The Cmax of pervious con-
crete was estimated to be 18.7 MPa.

Sustainable production of green infrastructure pervious con-
crete is feasible with co-utilization of an industrial byproduct
FA and a waste GP as partial cement replacements in mortar,
which also lessens the burdens in solid waste management with
these waste materials.

The effect of co-utilization of FA and GP on the workability of
mortar is still not clearly understood yet. This necessitates fur-
ther investigation into the workability of mortar influenced by
co-utilized FA and GP.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Sangchul S. Hwang: Funding acquisition, Methodology, Investi-
gation, Supervision. Carla M. Moreno Cortés: Investigation, Writ-
ing - original draft.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This research was made possible with financial support, in part,
by AES Puerto Rico. The major experiment was done at the Univer-
sity of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez where the coauthor, Carla Moreno,
acquired her Master of Science degree. The authors appreciate Eng.
Ruben Segarra (Argos San Juan) for characterization of the milled
glass powder.
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