Effects of temperature and moisture fluctuations for suitable use of raw-crushed wind-turbine blade in concrete

Abstract

Raw-crushed wind-turbine blade (RCWTB), a waste from the recycling of wind-turbine blades, is used as a raw material in concrete in this research. It contains not only fiberglass-composite fibers that bridge the cementitious matrix but also polyurethane and balsa-wood particles. Therefore, concrete containing RCWTB can be notably affected by moisture and temperature fluctuations and by exposure to high temperatures. In this research, the performance of five concrete mixes with 0.0%, 1.5%, 3.0%, 4.5%, and 6.0% RCWTB, respectively, is studied under moist/dry, alternating-sign-temperature-shock, and high-temperature-shock tests. Two damage mechanisms of RCWTB within concrete were found through these tests: on the one hand, micro-cracking of the cementitious matrix, which was verified by microscopic analyses and was dependent on concrete porosity; on the other, damage and degradation of the RCWTB components, as the polyurethane melted, and the balsa-wood particles burned. Both phenomena led to larger remaining-strain levels and reduced concrete compressive strength by up to 25% under temperature and humidity variations, although the bridging effect of the fiberglass-composite fibers was effective when adding RCWTB amounts higher than 3.0%. The compressive-strength loss after the high-temperature-shock test increased with the RCWTB content, reaching maximum values of 8% after an exposure time of 7 days. Statistical analyses revealed that effect of the RCA amount in the concrete was conditioned by the exposure times in all the tests. The accurate definition of those times is therefore key to set an RCWTB content in concrete that ensures its suitable behavior under the environmental conditions analyzed.