The paper presents the results of an experimental program intended to assess the potential of sanitary ceramic waste utilization as aggregates in cement-based mortars. Their influence was evaluated with respect to workability (consistency, plasticity, pores volume), mechanical properties (compressive and flexural strength) and freeze-thaw resistance. The results showed that partial replacement of fine aggregate with sanitary ceramic fillers up to 20% of cement by weight improves compressive and flexural strength and reduces shrinkage. The test results were discussed in the lights of the literature data on influence of ceramic waste on properties of fresh and hardened concretes

In this paper an analysis of the influence of polymer modification on the microstructure, shielding properties against neutrons, and compressive strength of heavy-weight magnetite concrete is carried out. The modifications involve the addition of acrylic or epoxy dispersions as well as micro- or/and macrofibers. A computer image analysis method is used to evaluate the microstructure of concretes and parameters of pore structure are calculated; these parameters include relative volume fraction, relative specific surface area, and pore arrangement ratios, including a proprietary ratio based on Voronoi tessellation. An assessment of significance of differences between stereological parameters of reference concrete and polymer modified concretes, as well as the impact of polymer form (dispersion or fibers) on shielding properties and compressive strength is carried out using Student’s t-test. The results show that except for the effect of the addition of both polypropylene micro- and macrofibers on the relative volume of pores, all other modifications result in statistically significant changes in the values of stereological parameters. Nevertheless, it is shown that neither polymer dispersions nor fibers have a statistically significant impact on shielding properties, but that they do influence compressive strength.

The study investigates the influence of an air-entraining admixture on the properties and pore structure of ordinary concrete. The aim was to examine how modifications to the concrete mix affect compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and resistance to freeze–thaw cycles. Concrete samples with varying admixture dosages (0.00–1.50% of cement mass) were tested for mechanical properties and pore structure. Freeze–thaw resistance was assessed using both direct (PN-B-06265) and indirect methods (EN 480-11), while pore characteristics were evaluated via computer-aided image analysis. Results show that increasing the admixture dosage enhances freeze–thaw resistance by refining the pore structure—particularly by increasing the content of micropores below 0.3 mm—while simultaneously reducing compressive strength and ultrasonic velocity. Statistical analysis revealed that pore parameters such as total air content, specific surface area, and spacing factor significantly correlate with concrete performance. The regression models confirmed that compressive strength and ultrasonic velocity are negatively impacted by increased pore volume, while freeze–thaw resistance improves due to a more favorable pore size distribution. The findings demonstrate that optimizing the admixture dosage can effectively balance durability and mechanical performance, and that quantitative stereological parameters provide a valuable basis for predicting the behavior of air-entrained concrete.

In this paper an analysis of the influence of polymer concrete sample shape and dimensions on ultrasonic wave propagation is carried out. Compositions of tested fly ash polymer concretes were determined using a material optimization approach. The tests were carried out on the samples of three shapes: cubes, beams, and plates. The ultrasonic testing was done by a direct method (transmission method) using a digital ultrasonic flow detector and piezoelectric transducers of 100 kHz central frequency. Propagation of the ultrasonic wave was characterized by pulse velocity. Frequency spectra and time-frequency spectrograms obtained using Fourier transform and Fourier-based synchrosqueezing transform were also presented. The correlation analysis showed that neither the path length nor the lateral dimension to the direction of wave propagation are not statistically significant for the UPV variability. However, a general trend of decrease in the UPV with increasing the path length was noticed. The analysis of the signal in time-frequency domain seemed to be useful in the analysis of particulate composites properties, especially when UPV changes are not clear enough, since it revealed greater differences in relation to changes in sample geometry than frequency spectra analysis.

The circular economy includes, among other things, the use of waste materials. One such material is biochar, which should not be used as a fuel because its combustion generates large amounts of air pollution. This study evaluates the feasibility of using biochar as a partial filler in a polymer concrete. The components of the polymer concretes used in this study were vinyl-ester resin, traditional microfiller—quartz powder, waste microfiller—biochar and quartz aggregate with grain sizes up to 2 mm. The quartz aggregate was dosed at a constant rate of 1458 kg/m³ of concrete, whereas the dosage of resin and microfiller was formulated according to the experimental plan for mixtures and executed based on the volume of the remaining space: resin (65–85%), quartz powder (5–35%) and biochar (0–10%). The effects on the setting process, the consistency of the fresh composite mix and the flexural and compressive strengths were investigated. The study revealed significant deterioration of technological parameters (over 15% of biochar content makes a mixture unworkable) and slight deterioration of mechanical ones (flexural strength did not change significantly, and the compressive strength decreased by up to 15%). These results indicate that, despite some limitations, the use of biochar as an alternative pro-ecological filler is possible.

The study of the effect of cement type on the action of an admixture increasing the volume of concrete (containing aluminum powder), used in amounts of 0.5–1.5% of cement mass, was presented. The tests were carried out on cement mortars with Portland (CEM I) and ground granulated blast-furnace slag cement (CEM III). The following tests were carried out for the tested mortars: the air content in fresh mortars, compressive strength, flexural strength, increase in mortar volume, bulk density, pore structure evaluation (by the computer image analysis method) and changes in the concentration of OH⁻ ions during the hydration of used cements. Differences in the action of the tested admixture depending on the cement used were found. To induce the expansion of CEM III mortars, a smaller amount of admixture is required than in the case of CEM I cement. Using the admixture in amounts above 1% of the cement mass causes cracks of mortars with CEM III cement due to slow hydrogen evolution, which occurs after mortar plasticity is lost. The use of an aluminum-containing admixture reduces the strength properties of the cement mortars, the effect being stronger in the case of CEM III cement. The influence of the sample molding time on the admixture action was also found.