The potential of applying geopolymerization to a wide range of solid industrial waste and by-products is of great interest. In this research, the physical and mechanical properties of fly ash (FA)-based geopolymer concrete (GC), compared to those of cement concrete (CC), were studied. Three GCs with different content of FA and three appropriate CCs were designed, prepared, tested and evaluated. The results were compared with the requirements of Standards EN 206-1 and EN 1992-1-1. It was shown that in some cases minor adjustments of the regulations are needed, while in other cases complete revision is required. GC indicated competitive compressive strength compared to CC, tensile strength within the limits specified by Eurocode 2 for CC and modulus of elasticity about 50% less than that of CC. The ratio of binder (FA) to aggregates seems to have a significant effect on the properties of GC. The concrete with 750 kg/m³ FA seems to be the best choice taking into consideration both engineering and environmental criteria.

In the frame of an extended research program dealing with wood shavings utilization in mortar, a set of procedures were developed for verifying effects of wood shavings addition to specific mortar properties. Mixes containing wood shavings replacing fine aggregates by 0, 30, 50 and 70% of their volume were made. Workability, fresh mortar unit weight, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and flexural and compressive strength were determined, based on measurements, at various curing ages. Measurement results and analysis suggest that compressive strength reduction caused by wood shavings addition could be predicted. The outcome was standardized in the form of a multifactorial sigmoidal model. It was also made evident that the mix proportion of cement increases when wood shavings are used as a by volume replacement of conventional fine aggregates, due to the low value of specific gravity of wood compared to conventional aggregates. Another procedure is suggested based on mass and volume measurements aiming at the verification of the mix proportions in the final mortar mixture.

Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is a nondestructive technique used for the estimation of concrete properties. This paper investigates the use of UPV test in combination with compressive strength test in order to lower the uncertainty of the latter. For this purpose, 23 mixes were used. The uncertainty of converting UPV measuring results into compressive strength was estimated. A function for combining compressive strength test results with UPV measurements is introduced along with a corresponding uncertainty budget.