There is currently no feasible way to reuse carbon fiber composite wastes and other end-of-life products from the aerospace industry. Instead, these meticulously engineered materials are currently landfilled. Existing chemical processes to extract the original fibers from the composites and reuse them cost too much in energy, chemicals, and time and result in low-quality fibers. In the meantime, the FHWA and departments of transportation are seeking sustainable infrastructure materials that are durable in adverse freeze and thaw conditions. The intent of this project is to bring together the high quality trash from the aerospace industry with portland cement concrete (PCC). The focus is to experimentally optimize additives that will produce a PCC with the durability and mechanical properties able to withstand service loads in cold climates. With the success of this project, the aerospace industry’s waste can be used as input material to produce a consistent and high-quality new additive for PCCs used by DOTs, state counties/municipalities, and private industry for application in pavements, sidewalks, bridge decks, Jersey barriers, and more. Thus the project will benefit industry, send less non-decomposing waste to landfills, and create entrepreneurial opportunities in clean technology.
Principal Investigator: Somayeh Nassiri, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: Center for Environmentally Sustainable Transportation in Cold Climates
Scheduled completion: December 2017