Ecological concrete (EC) is a promising material that offers both effective surface protection in engineering and contributes to ecological restoration. However, it remains a significant challenge to improve bending resistance and tensile strength simultaneously, particularly for slope ecological restoration, where these properties are essential. This study employs an orthogonal experimental design to evaluate the effects of various factors, including water–cement ratio, coarse aggregate, fly ash, and metakaolin on the performance of EC, with the goal of determining an optimal mix ratio that satisfies both porosity and compressive strength requirements. The results indicate that, when the water–cement ratio is 0.30, the coarse aggregate particle size is 3–6 mm, the fly ash content is 15%, and metakaolin content is 10%, the EC achieves superior performance with a compressive strength of 18.3 MPa and a porosity of 29%. Then, a flexible ecological concrete blanket (FECB) is subsequently proposed utilizing this optimized EC mix. The FECB demonstrates excellent bending performance and a tensile strength of 4.2 MPa. This innovative FECB not only expands the application potential of EC in engineering but also provides a promising solution for future slope surface protection materials.
Song et al. (Sat,) studied this question.