Blocks for Performance of Masonry Using PET Bottle Seal: Thermal, Acoustic, and Mechanical and Evaluation

Abstract

Recycling and reuse of materials is seen as the most evident solution for sustainable development. One aspect relevant to this development refers to integration of engineering to devise ways that enable the reuse of materials considered as waste, but with great potential of applicability in the building industry itself, through the generation of appropriate technologies and products that can be an alternative to social housing. So, this research aims to propose the use of PET bottles incorporated in blocks for the implementation of masonry that provides a thermal insulation in social housing. For the execution of the blocks, the PET bottles were inserted and centered in wooden molds easily made, which were subsequently filled with mortar. Three walls were executed in masonry with conventional ceramic brick, and three walls with blocks of PET for comparison of performance in thermal, acoustic, and mechanical behavior, varying the mix proportion of mortar. The thermal test consisted of preparing panels having a height of 1.20 m and a width of 1.00 m, instrumented with five thermo pair in both sides, measuring the temperatures at the surface of incidence of the heat source and on the opposite side. The acoustic performance test was done in two ways, a pure and a more complex method, using a reverberating chamber, always placing a sound source on one side and measuring the sound pressure after the wave crossed the walls already thermally tested. To obtain the mechanical performance, measurements, the same panels were tested with compression in a structures laboratory. The masonry made with PET blocks showed in thermal tests, performance similar behavior to those obtained in conventional masonry. In the acoustic tests, masonry blocks made with PET were superior to masonry with ceramic blocks. In tests concerning the mechanical performance, all three PET block walls reached greater tensile strength than those with ceramic bricks. Therefore the blocks with PET can be used as sealing bricks. Their manufacturing process is simple and could be applied for use with poor populations with the support of an institution to produce that element of construction, generating employment and income.