Development of a novel 124 MPa strength green reactive powder concrete employing waste glass and locally available cement

Abstract

In this study, a new reactive powder concrete (RPC) was developed, with environmentally friendly typical RPC components obtained from ground quartz substituted by the waste glass. In this manner, the carbon footprint and final cost are minimized by replacing aggregates and reducing cement. A challenge in this study was using high-celite phase available cement and avoiding the alkali-silica reaction. The Box–Wilson design and Derringer–Suich optimization were used to create an RPC mixture with a low cement content and high-volume waste glass dosage that achieved a compressive strength of more than 120 MPa. It was demonstrated that having all ground waste glass particles smaller than 1000 µm is not sufficient to prevent the alkali-silica expansion. Furthermore, commercially available cement with a high celite proportion had a modest beneficial influence on the compressive strength at an early-age but a significant detrimental impact on the RPC’s compressive strength at 28 days. Finally, the current study proved the potential of manufacturing an RPC that satisfied the strength threshold criterion while utilizing a local cement with over 12% celite and a substantial volume of waste glass powder comprising more than half of the RPC weight.