Abstract
Currently, tons of high quality commercial glass are down-cycled or landfilled due to contaminants that prevent close-loop recycling. Yet, this glass is potentially a valuable resource for casting robust and aesthetically unique building components. Exploring the potential of this idea, different types of non-recyclable silicate glasses are kiln-cast into 30times 30times 240 mm beams, at relatively low temperatures (820–1120,^{circ }hbox {C}). The defects occurring in the glass specimens due to cullet contamination and the high viscosity of the glass melt, are documented and correlated to the casting parameters. Then, the kiln-cast specimens and industrially manufactured reference beams are tested in four-point bending, obtaining a flexural strength range of 9–72 MPa. The results are analysed according to the role of the chemical composition, level of contamination and followed casting parameters, in determining the flexural strength, the Young’s modulus and the prevailing strength-limiting flaw. Chemical compositions of favourable performance are highlighted, so as critical flaws responsible for a dramatic decrease in strength, up to 75%. The defects situated in the glass bulk, however, are tolerated by the glass network and have minor impact on flexural strength and Young’s modulus. The prerequisites for good quality recycled cast glass building components are identified and an outline for future research is provided.
Highlights
The great potential of glass casting technology for the building industry is so far little explored by structural engineers and architects, but are gradually getting discovered after the success of all cast-glass load bearing structures such as the Crystal Houses façade in Amsterdam (Oikonomopoulou et al 2018c)
This paper explores the flexural strength of recycled cast glass—a property relevant to the engineering practice
The flexural strength of the cast glass specimens is conjointly related to their chemical composition and inherent defects
Summary
The great potential of glass casting technology for the building industry is so far little explored by structural engineers and architects, but are gradually getting discovered after the success of all cast-glass load bearing structures such as the Crystal Houses façade in Amsterdam (Oikonomopoulou et al 2018c). The lack of infrastructure for collection, product disassembly and cullet separation concerning these different types of glass, originates from the hesitation of the manufacturers to accept this cullet, and limits or prevents its recycling. As this glass cannot flow back into the original product system (close-loop recycling), it gets down-cycled to applications such as aggregate, ceramic-based products, foam insulation, abrasives (Silva et al 2017), or is disposed of in landfills. As the need of finding alternative routes, markets and end-users for the upcycling of the tons of high-quality discarded glass is imperative, the partial diversion of this waste into the building industry by casting structural glass components is worth exploring
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