Modulus of rupture evaluation of cement stabilized recycled glass/recycled concrete aggregate blends

Abstract

Construction and Demolition (C&D) wastes are increasingly used as construction material in a range of civil engineering applications. Fine Recycled Glass (FRG) is collected at municipal kerbsides and its usage to date has been limited to unbound pavement layers. This research was undertaken to evaluate the performance of FRG as a supplementary material in blends with cement stabilized recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). Laboratory evaluation was undertaken on the RCA/FRG blends with 10%, 20% and 30% FRG content and stabilized with 3% medium setting General Blend (GB) cement. The laboratory evaluation was comprised of pH, plasticity index, foreign materials content, particle size distribution, linear shrinkage, California Bearing Ratio, modified Proctor compaction, Repeated Load Triaxial test, Unconfined Compressive Strength test and flexural beam tests. The cement stabilized RCA/FRG blends with up to 30% FRG content were found to have physical properties, which comply with the local state road authority requirements. The results of Repeated Load Triaxial tests indicated the RCA/FRG blends performed well with 30% FRG content just on the border line for bound pavement material. Unconfined Compression Strengths met the minimum requirement for 7days of curing for all blends, while the 28day strength of the blends showed a significant improvement with curing. The results of the flexural beam tests were noted to be consistent with past works with cement stabilized virgin quarry rock products. The modulus of rupture and flexural modulus for all the cement-stabilized RCA/FRG blends indicate that these blends are suitable for applications such as cement-stabilized pavement bases/subbases. The fatigue life was also within the range previously reported for quarry materials. The cement-stabilized blends with FRG as a supplementary material with up to 30% FRG content and 3% GB cement were found to have physical and strength properties, which would comply with road authority requirements.