Possibility of using recycled waste medical-glass as fine aggregate in normal-strength concrete

Abstract

The possibility of using recycled waste medical-glass aggregate (RGA) as a fine aggregate in the production of normal-strength concrete was investigated in this study. The influence of RGA as crushed sand (CS) replacement at different levels (by volume) of 0 – 100% (an interval of 20%) on the engineering properties and durability of concrete was also studied. Results show that the replacement of CS by RGA insignificantly affected the workability and unit weight of fresh concrete mixtures. Besides, using RGA to replace 20 – 60% CS was beneficial in terms of compressive strength, drying shrinkage, and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). At these replacement levels, the dry density values were found to increase and the water absorption values were reduced as well. However, replacing CS with RGA up to 80% and 100% caused a reduction in compressive strength, dry density, and UPV and an increase in water absorption and drying shrinkage of concretes. Closed correlations among the above-mentioned concrete properties were also found in this study. All of the concrete samples obtained compressive strength values higher than the target strength (≥ 25 MPa) and they were classified as very good quality concretes with UPV values of above 4100 m/s. The experimental results demonstrate a high possibility of producing normal-strength concrete with a fine aggregate of RGA as either partially or fully replacement of CS. This also provides an environmentally-friendly solution for recycling waste medical glass in construction materials for sustainable development.