Recycled glass as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in self compacting concrete

Abstract

Glass has been indispensable to man’s life due to its properties, including pliability to take any shape with ease, bright surface, resistance to abrasion, reasonable safety and durability. Waste glass creates serious environmental problems, mainly due to the inconsistency of waste glass streams. With increasing environmental pressure to reduce solid waste and to recycle as much as possible, the concrete industry has adopted a number of methods to achieve this goal. Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) may lead to evolution of a more quality controlled concrete, assuring a better workability and avoiding human errors with regard to mixing and workability issues. On the other hand, it resolves the problem of noise and vibration during installation. The object of this research work is to study the effect of using recycled glass waste, as a partial replacement of fine aggregate, on the fresh and hardened properties of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC). A total of 18 concrete mixes were produced with different cement contents (350, 400 and 450kg/m3) at W/C ratio of 0.4. Recycled glass was used to replace fine aggregate in proportions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%. The experimental results showed that the slump flow increased with the increase of recycled glass content. On the other hand, the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and static modulus of elasticity of recycled glass (SCC) mixtures were decreased with the increase in the recycled glass content. The results showed that recycled glass aggregate can successfully be used for producing self-compacting concrete.