Study of Fly Ash Based Light Weight Concrete with Plastic Waste Aggregate as a Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregate

Abstract

In concrete industry there has been increasing trend towards use of recycled aggregate to save lot of natural resources and to provide lightweight concrete (LWC). Compared with conventional concrete, LWC can considerably cut back the dead load of structural elements. The low biodegradability of plastic and the presence in massive quantities of waste plastic negatively impact the environment. This study focuses on the development of light weight concrete using waste materials as a part of waste management. This study presents the mechanical properties of concrete by using waste plastic as a partial replacement of coarse aggregate in various proportions of 5, 10, 15, 20% and by replacing cement with 10, 20, 30% of fly ash. The low densified composite material was much lighter than that of the conventional light weight concrete. To offset the reduction of strength due to the less densified structure, the addition of mineral admixture was proposed. The investigation using fly ash has showed an improvement in the compressive strength.