Production of Low-Cost, High-Strength Concrete with Waste Glass as Fine Aggregates Replacement

Abstract

The world of building materials is constantly and rapidly developing. New technologies are needed to reduce the cost of producing these materials and to ensure better efficiency when the materials are used in various engineering projects. One of these materials is high-strength concrete. This paper investigates the production of low-cost, high-strength concrete by partially replacing fine aggregates (FA) with waste glass sand (WGS). Four concrete mixes were considered in this study with varying percentages of WGS (0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%). For each mix, cubic, cylindrical, and beam specimens were cast to study the workability and different mechanical properties of concrete-like density, elasticity modulus, compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), split tensile strength, and flexural strength. In addition, the cost of each mix was calculated to evaluate the cost reduction efficiency of concrete with WGS compared to normal concrete. Results showed that the workability of concrete enhanced as the percentage of WGS increased. In terms of concrete mechanical properties, it was shown that the elasticity modulus, compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexure strength for a concrete mix with 50% WGS as FA replacement was increased by 7%, 27%, 9%, and 50%, respectively. Also, it was concluded that the presence of WGS in concrete mixes reduced the production cost by up to 30% for a 75% replacement level. The authors recommended the usage of 50% WGS as the optimum replacement percentage for low-cost, high-strength concrete.