EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF LIGHT-WEIGHT CONCRETE INCORPORATING REGRANULATED WASTE POLYPROPYLENE

References: 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2017, www.sgem.org, SGEM2017 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7408-13-3 / ISSN 1314-2704, 29 June - 5 July, 2017, Vol. 17, Issue 62, 155-162 pp, DOI: 10.5593/sgem2017/62/S26.020

ABSTRACT

Concrete production has high adverse effect on the quality of environment, and its sustainability is open question for material researchers and producers. In addressing the environmental concerns of concrete manufacturing and problems relating to the disposal of wastes and industrial by-product and also economic advantages, application of secondary raw materials in composition of concrete mix is of the particular importance both from the environmental and financial point of view. A substantial growth in the consumption of plastics is observed all over the world in recent years, which has led to huge quantities of plastic-related waste. Recycling of plastic waste to produce new materials like concrete or mortar appears as one of the best solution for disposing of plastic waste, due to its economic and ecological advantages. In this paper, light-weight concrete incorporating high volume of waste polypropylene was developed and experimentally tested. Regranulated polypropylene, a by-product of polypropylene tubes production, partially substituted fine natural silica aggregate in 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mass %. First, characterization of waste plastic was done. Specific attention was paid to thermal properties of regranulated polypropylene that were examined in dependence on compaction time. For the developed light-weight concrete, basic physical, mechanical and hygric properties were accessed. Since the thermal properties were of the particular importance, they were measured using transient impulse technique in dependence on moisture content, from the dry state to fully water saturated state. The tested light-weight concrete was found to be prospective construction material having improved thermal insulation function and acceptable mechanical strength. From the environmental and financial point of view, the reuse of waste polypropylene in concrete composition was beneficial taking into account plastics low biodegradability and safe disposal.

Keywords: light-weight concrete, regranulated polypropylene, waste plastics disposal, thermal properties, hygric properties.