A study on mechanical properties of concrete including activated recycled plastic waste

This paper describes the experimental studies carried out to determine the properties of fresh and hardened concrete with Recycled Plastic Waste (RPW) as a partial replacement material for fine aggregates. In the experimental study, RPW was used for replacing river sand and manufactured sand (M sand) aggregates in concrete. The replacement level of fine aggregates was ranging from 5% to 20% by volume with an increment of 5%. M40 grade of concrete with water cement ratio of 0.40 was used in this study. Two different types of RPW were used, and they are (i) un-activated RPW and (ii) activated RPW. The activated RPW was obtained by alkali activation of un-activated RPW using NaOH solution. The hardened properties of the concrete determined were dry density, compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). The properties of the concrete with river sand, M sand, activated RPW and un-activated RPW were compared and inferences were drawn. The effect of activation using NaOH solution was investigated using FT-IR study. The micro structural examination of hardened concrete was carried out using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The test results show that the strength of concrete with activated RPW was more than that of un-activated RPW. From the results, it is evident that it is feasible to use 5% un-activated RPW and 15% activated RPW as fine aggregates for making concrete without affecting the strength properties.