Use of milled waste glass in recycled aggregate concrete

• DOI: 10.1680/coma.11.00059
• Publication Date: 2012-09-21T02:32:44Z
• Authors: Roz-Ud-Din Nassar; Parviz Soroushian
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; 12. Responsible consumption

Use of milled waste glass, as partial replacement for cement, to overcome the drawbacks of recycled aggregate concrete was investigated. Based on experimental investigations of the structure and properties of concrete materials, it was found that waste glass, when milled to micro-scale particle size, undergoes pozzolanic reactions with cement hydrates, forming secondary calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H). These reactions bring about favourable changes in the structure of the hydrated cement paste and the interfacial transition zones in normal and recycled aggregate concrete. Use of milled waste glass, as partial replacement of cement, produced significant gains in mechanical properties, dimensional stability, and abrasive effects, of recycled aggregate and normal concrete. Milled waste glass was also found to suppress alkali–silica reactions. Recycling of waste glass in concrete can divert large quantities of the market-limited (mixed-colour) waste glass from landfills for value-added use as partial replacement for cement, enable effective use of recycled aggregates in concrete, yield major cost and energy savings, and enhance the long-term performance and the sustainability of concrete-based infrastructure systems.