International Journal of Mechanical and Production

Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD)

ISSN(P): 2249-6890; ISSN(E): 2249-8001
Vol. 9, Issue 1, Jan 2019, 422-426
© TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON EFFECTIVE USAGE OF

WASTE GLASS IN CONCRETE

VIJAYAGANTH. G1, RAJALAKSHMI. S2, VISHNU. A3, RAJAVEL. R4 & UMANATH. K5

1,4,5
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Academy of Maritime Education and Training, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2,3
Department of Civil Engineering, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
ABSTRACT

The total annual domestic glass product usage is approximately 4.2million tons, among which sheet glass for
windows occupies about 36%, fiberglass products 6% and disposable glassware and other glass materials are about
58%. The increasing trend of waste glass generation due to urbanization during the past 2 decades has raised a social
and environmental concern for recycling these glasses. The main objective of this study is to identify whether the waste
glass generated could be reused in concrete for the construction industry. This study details the use of crushed glass
for partial replacement of fine aggregates in concrete and determining the strength of concrete. The percentages of
replacement that are considered for the study are 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by weight of the aggregate. The
compressive strength values of glass concrete or glasscrete and control specimen are determined and compared after 7

Original Article
and 28 days of curing. The test shows variations in compressive strength values and an optimum percentage of
replacement of fine aggregate with the domestic glass in concrete has also arrived. The split tensile strength for the
optimum percentage of replacement was also determined for concrete up to the optimum percentage of replacement.

KEYWORDS: Concrete, Fine Aggregate, Glasscrete, Waste Glass & Split Tensile Strength

1. INTRODUCTION

There is a constantly growing interest in identifying alternate eco-friendly materials for use in concrete,
largely as a potential use for recycled materials. There is significant research on many different materials for
finding out better aggregate substitutes like granular coal ash, blast furnace slag, and solid wastes including the
demolished concrete. The aggregate constitutes about 70% to 80% of the total volume of concrete which in turn is
the reason for the increase in total cost of concrete in construction. The problem identified is a generation of more
number of waste glasses which in turn serves as pollution around the globe. This study is on the reuse of the waste
glass as aggregate in concrete for construction. Glass is highly transparent formed by melting a mixture of
materials such as silica, soda ash and CaCO3 at a temperature of about 1900˚C and solidifies on cooling. It has
been indispensible in man’s life because it posses various properties like resistance to abrasion, durable and attains
different shapes with ease. Another reason for choosing glass as an alternative aggregate is because of its corrosion
less property. In foreign countries, bottle recovery system has been adopted where the waste bottles are collected,
washed and reused or sometimes crushed and recycled as raw materials for making new bottles. Glass concrete or
glasscrete is a concrete mix in which there is a partial replacement for fine aggregate with waste and colorless
glass. Waste glass can serve as a filler material in concrete as it is mainly composed of silica as its major
constituent.

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423 Vijayaganth. G, Rajalakshmi. S, Vishnu. A, Rajavel. R & Umanath. K

Vikas Srivastava et al (2014) observed a poor concrete strength due to poor surface characteristics and shape of
the waste glass materials used as coarse aggregate in concrete. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of concrete
containing waste glass aggregates have been studied by Park et al.,(2004). The properties of concrete made with recycled
and crushed glass at elevated temperatures were analyzed by Mohammed J. Terro (2006). Caijun Shi and Zheng.K (2007)
made a review of the use of waste glass in the production of cement and concrete. Since silica is the main composition of
glass, it can act as a good filler material as well as produce better appearance to concrete. The main objective of this project
is to explore a method to utilize waste glass as an aggregate material in concrete which would be effective in conserving
the environment and further for economical benefits in construction.

Harshad G Patel et al. (2017) investigated on replacement of PVC and waste glass with concrete and noticed that
after testing, compressive strength getting decreased if the waste dosage increased by 30%. The author concluded to
replace the sand by less than 30% of the waste. K. Ramakrishnan et al. (2017) experimentally added ground granulated
blast furnace Slag and waste glass powder with concrete. The author found that adding up of waste glass powder and
ground granulated blast furnace Slag condensed the rate of sorptivity and water absorption of the concrete. And tried with
50:35:15 (cement: ground granulated blast furnace slag: waste glass powder) and 50:30:20 (cement: ground granulated
blast furnace slag: waste glass powder) getting greater than before the compressive strength by 44.20% and 43.08%
respectively and in the same way the split tensile strength value increases by 9% and 7.6% respectively.

Zainab Z. Ismail et al (2009) added 20% of waste glass with concrete and attained greater flexural strength and
compressive strength as 45.9MPa and 11.20 MPa with 10.99% & 4.23% increase for 28 days of curing. Kunal Bisht et al.
(2018) investigated the addition of waste glass powder with concrete in terms of various dosages. The author obtained
comparatively higher compressive strength as 29.3N/mm2, 37.5N/mm2 ,and 46.5N/mm2 in respect of 7 days, 28 days and
90 days of curing time with the use of 20% of the waste glass. M. Aly et al. (2012) suggested 20 wt. % glass powder and 3
wt. % Colloidal nano-silica viable in a cementitious system according to the concern of flexural and compressive strength.

The main objective of this paper is to utilize waste glass as a substitute for aggregate in concrete. Also, it is to
explore a method to utilize waste glass as an aggregate material in concrete which would be effective in conserving the
environment and further for economical benefits in construction. The properties of waste glass were tested and compared
with that of sand. The compressive strength of concrete with waste glass as partial replacement of fine aggregate in
concrete was scrutinized and the optimum percentage of replacement was determined. The cost of a concrete mixture was
also determined. The 3R principle in which recycling is the main concept behind this project.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 43 grade has been used for the value of specific gravity was 3.15. The fineness
of cement was found to be 4.5%. The sand that was used falls under zone III with specific gravity value of 2.62 and
fineness modulus of 2.92. The angular shaped coarse aggregate of size 20mm with a specific gravity of 2.70 was taken for
the project. The impact strength of the coarse aggregate was tested to be 52.44%. The glass chosen as alternative aggregate
material has the specific gravity of about 2.37 and the fineness modulus was 2.84. Table.1 gives the final mix design for
M25 grade concrete. Table 2 gives the actual quantity of ingredients taken for 3 cubes.

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An Experimental Investigation on Effective Usage of 424
Waste Glass in Concrete

Table 1: According to IS 10262-2009 Concrete Mix Design (M25)

Parameter M25
Target mean strength 31.6 N/mm2
Water content 186 lit/m3
Quantities
Sand 38%
Final water content 191.58 kg/m3
Actual cement content 478.95 kg/m3
Check for minimum cement content 320 kg/m3
Fine aggregate 648.128 kg/m3
Aggregate quantity
Coarse aggregate 1098.144 kg/m3
Water cement ratio 0.4
Mix proportion 1:1.35:2.29

Table 2: Ingredients of Concrete with Mix ratio: 1: 1.35: 2.29

Ingredients C G10 G20 G30 G40 G50
Cement (kg/m3) 5.947 5.947 5.947 5.947 5.947 5.947
Water(ml) 2380 2380 2380 2380 2380 2380
Fine aggregate(kg/m3) 7.758 6.982 6.206 5.431 4.655 3.879
Glass (kg/m3) 0 0.776 1.552 2.327 3.103 3.879
w/c 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Coarse aggregate (kg/m3) 13.14 13.14 13.14 13.14 13.14 13.14

The specimens were casted and tested as per IS: 516-1959. For studies on compressive strength, the cubes with
different ratios of glass 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% were casted. For determining the tensile strength, cylinder
specimens were cast with the optimum percentage that was chosen from the compressive strength test. Three specimens for
each percentage of replacement were cast and tested for 7 and 28 days after curing.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The testing was carried out using the standard Compressive Testing Machine (CTM). The compressive strength of
concrete was found to be increasing by the addition of glass till 20% and after that, it started to decrease when compared
with that of the control specimen i.e. (0% replacement). The compressive strength of concrete after 7 and 28 days of curing
for M25 grade of concrete is given in Table.3 and the comparative graph has been plotted and shown in Figure.1. The
optimum percentage of replacement of fine aggregate with colorless glass in concrete was determined to be around 20%
from the test results.

Table 3: Compressive Strength Test

% of Replacement 7 Days of Testing 28 Days of
S. No
of Glass (N/mm2) Testing (N/mm2)
1 0 23.33 32.1
2 10 19.77 32.98
3 20 18.44 33.31
4 30 17.42 23.41
5 40 16.58 20.28
6 50 11.77 13.90

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425 Vijayaganth. G, Rajalakshmi. S, Vishnu. A, Rajavel. R & Umanath. K

Figure1: Comparative Graph Showing the Compressive

Strength at 7 days and 28 days

The tensile strength of concrete cylinders was also cast and tested for 28 days strength with the optimum
percentage of replacement of fine aggregate with glass (10% & 20%). A split tensile strength of cylinder after 28 days of
curing with the optimum percentage of replacement of glass and the control specimen is shown in Table 4 and the graph
has been plotted Figure.2 for the same. The test results show a corresponding increase in the split tensile strength value for
the optimum percentage of replacement of fine aggregate with colorless glass. Hence finally we conclude that the fine
aggregates in concrete can be replaced with up to 20% of colorless glass in concrete for achieving good strength.

Table 4: Split Tensile Strength

% of Replacement 28 Days of Testing
S. No
of Glass (N/mm2)
1 0 25.7
2 10 26.4
3 20 26.5

Figure 2: Split Tensile Strength of a Concrete Cylinder

4. CONCLUSIONS

The optimum percentage of replacement of fine aggregate with glass has been determined. The compressive and
tensile strength properties of concrete up to the optimum percentage of replacement were found to be higher when
compared with the control specimen. Glasscrete proves to be economical since the fine aggregate is replaced up to a certain
percentage. It proves to be eco-friendly since the 3R principle of reuse of waste glass in concrete can be done with an

Impact Factor (JCC): 7.6197 SCOPUS Indexed Journal NAAS Rating: 3.11
An Experimental Investigation on Effective Usage of 426
Waste Glass in Concrete

achievement of good strength behavior of concrete. Hence fine aggregate one of the demanding natural resources can be
preserved with the use of glasscrete in the construction industry.

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