Use of waste plastic in concrete mixture as aggregate replacement

Industrial activities in Iraq are associated with significant amounts of non-biodegradable solid waste,
waste plastic being among the most prominent. This study involved 86 experiments and 254 tests to
determine the efficiency of reusing waste plastic in the production of concrete. Thirty kilograms of waste
plastic of fabiform shapes was used as a partial replacement for sand by 0%, 10%, 15%, and 20% with
800 kg of concrete mixtures. All of the concrete mixtures were tested at room temperature. These tests
include performing slump, fresh density, dry density, compressive strength, flexural strength, and
toughness indices. Seventy cubes were molded for compressive strength and dry density tests, and 54
prisms were cast for flexural strength and toughness indices tests. Curing ages of 3, 7, 14, and 28 days
for the concrete mixtures were applied in this work. The results proved the arrest of the propagation of
micro cracks by introducing waste plastic of fabriform shapes to concrete mixtures. This study insures
that reusing waste plastic as a sand-substitution aggregate in concrete gives a good approach to reduce
the cost of materials and solve some of the solid waste problems posed by plastics. The researchers
applied these in the incorporation of shredded plastic on the concrete aggregate therefore making it
more durable and eco-friendlier.

Ismail, Z. Z., & Al-Hashmi, E. A. (2008). Use of waste plastic in concrete mixture as aggregate
replacement. Waste management, 28(11), 2041-2047.

Design and Construction of a Plastic Shredder Machine for Recycling and Management of Plastic Wastes

—This research work is aimed at solving the problems of plastic wastes management in developing
countries. In this study, we designed and constructed a plastic shredding machine. The machine consists
of the following main components; hopper assembly, shredding chamber, drive shaft, frame, V-belts,
and an electric motor. The machine was evaluated for performance using generated plastic wastes in
the environment of Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Nigeria. The results obtained show that the
machine has a hopper capacity of 0.066m3, centrifugal tension of 9.74N, maximum tension of 229.5N,
shredding force of 680.547N, shaft diameter of 29.5mm, bending stress of 86MPa, shearing stress of
42MPa, and torque of 29.21Nm. Also determined was the total force acting on the flywheel which was
gotten as 728.367N, equivalent bending moment of 210.35Nm, and forces acting on the pulley as
478.63N. The performance evaluation of the machine gave a result of 98.44% shredding efficiency, a
shredding rate of 0.575kg/s. The shredded plastic wastes have a size ranging between 10mm to
20mm.In the research proposed, the shredder is smaller and is placed on top of the machine.
David, A., & Joel, O. O. (2018). Design and Construction of a Plastic Shredder Machine for Recycling and
Management of Plastic Wastes. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 9(5).

Design, Construction and Testing of a Multipurpose Brick/Block Moulding Machine

A multipurpose brick/block making machine was designed in accordance with the standard design
calculations and it was then constructed using simple fabrication processes. Thereafter, the machine
was used to produce affordable and quality bricks and blocks in line with the African Regional Standard
for compressed earth blocks ARS 674: 1996 [5] and the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute
(NBRRI) standard. The cost of producing the machine was two hundred and eighty-six thousand, eight
hundred and ninety naira (N286,890.00) only. This is very cheap compared to the similar machine
(Hydro form CEB machine) that costs about six million naira (6,000,000.00) only. The actual brick
production rate was two thousand, two hundred and fifteen (2,215) pieces per day. This is lower than
the designed rate of three thousand and hundred (3,100) pieces per day. However, this can be boosted
by increasing the motor’s speed or modifying the mound to produce two (2) or more bricks/blocks
simultaneously. The proposed research deviates from the existing research because the press is
hydraulic operated.
Yakubu, S. O., & Umar, M. B. (2015). Design, Construction and Testing of a Multipurpose Brick/Block
Moulding Machine.

Design and Fabrication of a Manually Operated Hydraulic Press

The paper presents the development of a manually operated hydraulic press which
encompasses the design, fabrication and performance evaluation of the press. The components parts of
the machine were designed using various design equations. The design results were used to select
materials for various components. The detailed drawing of the developed machine was done using Pro E
software. In fabricating the machine, mild steel was used as the locally sourced material. The use of mild
steel is due to the fact that its strength, rigidity and machinability falls within the design specifications.
Some components of the machine developed include; the frame, cylinder mounting table, press pin,
working table/bed, hydraulic tank, and hand lever. Some of the bought-out parts include: ram assembly,
pressure hose, pressure indicator and hydraulic pump. In evaluating the performance of the machine
developed, mild steel plate of length 220 mm, breadth 70 mm and thickness 20 mm was put on the
machine working table. This piece of material was bent after pressing the hand lever. The pressure at
which bending took place was read to be 50 bar as indicated on the pressure gauge. The machine
developed was also used to press a sleeve of internal diameter of 85 mm and external diameter of 89
mm into the cylinder of an engine block at a pressure of 15 bar. This existing design deviates from the
proposed design because the proposed design is electrically operated whereas the existing design is
manually operated