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Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588

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Reuse of thermosetting plastic waste for lightweight concrete

a,* b
Phaiboon Panyakapo , Mallika Panyakapo
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Sripatum University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
b
Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand

Accepted 13 August 2007

Available online 1 October 2007

Abstract

This paper presents the utilization of thermosetting plastic as an admixture in the mix proportion of lightweight concrete. Since this
type of plastic cannot be melted in the recycling process, its waste is expected to be more valuable by using as an admixture for the pro-
duction of non-structural lightweight concrete. Experimental tests for the variation of mix proportion were carried out to determine the
suitable proportion to achieve the required properties of lightweight concrete, which are: low dry density and acceptable compressive
strength. The mix design in this research is the proportion of plastic, sand, water–cement ratio, aluminum powder, and lignite fly
ash. The experimental results show that the plastic not only leads to a low dry density concrete, but also a low strength. It was found
that the ratio of cement, sand, fly ash, and plastic equal to 1.0:0.8:0.3:0.9 is an appropriate mix proportion. The results of compressive
strength and dry density are 4.14 N/mm2 and 1395 kg/m3, respectively. This type of concrete meets most of the requirements for non-
load-bearing lightweight concrete according to ASTM C129 Type II standard.
 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction heating because the molecular chains are bonded firmly

In Bangkok, the quantity of solid wastes is expanding
rapidly. During the last two decades, the average solid
waste generation has increased from 3260 tons/day in
1985 to 6633 tons/day and 13,000 tons/day in 1995 and
2005, respectively (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration,
2005). It is estimated that the rate of expansion is doubled
every 10 years. This is due to the rapid growth of the pop-
ulation as well as the industrial sector. Among these solid
wastes, plastic and foam wastes comprise up to 20% of
the total waste.
Plastics can be separated into two types. The first type is
thermoplastic, which can be melted for recycling in the
plastic industry. These plastics are polyethylene, polypro-
pylene, polyamide, polyoxymethylene, polytetrafluorethyl-
ene, and polyethyleneterephthalate. The second type is
thermosetting plastic. This plastic cannot be melted by
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 2 5791111x2161; fax: +66 2
5791111x2147.
E-mail address: phaiboon.pa@spu.ac.th (P. Panyakapo).
with meshed crosslinks. These plastic types are known as
phenolic, melamine, unsaturated polyester, epoxy resin, sil-
icone, and polyurethane. At present, these plastic wastes
are disposed by either burning or burying. However, these
processes are costly. If the thermosetting plastic waste can
be reused, the pollution that is caused by the burning pro-
cess as well as the cost of these waste management pro-
cesses can be reduced.
To achieve this purpose, a study of these thermosetting
plastics for application into construction materials has
been conducted, particularly for the concrete wall in build-
ings. In Thailand, lightweight concrete is extensively used
for the construction of interior and exterior walls of build-
ings for the case where the walls are not designed for lateral
loads. This is due to the special characteristics of light-
weight concrete. At present, non-structural lightweight
concrete block can be produced commercially up to a den-
sity of 600 kg/m3, which is only 1/4 of normal weight con-
crete, and only 1/3 the normal weight of ordinary brick.
Secondly, its thermal conductivity is about 0.089–
0.150 W/m K, which is only 1/10 of the brick wall. Its

0956-053X/$ - see front matter  2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2007.08.006
1582 P. Panyakapo, M. Panyakapo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588
compressive strength is in the range of 2.5–10.0 N/mm2,
which is 2–3 times greater than that of the bricks that are
generally made in Thailand. Bricks are typically used for
non-load-bearing walls, and their compressive strength is
not greater than 3.0 N/mm2. Therefore, the utilization of
lightweight concrete for wall is superior to bricks.
The manufacturing technology of lightweight concrete
may be separated into three main types. The first type is
called no-fine aggregate concrete. Here, the fine sand is
removed from the concrete mixture, resulting in voids
between pieces of coarse aggregate, which leads to a low
density concrete. The second type is called aerated con-
crete. This process produces the voids in the concrete mass
by using agents such as aluminum powder or foaming sol-
vent. The third type is made from lightweight aggregate,
for example, pumice material. In this research, the technol-
ogy of aerated concrete to produce lightweight concrete has
been employed. Since the specific gravity of thermosetting
plastic is about one-half of the typical fine and coarse
aggregates, its density is lower than the aggregates that
are used in the normal mixed design of concrete. An appli-
cation of thermosetting plastic waste in the concrete there-
fore corresponds to the third type of lightweight concrete.
During the past decade, several researchers have studied
the utilization of solid wastes in concrete and construction
materials. Rebeiz (1996) investigated the strength proper-
ties of un-reinforced and reinforced polymer concrete using
an unsaturated polyester resin based on recycled polyethyl-
eneterephthalate (PET) plastic waste. The results showed
that the resins based on recycled PET can be used to pro-
duce a good quality of precast concrete. However, it was
reported by Naik et al. (1996) that compressive strength
decreased with an increase in the amount of the plastic in
concrete, particularly above 0.5% plastic addition to total
weight of the mixture. Sikalidis et al. (2002) investigated
the utilization of municipal solid wastes (MSW) for the
production of mortar. These wastes are composed of two
fractions: the heavy component comprising mainly earthen
material, such as stone, broken ceramics, and glass; and the
light materials being mainly paper, wood, light plastics,
leather and cloth pieces, various fibers and other similar
combustible materials. It was found that the MSW was
economically feasible for the production of mortar. Choi
et al. (2005) investigated the effects of waste PET bottles
aggregate on the properties of concrete. The waste plastic
could reduce the weight by 2–6% of normal weight con-
crete. However, the compressive strength was reduced up
to 33% compared to that of normal concrete. Similarly,
the results of Batayneh et al. (2006) showed the deteriora-
tion of compressive strength with an increase in the propor-
tion of plastic content. For the plastic proportion of 20% of
sand, the compressive strength was reduced up to 70%
compared to that of normal concrete. Recently, Marzouk
et al. (2007) also studied the effects of PET waste on the
density and compressive strength of concrete. It was found
that the density and compressive strength decreased when
the PET aggregates exceeded 50% by volume of sand.
The density and compressive strength of concrete were
between 1000–2000 kg/m3 and 5–60 MPa, respectively.
However, the PET bottles are made of thermoplastic,
which is a valuable material because it can be recycled by
melting. In Thailand, this plastic material is separately col-
lected for recycling. However, thermosetting plastic cannot
be melted and is thus difficult to recycle. Thus, it would be
very interesting to investigate the utilization of thermoset-
ting plastic waste as a component in concrete material, par-
ticularly for lightweight concrete.
This paper therefore presents an investigation of light-
weight concrete using thermosetting plastic waste, espe-
cially amino-melamine. The technology of aerated
concrete is adopted by applying aluminum powder to pro-
duce lightweight concrete. Lignite fly ash is also selected as
an admixture to improve the concrete strength. The appro-
priate mixed proportions for the ratio of cement, sand, fly
ash, and plastic have been investigated. The compressive
strength and dry density have been tested to determine
the suitable proportion that meets the requirements of
non-structural lightweight concrete.
2. Materials
2.1. Ordinary portland cement
This cement type conforms to cement type I as per
ASTM C150-94.
2.2. Sand
Natural river sand was used after separating by sieve in
accordance with the grading requirement for fine aggregate
(ASTM C33-92).
2.3. Thermosetting plastic
In this study, melamine which is a widely used type of
thermosetting plastic has been selected for application in
the mixed design of concrete. The melamine industry was
first developed in Switzerland in 1938. Since then, it has
grown rapidly in various countries in the world. In Asia,
melamine was first produced by Japan in 1951. In Thai-
land, this product has been adopted since 1973. The mela-
mine products are mainly tableware such as plates, bowls,
spoons, cups, etc. The raw materials are composed of three
main components, i.e. alpha cellulose, melamine crystal,
and formaldehyde. The product from these three sub-
stances has a resistance to breaking, a very hard surface,
high temperature resistance, low thermal conductivity,
bright color; it is easy to handle, non-toxic, and has low
specific gravity. The mechanical and physical properties
of melamine are shown in Table 1.
The melamine waste was ground with a grinding
machine. The ground melamine waste was separated under
sieve analysis. The results of cumulative percentage passing
from a set of sieves were compared with the grading
 P. Panyakapo, M. Panyakapo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588 1583

Table 1 2ð3CaO  SiO2 Þ þ 6H2 O ! 3CaO  2SiO2 :3H2 O

Mechanical and physical properties of melamine
þ 3CaðOHÞ2 ð1Þ
Description Properties
Specific gravity 1.48 When the aluminum powder is filled into the cement paste,
Tensile strength (MPa) 60 the following reaction is generated:
Tensile elongation (%) 0.79
Notched izod impact (J/m) 16.0 2Al þ 3CaðOHÞ2 þ 6H2 O ! 3CaO  Al2 O3  6H2 O
Temperature resistance (C) 300
Water absorption (%) 5.6
þ 3H2 ð2Þ
Hydrogen gas creates many small air bubbles in the cement
paste. The sizes of air bubbles are in the range of 0.1–
requirements for fine aggregate according to ASTM C33-
1.0 mm. It was estimated that 1 kg aluminum powder can
92. The grain size distributions were then plotted as shown
produce up to 1.19 m3 hydrogen gas. Based on a previous
in Fig. 1. It was observed that the gradation curve of the
study (Studart et al., 2005), it is anticipated that most of
combination of sand and plastic aggregates meets most
the aluminum powder (about 75% of the initial aluminum
of the requirements of ASTM C33-92. The melamine
weight) reacted with water in the cement paste at the tested
aggregates were coarser than those of sand. The melamine
age. These small air bubbles, which are entrained in the
particles had rough shape and surface texture. As a result,
mass of concrete, cause an expansion of concrete mass.
the mechanical interlocking of the coarse aggregate con-
The density of concrete becomes lower than the normal
tributed to the compressive strength of mortar. Therefore,
weight concrete due to this air entrainment. This type of
the aggregates were blended from fine sand and coarse
lightweight concrete is then called aerated concrete.
ground melamine.
In the process of producing lightweight concrete, aer-
2.5. Fly ash
ated concrete was produced by the formation of gas, which
rises to the surface of concrete. The very small plastic par-
It is anticipated that the presence of plastic waste may
ticles tended to rise to the concrete surface along with the
affect the compressive strength of concrete. To improve
rising gas. The relatively large plastic particles segregated
the strength, fly ash was added in addition to fine sand.
to the bottom part of concrete. To avoid the segregation
In this study, the fly ash was obtained from the Mae
of fine and coarse particles, the appropriate particle sizes
Moh Lignite mine in Thailand. The chemical composition
were chosen from those retained on sieve numbers 10–40.
of the fly ash agreed with class C according to ASTM
It was found that these selected plastic sizes could be mixed
C618-94 (Table 2).
thoroughly with the cement paste. As a result, the air
entraining in the void was uniformly distributed in the
3. Mix design method
mass of concrete.
The materials employed for the mix proportion were as
2.4. Aluminum powder
follows: (a) portland cement type 1, (b) sand according to
grading requirement for fine aggregate (ASTM C33-92),
In this study, the process of producing aerated concrete
(c) water, (d) thermosetting plastic (melamine) ground
employed the chemical reaction by using alkaline metal.
and processed under sieve analysis, (e) lignite fly ash from
Aluminum powder was selected as an agent to produce
Mae Moh mine, and (f) aluminum powder. An appropriate
hydrogen gas in the cement paste. The reactions between
mix proportion was determined to meet the specification
the composition of cement and water are as follows:
for non-load-bearing lightweight concrete according to
ASTM C129-05 Type II standard.
ASTM sieve number To determine the suitable composition of each material,
200 100 50 30 16 8 4 3/8
100 the mixing proportions were tested in the laboratory, as
3
C3 shown in Table 3. In this study, the mix proportions were
Cumulative percentage passing

TM
80 AS tic separated for six experimental sets. For each set, the
or las
dP
d

sf
San

n
at e nd
a
cement content was specified as a constant proportion.
reg Sa
60 gg
ea
fin
n of
o
40 gi
Re Table 2
stic

Chemical composition of fly ash from Mae Moh Mine

Pla

20
Composition Mae Moh fly ash (%) ASTM C618 class C (%)

0
SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 67.12 50.0
SO3 3.64 5.0
0.10 1.00 10.00 CaO 22.62 > 10
Sieve size, mm Moisture content 0.25 3.0
Loss of ignition 0.20 6.0
Fig. 1. Gradation of sand and ground melamine.
1584 P. Panyakapo, M. Panyakapo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588

Table 3 der in both groups were taken as 0.75 and 0.004 by weight
Mix proportions of melamine lightweight composites of cement, respectively. For mix number 2, to determine
Mix no. Mix proportions (by weight) the optimum proportion of sand, the quantities of sand
Cement Sand Water Fly Aluminum Melamine by weight of cement were varied from 0.4–1.0 with an
ash increment of 0.1 for each step. The portions of other mate-
1. Determination of 1.0 0.5 0.75 – 0.004 1.0 rials were kept constant. That is, the proportion of
melamine content 1.5 cement:water:aluminum powder:melamine plastic was
(1st trial mix design) 2.0 adjusted to 1.0:0.75:0.004:1.0.
2.5
3.0
For mix number 3, to determine the optimum water
3.5 content in the composition, the quantities of water were
4.0 varied from 0.6–0.85 by an increment of 0.05 for each step.
1.0 1.0 The proportions of other materials were kept constant.
1.5 That is, the composition of cement: sand: aluminum pow-
2.0
2.5
der: melamine plastic was adjusted to 1.0:0.7:0.004:1.0. For
3.0 mix number 4, to determine the optimum proportion of fly
3.5 ash content in the composition, the quantities of fly ash
4.0 were varied from 0.1–0.5 by an increment of 0.1 for each
2. Determination of 1.0 0.4 0.75 – 0.004 1.0 step. The mix designs were divided into two groups. For
sand content 0.5 the first group, the composition of cement: sand: water:
0.6 fly ash was adjusted to 1.0:0.7:0.75:0.1–0.5. The second
0.7
group was composed of similar proportion except that
0.8
0.9 the proportion of sand was 0.8. The aluminum powder
1.0 and melamine plastic contents were kept the same as the
previous tests. For mix number 5, to determine the opti-
3. Determination of 1.0 0.7 0.60 – 0.004 1.0
water content or 0.65 mum proportion of aluminum powder content in the com-
water–cement ratio 0.70 position, the quantities of aluminum powder were varied
(w/c) 0.75 from 0.0025–0.004 by an increment of 0.0005 for each step.
0.80 The composition of cement:sand:water:fly ash:aluminum
0.85
was adjusted to 1.0:0.8:0.75:0.3:0.0025–0.004. The mela-
4. Determination of fly 1.0 0.7 0.75 0.1 0.004 1.0 mine plastic content was kept the same as the previous
ash content 0.2 tests.
0.3
0.4
For the last mix number, to determine the final proportion
0.5 of melamine plastic content in the composition, the quanti-
0.8 0.1 ties of melamine plastic were varied from 0.5–0.9 by an incre-
0.2 ment of 0.1 for each step. The composition of cement:
0.3 sand:water:fly ash:aluminum:melamine was adjusted to 1.0:
0.4
0.5
0.8:0.75:0.3:0.0035:0.5–0.9.
5. Determination of 1.0 0.8 0.75 0.3 0.0025 1.0
4. Methods of testing
aluminum powder 0.0030
content 0.0035
0.0040 Mortar was mixed in a standard mixer and placed in the
6. Determination of 1.0 0.8 0.75 0.3 0.0035 0.5
standard mold of 50 · 50 · 50 mm according to ASTM
melamine content 0.6 C109-02. In the pouring process of mortar, an expansion
(final mix design) 0.7 of volume due to the aluminum powder reaction had to
0.8 be considered. The expanded portion of mortar was
0.9 removed until finishing. The fresh mortar was tested for
slump according to ASTM C143-03. The specimens were
cured by wet curing at normal room temperature. The
The proportion of each of the remaining materials, i.e. hardened mortar was tested for dry density and compres-
sand, water, fly ash, aluminum powder, and melamine, sive strength for the curing age of 7 and 28 days. The test
was varied for each mix design. results for melamine, sand and water contents were
For mix number 1, the mix designs were divided into reported for 7 days curing age for mix nos. 1–3, because
two groups. The first group was composed of cement: sand: these were very close to the results of 28 days. When fly
melamine plastic, adjusted to 1.0:0.5:1.0–4.0. The plastic ash was added in the latter mix nos. 4–6, the test results
proportion was increased in increments of 0.5. The second were presented for 28 days. This is because the presence
group was composed of similar proportion except that the of fly ash increases the duration for completion of the
proportion of sand was 1.0. The water and aluminum pow- chemical reaction. The testing procedures of dry density
 P. Panyakapo, M. Panyakapo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588 1585

and compressive strength were performed according to Table 4

ASTM C642-97 and ASTM C109-02, respectively. Specification of non-load-bearing lightweight concrete (ASTM C129)
Type Compressive strength (MPa) Density (kg/m3)
5. Test results and discussion Average of three units Individual unit
II 4.1 3.5 1680
5.1. Mix number 1 (determination of melamine content for
the first trial mix design)
pressive strength and dry density for this mix proportion
The first trial mix design was to determine the propor- do not exactly satisfy the standard value.
tion of melamine plastic. The results of compressive The high proportion of melamine plastic caused a bond-
strength and dry density for 7 days age are shown in Figs. ing problem between plastic particles and cement paste.
2 and 3, respectively. It was found that the highest com- Large amount of plastic particles tend to separate from
pressive strength (3.31 MPa) was obtained from the second concrete mass. This is because the high percentage of plas-
group for the ratio of cement: sand: melamine plastic of tic absorbs high quantity of water in the cement paste. The
1.0:1.0:1.0, as shown in Fig. 3. This is about 5% less than cement paste cannot fill thoroughly in the concrete mass.
the value of the individual unit (3.5 MPa) as specified for Due to this reason, the proportion of melamine plastic
non-load-bearing lightweight concrete according to ASTM equal to 1.0 was selected for the next mix design. After
C129-05 Type II, as shown in Table 4. However, the com- the rest of the composition was determined, the melamine
plastic was tested again to find the suitable proportion.

5.2. Mix number 2 (determination of sand content)

1.2 1400
1.13
The results of compressive strength and dry density for
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

1.07
1.0 1200
1147 1106 0.92
1045
seven days age are shown in Fig. 4. It can be noticed that
Density (kg/cu.m.)

990 1000
0.8 900 a reduction of sand leads to a reduction in the strength,
853
765 800 particularly when the proportion of sand is reduced to
0.6 0.61
600 lower than 0.7. For high sand content greater than 0.8,
0.4 0.37 the values of dry density are relatively high. Therefore,
400
the optimum proportions of sand, which yields acceptable
0.2 0.21
200 strength and dry density, are between 0.7–0.8. Since the
0.05
0.0 0 optimum point of sand content is not obvious, further
1.0 : 0.5 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.5 : 1.5

1.0 : 0.5 : 2.0

1.0 : 0.5 : 2.5

1.0 : 0.5 : 3.0

1.0 : 0.5 : 3.5

1.0 : 0.5 : 4.0

investigation was conducted in mix number 4.

5.3. Mix number 3 (determination of water content)

cement : sand : melamine Compressive strength
Density The results of compressive strength and dry density for
seven days age are shown in Fig. 5. It was found that the
Fig. 2. Compressive strength and density for varying melamine content
(sand = 0.5).
optimum water content, which leads to the maximum

3.5 2000 3.5 2000

3.31 3.31
1826 3.19
1795
1826
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

1748 3.0
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

3.0 1673
2.75 1611 2.80
1500 1500
Density (kg/ cu.m.)

2.5 1436 2.5

Density (kg/cm.m.)

1394 1362
2.21
1254
2.0 2.02 2.0 1147 1196
1113 1120
1.75 1.66 1000 1000
1.5 1.54
1.5 1.45
1.0 1.13 1.16
500 1.0 0.99
500
0.5
0.5
0.0 0
0.0 0
1.0 : 1.0 : 1.0

1.0 : 1.0 : 1.5

1.0 : 1.0 : 2.0

1.0 : 1.0 : 2.5

1.0 : 1.0 : 3.0

1.0 : 1.0 : 3.5

1.0 : 1.0 : 4.0

1.0 : 0.4 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.5 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.6 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.7 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.8 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.9 : 1.0

1.0 : 1.0 : 1.0

cement : sand : melamine Compressive strength

Density cement : sand : melamine Compressive Strength
Density
Fig. 3. Compressive strength and density for varying melamine content
(sand = 1.0). Fig. 4. Compressive strength and density for varying sand content.
1586 P. Panyakapo, M. Panyakapo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588

1.6 1400 cal reaction between pozzolanic material and water. Since
1285 1.46 1.48 1.45 the reaction of fly ash in concrete takes a long time, partic-
1241
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

1212 1183 1200

1.25 1132 1.30 ularly under normal room temperature curing, the duration
1.2 1056
1.13 1000 of concrete curing was therefore extended to 28 days at

Density (kg/cu.m.)
800
which the compressive strength and dry density were then
0.8 tested. The results for the sand content of 0.7 and 0.8 are
600 shown in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively. It was found that
400
the additional fly ash significantly affected the strength of
0.4
concrete. An optimum fly ash content of 0.3 was selected
200 as the suitable proportion.
0.0 0 For the proportion of sand content, it was found that
0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 the compressive strength for sand content of 0.8 was
Water-cement ratio (W/C) Compressive strength greater than for sand content of 0.7. Furthermore, the val-
Density ues of dry density for sand content of 0.8 still satisfied the
Fig. 5. Compressive strength and density for the determination of the ASTM C129-05 standard. Therefore, an optimum sand
optimum water content. content of 0.8 was therefore selected as the suitable
proportion.
strength, is equal to 0.75. The high water content is due to
the high water absorption of ground melamine (5.6% as
shown in Table 1). This value is relatively high when it is 4.00 1350
compared with that of sand (1.5%). Therefore, the water 3.83 3.87
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

1321 3.75 1325

3.70 1310 1312 3.68
in the mix design was increased to compensate this prop- 3.55
1305 1300
3.50
erty. It was found that the slump of fresh concrete is in

Density (kg/cu.m.)
1264
the medium range (6.35 cm, 2.5 in.). This indicates a satis- 1250
factory consistency and workability. In case of low water 3.00
content, it was observed that the plastic particles were 1200
not bonded with cement paste properly leading to low 2.50
strength of the hardened concrete. Therefore, this optimum 1150
water–cement ratio of 0.75 was selected for the next tests.
2.00 1100
1.0 : 0.8 : 0.0 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.1 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.2 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.4 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.5 : 1.0

5.4. Mix number 4 (determination of fly ash content)

It was found that the results of compressive strength for

seven days age do not increase when compared with those cement : sand : fly ash : melamine (curing for 28 days)
without fly ash. This may be due to the incomplete chemi- Compressive strength
Density

Fig. 7. Compressive strength and density for the determination of the

4.0 1300
optimum fly ash content (for sand content = 0.8).
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

3.5 1250
Density (kg/ cu.m.)

1233 1229 1230 cement : sand : fly ash : melamine = 1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 : 1.0
1224 1228
3.12 3.14 3.10
6.0
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

3.0 1205 3.05 1200

2.94 1622 1600
2.75 1538
5.26
Density (kg/cu.m.)

2.5 1150 5.0

4.66 1380 1400
1320
2.0 1100
4.0 4.01
1.0 : 0.7 : 0.0 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.7 : 0.1 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.7 : 0.2 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.7 : 0.3 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.7 : 0.4 : 1.0

1.0 : 0.7 : 0.5 : 1.0

3.87 1200

3.0 1000
cement : sand : fly ash : melamine (curing for 28 days ) 0.0025 0.0030 0.0035 0.0040 0.0045

Compressive strength Aluminum powder Compressive Strenght

Density Density

Fig. 6. Compressive strength and density for the determination of the Fig. 8. Compressive strength and density for the determination of the
optimum fly ash content (for sand content = 0.7). optimum aluminum powder content.
 P. Panyakapo, M. Panyakapo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588 1587

However, the values of compressive strength were still Table 5

lower than that specified in the standard. To increase the Specification of aerated lightweight concrete elements (TIS 1505-1998)
compressive strength of concrete, there are two possible Class Compressive strength (MPa) Type Density (kg/m3)
methods. The first method is to reduce the aluminum pow- Average Minimum
der content. This is to produce less porosity in concrete 2 2.5 2.0 0.4 310–400
mass. The second method is to reduce the proportion of 0.5 410–500
melamine plastic. This method uses the benefit of specific 4 5.0 4.0 0.6 510–600
gravity of plastic that is lower than sand. These processes 0.7 610–700
were tested in the next mix designs. 0.8 710–800
6 7.5 6.0 0.7 610–700
5.5. Mix number 5 (determination of aluminum powder 0.8 710–800
content) 8 10.0 8.0 0.8 710–800
0.9 810–900
From the test results as shown in Fig. 8, it was found 1.0 910–1000
that the reduction of aluminum powder content resulted
in higher dry density. In addition, this led to a higher com-
pressive strength due to the relatively low porosity in con-
Table 6
crete mass. An optimum aluminum powder content of Comparison between plastic lightweight concrete and various standards
0.0035 was selected as the suitable proportion because the
Description Compressive Dry density
compressive strength meets the specification for non-load- strength (N/mm2) (kg/cm3)
bearing lightweight concrete according to ASTM C129-05
Plastic lightweight concrete 4.14 1395
Type II standard. (this study) cement:sand:fly
ash:melamine = 1.0:0.8:0.3:0.9
5.6. Mix number 6 (determination of the final melamine Aerated lightweight concrete 2.5 300–500
plastic content) (TIS 1505-1998) Class 2
Aerated lightweight concrete 3.0–8.0 500–700
(Quality Construction Products, 2001)
From the test results as shown in Fig. 9, it was found Clay brick (commercial) 2.0–3.0 1800
that the presence of melamine caused a reduction in the
dry density. However, its strength was also reduced due
to the problem of bonding between plastic particles and
cement paste as discussed previously. An optimum mela- 5.7. Comparison between the test results and various
mine content of 0.9 was selected because the value of com- standards
pressive strength satisfies the specification for non-load-
bearing lightweight concrete according to ASTM C129-05 Based on the above results, the optimum proportions of
Type II standard. materials are cement:sand:water:fly ash:aluminum:mela-
mine equal to 1.0:0.8:0.75:0.3:0.0035:0.9. The results of
compressive strength and dry density, which are 4.14 N/
mm2 and 1395 kg/m3, are comparable to the specifications
according to Thai Industrial Standards (TIS 1505-1998), as
6.0 1550
shown in Table 5. It was found that the compressive
1507
strength of plastic lightweight concrete is close to the class
Compressive Strength (N/sq.mm.)

1500
5.5
5.32 1475
2 of aerated lightweight concrete (TIS 1505-1998). How-
1450 ever, the dry density is greater than the TIS standard.
Density (kg/cu.m.)

5.0 1433
4.91
1413
1395 1400
In addition, the compressive strength of plastic light-
4.5 4.45
1380 weight concrete is comparable with those of commercial
4.24 1350
4.14 products that are widely used in Thailand (Quality Con-
4.0 4.01
1300 struction Products, 2001). Although the dry density
3.5 1250
obtained from this study is higher than for commercial
lightweight concrete, nevertheless, the density of plastic
3.0 1200
lightweight concrete is lower than typical clay bricks. Fur-
1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 :0.5

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 :0.6

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 :0.7

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 :0.8

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 :0.9

1.0 : 0.8 : 0.3 :1.0

thermore, its compressive strength is greater than clay

bricks. These comparisons are summarized in Table 6.

cement : sand : fly ash : melamine Compressive strength 6. Conclusions

Density

Fig. 9. Compressive strength and density for the determination of the Based on the above results, the following conclusions
optimum melamine plastic content (final test for 28 days age). can be drawn:
1588 P. Panyakapo, M. Panyakapo / Waste Management 28 (2008) 1581–1588
(1) The utilization of melamine plastic as an admixture in
the concrete can reduce the density of concrete due to
its low specific gravity. However, the compressive
strength tends to decrease also because the bonding
between plastic particles and cement paste is weak.
(2) The addition of fly ash increases the compressive
strength. However, the dry density tends to also
increase due to the relatively high specific gravity.
In addition, the reaction of fly ash in concrete takes
a long time particularly under normal room tempera-
ture curing. In order to increase the compressive
strength, the curing method under high temperature
and pressure may be required.
(3) It was found that addition of aluminum powder
reduces the dry density leading to a reduction in com-
pressive strength due to the relatively high porosity in
concrete mass. Therefore, optimum aluminum pow-
der content is required to obtain an acceptable com-
pressive strength and density.
(4) The properties of plastic lightweight concrete, viz.,
aggregate gradations, compressive strength, and den-
sity, meet most of the requirements for non-load-
bearing lightweight concrete according to ASTM
C129-05 Type II standard. However, some properties
such as the characteristics of absorption and thermal
conductivity have not been tested. These are sug-
gested for further studies.
Acknowledgements
This research was conducted in cooperation between
Sripatum University and Silpakorn University. The exper-
iments were conducted at the laboratories of the Depart-
ment of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Sripatum University and the Department of Environment
Science, Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University. The re-
search fund was supported by the Faculty of Science, Sil-
pakorn University. The authors appreciate the help of all
staff at the laboratories from both universities.
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