PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF AGGREGATES WITH SHREDDED PLASTIC AND

RUBBER IN CONCRETE HOLLOW BLOCKS.

NAME; BETHUEL KIPROP KURUI
REG NO; BTCE/111J/2017
COURSE; BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
EMAIL; EDUCATIONSLIGHT@GMAIL.COM
INSTITUTION; TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MOMBASA, MOMBASA KENYA

i. ABSTRACT quite a strain on our natural resources and as

Plastic and rubber have become an we speak, we are currently running out of

incredibly important part of our daily lives. river sand and gravel. This has led to a

Usage of plastic has increased by 20 times soaring increase in their prices from 350

from 50 years ago. Both plastic and rubber Ksh in 2003 to 2500-3000 Ksh in 2019, in

disposal, however, is very difficult and they the case of gravel [ CITATION Thu17 \l

have a lower rate of recyclability compared 1033 ]. This has made building and

to other types of materials such as glass and development quite expensive and

paper. Sustainable development has become impractical.

quite the slogan in the 21st century, spear Annually, 300 million tonnes of plastic are

headed by the sustainable development produced worldwide. This is almost

goals (SDGs), (United Nations development equivalent to the weight of the entire human

programme, 2018). These are geared population. Ultimately, 79% of all this

towards building on the success of the plastic ends up polluting our environment. It

millennium development goals. For there to is projected that if this trend continues, by

be growth, there must be development. This 2050 we might have more plastic than fish

research project stems from the need to in our oceans. The only economically viable

actualise some of these goals, notably, SDG option, as opposed to incinerating this waste

9, 11 and 13. is recycling it [ CITATION UN17 \l 1033 ].

This study therefore aims to alleviate the
Crushed stone, quarry dust and sand are still
strain on our natural environment and its
the main constituents of most cement bound
resources by using plastic waste infused
building materials which are quite prevalent
with rubber as part of our building materials
most especially in Kenya. This is exerting
while simultaneously reducing the cost of
housing, furthering development, and
propagating the general wellness of our
middle- and lower-class communities.
ii. INTRODUCTION
Initially the clay hollow bricks were made of
kneaded units of clay-bearing soil,
containing sand and lime or cement, which
were usually fire hardened or air dried and
then used in construction later came the
hollow concrete blocks which are concrete
blocks having core void area larger by 25%
of the gross area. They are advantageous
because they offer rapid execution of work.
Increased floor areas, reduced construction
cost, better insulation properties, more
durability and good bonding of mortar &
plaster [ CITATION sur15 \l 1033 ].
Although conventional concrete hollow
blocks have come a long way in reducing
the amount of concrete used in construction
and ultimately reducing the cost of
development the housing shortage in
Kenya stands almost 2 million and
continues to grow, there is a proliferation
of informal settlements in urban areas
with 61 percent of the urban population
living in slums in overcrowded homes
typically with only one room and no
adequate ventilation, families are at high
health risk of diseases such as malaria,
respiratory infections, and jigger
infestation. The vulnerable, in particular
women, children, persons living with
disabilities, the elderly, and orphans, are
affected the most.[ CITATION hab18 \l
1033 ] . The search for a better future
using sustainable materials continues.
More has to be done to reduce the cost of
building and construction in the country.
Bearing the concept of sustainable
development in mind and the menace plastic
pollution has become, the recycling of
shredded plastic waste and rubber into
viable hollow building blocks could be the
solution to our housing deficit. Coupled with
proper quality control rubber infused plastic
hollow blocks could house our homeless and
build proper social amenities such as schools
and hospitals in our rural areas while
simultaneously eradicating plastic pollution.
iii. LITERATURE REVIEW
Recycling Rubber waste in concrete
blocks
Rubber is produced excessively worldwide
every year. It cannot be discharge off easily
in the environment as its decomposition
takes much time and also produces
environmental pollution. In such a case the
reuse of rubber would be a better choice. In
order to reuse rubber wastes, it has added to
concrete as fine aggregate and its different
properties like compressive strength, Tensile
strength and ductility among other
properties were investigated and compared
with ordinary concrete.
As a result, research has found that
rubberized concrete is durable, less ductile,
has greater crack resistance but has a low
compressive strength when compared with
ordinary concrete. The compressive strength
of rubberized concrete can be increased by
adding some amount of silica to it.
Furthermore, research on using rubber as
aggregate in concrete has led to the
conclusion that when rubber is used instead
of aggregates in concrete it shows less
compressive strength when compared with
ordinary concrete. But it also shows some
ductile behaviour before failure. Rubberized
concrete also shows reduction in density of
concrete when compared with control
concrete specimen. [ CITATION Nou15 \l
1033 ].
On another research done to substitute fine
aggregates in concrete at 0% to 100% to
crushed sand in concrete mix with recycle
crumb rubber results showed that up to 25%
replacement to the crushed sand gives a
good compressive strength and also results
in 8% decrease in density of concrete
whereas the ductility of concrete increases
therefore suitable in shock resisting
elements. [ CITATION Cam13 \l 1033 ]
It has also been determined that concrete
made of crumb rubber as fine aggregate
shows much strength when compared with
concrete made of chipped rubber as coarse
aggregate. No appreciable increment in the
compressive strength of concrete density by
using different percentage of rubber as fine
aggregates in concrete. It is recommended to
use silica fume in rubberized concrete to
increase its compressive strength. They also
find it recommendable to use rubberized
concrete in small structures like road curbs
and non-bearing walls. (Alam, 2015)
Recycling Plastic waste in concrete blocks
Researchers in the construction sector have
sort to tame the menace that is plastic waste.
Studies have presented methods of reducing
the amount of plastic waste by recycling
plastic containers in construction work.
Non-load-bearing concrete blocks for safe
and efficient use can be manufactured using
plastic flakes as an alternative material
aggregate. Studies have developed such
blocks and tested them for compressive
strength integrating four major factors: (1)
the cement to aggregate ratio, (2) the water
to cement ratio, (3) the size of plastic flakes
used and (4) the proportion of plastic flake
that replaced sand. The findings revealed
that using a ratio of 1:3 cement to aggregate,
where the aggregate mix comprised of 20%
small and medium sized (combined at 1:1)
plastic flakes plus 80% sand and a water to
cement ratio of 0.5, provided the optimal
compressive strength to form a concrete
block that can be used to construct a non-
load bearing wall. (Marzouk et al,e 2005)
The use of plastic bottle waste as a
substitution for sand aggregate in composite
materials for building applications has been
studied before. It was seen that PET waste
affected the compressive strength and density
of concrete. The density and compressive
strength significantly decreased when the PET
aggregates exceeded 50% by volume of sand.
(Marzouk et al, 2005).
An investigation on the effects of waste PET
bottles aggregate on the properties of concrete.
The waste plastic could reduce the weight by 2
to 6% of normal weight concrete. However,
the compressive strength reduced by up to
33% compared to the normal concrete mix
design. [ CITATION Cho05 \l 1033 ]
Likewise, from the results of another study a
decrease of compressive strength with
increase in plastic content proportions was
evident. For a mix with 20% sand, the
compressive strength was reduced by about
70% in comparison to that of normal concrete.
[ CITATION MBa07 \l 1033 ]
A study on the development of Concrete
Blocks containing PET plastic bottle flakes
indicated that the concrete blocks, with
plastic flakes replacing sand in the mortar
mix at a ratio of 20% by weight, can be used
in the construction of non-load-bearing
walls. [ CITATION War17 \l 1033 ].
Another study was done to determine
possibility of using plastic aggregate as
coarse aggregate in concrete, the researcher
found that the modified concrete mix with
addition of plastic aggregate replacing
conventional aggregate up to certain 10%
gives strength with in permissible limit.
[ CITATION Ari162 \l 1033 ]
Various researchers have investigated and
reported the influence of waste plastics as
fine and coarse aggregates on the
workability of concrete. The slump test is
used to determine the workability of the
fresh mix. Factors such as particle size
grading, the shape of particles, the water-
cement ratio, and the amount of plasticizer
in the mix are directly related to the concrete
workability.
iv. METHODOLOGY
The research methods covered the various
ways through which the objectives of the
study were accomplished. There are
standard procedures that were used to check
the engineering properties of the materials
that make up the hollow blocks which were
derived from the British Standards. The
Kenyan Building Code also contains
specifications and guidelines for the material
properties of concrete hollow blocks. This
included
 Collection and preparation of
samples.
 Material Testing
 Concrete Mix Design
 Tests on Fresh Concrete
 Test on Hardened Concrete
 Tests on Hollow Blocks
v. RESULTS
By increasing the rubber content in concrete,
the slump is expected to increases because
of less absorption of water. The shape of the
rubber and plastic aggregates also influence
workability. Table 5 below is a graphical
representation of slump values against the
percentages of shredded plastic and rubber
in the mix.
From the graphs it was seen that as the
percentage of shredded rubber increased
there was corresponding increase in slumps
values this was because both shredded
plastic and rubber in the mix absorb very
minimal percentages of water therefore the
materials increased the consistency of
concrete hence its workability.
Reduction in the compressive strength of the
mix in comparison to the ordinary concrete
mix was obtained. The use of concrete made
of crumb aggregates showed much lower
strength when compared to the concrete
made of normal coarse aggregate and sand
as fine aggregates. From the study, an
increase in the amount of rubber proportion
in the mix led to a decrease in compressive
strength of the composite cube. It can be
concluded that the higher the amount of
rubber in the concrete mix, the lower the
compressive strength.
The average moisture absorption from the
four samples was found to be 3.93% for
concrete with shredded plastic and rubber
that was used to cast the final modified
plastic-rubber concrete block Table 6 below
shows the data obtained from the
experiment. When the results were
compared to the moisture test for the control
concrete, the plastic-rubber infused concrete
absorbed less water showing 1.20%
decrease. This because both shredded plastic
and rubber infused in concrete were poor in
water absorption therefore the decrease in
the water absorption.
vi. CONCLUSION.
Material properties of shredded plastic
and rubber when used as aggregates in a
concrete mix.
From the sieve analysis experiment carried
out in the project it can be concluded that
shredded rubber can performs as fine
aggregate in the concrete mix because the
rubber sieve grading curve laid within the
limits according to ASTM C33/AASHTO
M6, this also conformed to the geometric
requirements according to BS 812, because
rubber cannot meet all material properties of
aggregates like physical requirement which
entails durability, resistance to
fragmentation and particle density and water
absorption according to BS 812 it can
therefore be concluded that rubber can only
be used to partially replace the fine
aggregate in any concrete mix.
Optimal concrete mix for the plastic-
rubber hollow blocks.
From the tests carried out on hardened
plastic- rubber concrete cubes it can be
concluded that the optimum ratio of plastic
to rubber aggregates in the concrete mix is
2:2 for any given class of concrete prepared
to be used in production of concrete hollow
blocks. The mix ratio gives a necessary
strength of 4.04, 6.00, 9.77 at 7, 14 and 28
days respectively which are much higher as
required by Grade C concrete hollow blocks.
Grade C specifies strengths of 3.5, 5.5 and
7.0 N/mm2 for 7, 14 and 28 days
respectively, therefore the concrete mix can
be used sufficiently in preparation of
concrete hollow blocks of Grade C.
Effect of shredded plastic and rubber on
the material properties of the concrete
mix for the production of hollow block
From the test carried out on hardened
plastic-rubber concrete cubes there is a
significant reduction in strength, when the
strengths of concrete infused with plastic
rubber at ratio 2:2 was used to cast the
modified concrete hollow blocks and
compared to the control concrete cubes,
strengths reduced by 71.6%, 69.7%, 70.3%
for 7, 14, and 21 days respectively, this is
because both the shredded plastic and rubber
aggregates provides weaker inter-particle
bonding with the other constituent materials
of the mix. Therefore it can be concluded
rubber when used as replacement to fine
aggregate leads to reduction in concrete
strength.
Tests done on water absorption of the
modified concrete hollow blocks with the
shredded plastic and rubber shows reduction
of 1.20% compared to the control, therefore
concrete hollow blocks made of shredded
plastic and rubber can therefore be used in
areas where water proofing is required, also
because of lower specific gravities of plastic
and rubber, when this materials are used in
concrete hollow blocks there is reduction in
total weight. Therefore it be concluded when should be used to test the impact
plastic-rubber concrete hollow blocks are of compaction procedures on the
used in design of ribbed slabs it results in weight and other physical
overall reduction of weight of the building properties of the plastic rubber
which may save on reinforcement and hollow block.
overall cost. Design and analysis of a whole
Environmental effects due to the use of story building using plastic-
plastic rubber hollow blocks. rubber hollow blocks and the
It can be concluded that plastic–rubber hollow blocks present in the
hollow blocks are a solution to the garbage market should be carried out to
menace of plastic and rubber the compare the economic
environment. They are a cheaper performance.
environmental-friendly solution to the viii. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
housing deficiency while also providing a I would like to thank Almighty
clean environment as an incentive. God for the chance and guidance
vii. RECOMMENDATION to partake the project in good
Design of different classes of health, I also thank my parents for
concrete mixes should be carried financial support, my sincere
out to find out the properties of gratitude goes to my supervisor
the hardened plastic- rubber Ms Esther Njoki who dedicated
concrete cubes in comparison to her time to guide and inspire me
stone and sand concrete cubes, during the entire project period. I
More experiments should be would like to also thank the Civil
carried out with plastic and Engineering department and staff
rubber samples having different who assisted me with lab work as
particle size distribution in an well as my colleagues for
effort to determine the supporting me throughout my
appropriate grading limits for studies and in accomplishing this
rubber and plastic aggregates for research work.
optimal performance. ix. REFERENCES
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