Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Effect of new mixing method of glass powder as cement replacement on

mechanical behavior of concrete
Hossam A. Elaqra a,⇑, Mohamed A. Abou Haloub b, Rifat N. Rustom c
a
Civil Engineering Department, University of Palestine (UP), Gaza, Palestine
b
Civil Engineering Department, Islamic University of Gaza, (IUG), Gaza, Palestine
c
Rector of the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS), Gaza, Palestine

h i g h l i g h t s

New mixing method improved the compressive strength of concrete.

New mixing method improved the early compressive strength of concrete.

Relative index calculation is a good tool to prove the reactivity of glass powder.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study investigates the effects of using local wastes of Glass Powder (produced from crushing the
Received 8 September 2018 glass waste) as replacement of cement in fresh and hardened concrete. Four percentages of Glass
Received in revised form 16 December 2018 Powder (GP) were used: 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%. Two mixing methods were used in the study. First, the
Accepted 15 January 2019
conventional mixing method, where the glass powder was added with the cement and aggregates.
Available online 23 January 2019
Second, the glass powder was dissolved in water before adding it to cement and aggregates. The slump
increased as the glass powder replacement increased in the concrete due to the presence of more free
Keywords:
water in the structure, which leaded to have lower density and higher water absorption. As a result,
Concrete
Glass powder
the compressive strength of conventional mixes method decreased as the glass powder increased at early
Compressive strength age. Later, after 90 days, the highest compressive strength was obtained for the 20% GP. The new mixing
Flexural strength method showed higher compressive strength than the conventional mixing method. Using 10% GP in the
Conventional mixing method new mixing method gave a significant increase, around 130% of the compressive strength of the control
New mixing method mix. This increase can be related to the hydrolysis of the glass powder into free ions of SiO2, CaO and Na2O
in the water which formed more CSH. The relative index proves the rise of the glass powder reactivity as
the amount of glass powder increases.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Waste management has become vitally important since the
demand for natural resources has greatly increased, which adds
huge pressure on the environment. The term ‘‘green cement” takes
its place as an environmental product. In other words, it refers to
the use of new materials that can partially replace cement in con-
crete without decreasing its mechanical and durability properties.
Therefore, it is a goal to replace cement that needs to be achieved
for sustainability and the reduction of greenhouse effect.
In the case of Gaza Strip, the natural resources (coarse aggregate
and cement) for concrete industry do not exist; therefore, the need
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: h.elaqra@up.edu.ps (H.A. Elaqra).
for alternative resources is vital. Today, research tends to use waste
materials and industrial by-products; for example, pulverized fly
ash (PFA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). Glass
powder (GP) can also be used as a partial replacement of cement.
Glass powder (GP) waste is one of the most active research
areas that encompass a number of disciplines including civil engi-
neering and construction materials. Glass is a common product
that can be found in different forms: bottles, jars, windows and
windshields, bulbs, cathode ray tubes, etc. These products have a
limited lifetime and must be recycled in order to avoid environ-
mental problems related to their stockpiling or landfilling [1].
Utilization of the glass powder in the construction sector is essen-
tial to develop eco-friendly concrete from glass waste.
Glass powder is considered as pozzolanic material, its reactivity
is essentially governed by its size where smaller sizes react more.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.01.077
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
76 H.A. Elaqra et al. / Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82

That refers to the fact that it is easier to be dissolved in water dur- Table 2
ing mixing to form more CSH [2–4], later in the pore solution. Summary of previous research on the optimum GP replacement in concrete which
gives higher compressive than the control.
Elaqra and Rustom showed that the replacement of cement by
glass powder of size smaller than 75 mm decreases the effect of PG (%) GP Size Compressive Strength Increase Reference
alkali silica reaction, which comes from the participation of glass (%)

powder in the formation of CSH. This result was confirmed by 30% <38 mm and 120%110% [18]
XRD [5]. <75 mm
15% <90 mm 123% [19]
An increase in the slump of concrete as the amount of glass 10% No information 120% [20]
powder increases was observed due to the presence of more free 10% No information 107% [21]
water in the mix due to the replacement of reactive cement with 20% <90 mm 125% [12]
glass powder [6–8]. In other hand, the presence of more water in 10% No information 105% [22]
20% <90 mm 107% [23]
the mix increases the reactivity of glass powder [9]. The use of
20% <75 mm 120% [24]
glass powder as cement replacement in the concrete showed an 10% <90 lm 107% [25]
increase in the compressive strength at various optimum percent- 30% <75 mm 108% [26]
ages (10% to 60% GP) due to the pozzolanic reaction as demon- 20% <90 mm 106% [27]
strated by previous research, above the optimum the glass 30% <75 mm 110% [10]

powder has the filling effect [10], see Tables 1 and 2. Table 1 shows
a summary of previous research on the optimum GP replacement
in concrete which gives the same compressive strength values as
the control. While Table 2 shows a summary of previous research
on the optimum GP replacement in concrete which gives higher
compressive than the control.
Tables 1 and 2 also confirm the effect of smaller GP particles in
the compressive strength of concrete; the smaller the particles the
higher compressive strength. Few references referred to the chem-
ical composition of GP in order to study its effect on the compres-
sive strength. However, some of these references didn’t indicate
the particle size distribution of GP used [11–14].
This research experimentally investigates the effect of GP on the
strength of concrete to determine the optimum percentage of glass
powder as a partial replacement of cement. The aim of the investi-
gation is to check the behavior of fresh and hardened concrete at
different proportions of glass powder. The slump test, absorption,
the compression strength and the flexural strength tests were
determined. A new mixing method was used in mixing concrete
with glass powder to improve its effect; it consisted of soaking
the glass powder with water for 8 h before adding to the concrete
in order to dissolve the SiO2, CaO and Na2O ions which compose
the glass powder.
On other hand, the Ca+ and Na+ ions can be dissolved in the
presence of water from the glass powder into the pore solution
then these ions will be bid with the SiO2 on the surface of the glass
powder. It is noted that the Ca+ ions have less mobility from inside
to outside of the glass powder [9]. This is a so called ion-exchange
mechanism of interaction between glass and water. According to
the surface area, if the glass particles have higher surface area com-
parable to the cement grain surface, ionic exchange is very active.
The reduction of the dissolution of glass powder can be affected
by the reaction between the hydroxyl ions in the solution resulting
in a reduction of hydroxyl ions concentration near the glass pow-
der. Later at 90 days the improvement of compressive strength
can be the cause of the pozzoalnic reaction [11].
The aim of the new mixing method is coming from the chemical
reaction (hydrolysis of the glass powder) as mentioned in the Eqs.
(1) and (2):
 Si  O NaOþ þ Hþ ! Si  O Hþ þ Naþ ð1Þ
 Si  O Ca2þ O  Si  2Hþ ! 2  Si  O Hþ þ Ca2þ ð2Þ
A comparison between the compressive strength of the new
mixing method and the conventional method was made.
2. Experimental and testing program
2.1. Materials
Ingredients of the concrete mixes are described in details with
their properties as follow:
2.1.1. Cement
Nesher CEMII AM SVL 42.5 which is the most common type of
cement in Gaza Strip was used in the testing program.
2.1.2. Glass powder
Glass is widely used in manufactured products such as glass
sheets, bottles, glassware, vacuum tubing, etc. The amount of
crushed waste glass was collected from a local landfill site in Gaza
strip, where the waste glass represents between 2 and 3% of the
total amount of municipal solid waste (2000 ton/day) [29,30].
The glass was crushed into powder and sieved to get particle sizes
smaller than 75 mm.
Table 3 shows the chemical composition of the glass powder
and Type II cement as realized by XRF measurement according to
ASTM D5357-03 [27]. The composition of the glass powder shows
a small amount of cement due to the impurities coming from the
crushing machine and its environment, small amount of cement
is traces and it is very negligible to be considered [5].
Fig. 1 shows the particle size distribution (PSD) of the cement
(CEM II) and the Glass Powder (GP) according to ASTM C136/
Table 3
Chemical composition of the glass powder and Type II cement [5].

Table 1 Composition by Mass % GP CEM II

Summary of previous research on the optimum GP replacement in concrete which CaO 18.55 66.69
gives the same compressive strength values as the control. SiO2 64.94 18.84
Al2O3 1.81 6.3
PG (%) GP Size Compressive Strength Increase (%) References
Fe2O3 1.97 3.72
20% No information The same value [12] SO3 0 2.66
40% <75 mm The same value [15] P2O5 0 0.70
10% <100 lm The same value [16] MgO 3.12 0.61
20% 90–150 mm The same value [17] K2O 0.44 0.5
60% <75 mm The same value [10] Na2O 9.16 0
 H.A. Elaqra et al. / Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82 77

120 120
Min
100 Cement II 100
Cumulative
Glass Powder
Percentage (%)

80 80 Max

Passing (%)
60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0
0.1 1 10 100 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle Size (mm)
Particle Size (µm)
Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of the aggregate mix according to ASTM (C136).
Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of CEM II and glass powder [5].

sive and flexure tests respectively. The samples were kept at 100%
C136M-14 [28]. The figure shows that CEMII has finer particle size humidity for 24 h. After demolding, the samples were weighted
than GP [5]. and conserved in water at room temperature until testing.

2.2. Aggregates
Sieve analyses of the natural aggregates were obtained accord-
ing to ASTM C136/C136M-14 [28] using the standard U.S. sieves.
Fig. 2 shows the particle size distribution for the three types of
aggregates (fine, medium and coarse) and the local sand used in
the concrete mix.
Fig. 3 shows the cumulative particle size distribution of the
aggregates mix. The curve shows that the aggregates used are well
graded and the cumulative PSD is located within the maximum
and minimum limits of ASTM C136/C136M-14 [28].
2.3. Mix proportions and mix design
2.3.1. Concrete
Concrete was cast with a water to cement ratio of 0.72. The mix
design was elaborated in order to have a control mix with a com-
pressive strength of 25 MPa (B250). Three percentages of cement
replacement by glass powder were used (10, 20 and 30%), as shown
in Table 4.
2.3.1.1. Conventional mixing method. According to ASTM C192/
C192M-16a [29], the cement, glass powder and aggregate were
mixed for 2 min in order to obtain a homogenous mix. The water
was slowly added over 2 min. Then, the mixer was stopped for
4 min. The last step of mixing was done for 2 min. The slump test
was directly carried out and concrete cubes (10*10*10 cm) and
concrete prisms (10  10  50 cm) were prepared for the compres-
120
Sand
100
Fine
Medium
80
Passing (%)
2.3.1.2. New mixing method. To investigate the effect of immersion
of GP in the water, GP was first mixed with the amount of water
determined as w/c = 0.72 for 8 h. This step has the role to hydroly-
sis the glass powder in order to produce SiO2, CaO and Na2O which
can participate in the formation of CSH. Then, the water was slowly
added to the dry concrete ingredients.
2.4. Test procedure
2.4.1. Dissolution of glass powder in the water before mixing with the
concrete
The glass powder is soaked in the water with different amounts,
10 and 30%, the amount of water is calculated as w/c = 0.72. The
measurement of free ions is determined by flame atomic absorp-
tion spectrophotometry, according to ASTM D4691-17 [30].
2.4.2. Slump test
The slump test was made according to ASTM C143/C143M-00
[31]. Tests were done on fresh concrete as a function of cement
replacement by glass powder in order to study the workability
effect of GP replacement.
2.4.3. Density
The density was calculated directly by dividing the mass of con-
crete sample by its volume (q = M V
), according to ASTM C642-13
[32].
2.4.4. Water absorption
Water absorption was determined according to ASTM C642
[33]. The mass of the dry samples was obtained after drying the
sample in the oven at 105 °C for 24 h hours. The absorption was
calculated as follows:
MassWet  MassDry
Absorption ¼
MassWet

Coarse
60

40 2.5. Mechanical testing

20 2.5.1. Compressive strength tests

The compression tests were conducted according to ASTM C39/
0
C39M-18 [34] at the age of 2, 7, 28 and 90 days using
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle Size (mm) 10 * 10 * 10 cm cubes. Three samples were tested for each mix
and the average was reported as well as the standard deviation
Fig. 2. Grain size distribution curves of sand: fine, medium and coarse aggregates. which was found is most cases less than 3%.
78 H.A. Elaqra et al. / Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82

Table 4
Mix proportions of concrete.

Mix Cement (kg) GP (kg) Water (kg) Sand (kg) FA (kg) MA (kg) CA (kg) W/C (kg)
0% GP 300 0 215 600 350 250 660 0.72
10% GP 270 30 215 600 350 250 660 0.72
20% GP 240 60 215 600 350 250 660 0.72
30% GP 210 90 215 600 350 250 660 0.72

2.5.2. Flexural strength tests

The flexural test measures the force required to bend a beam
Table 5
under three-point loading condition. The test method followed Amount of Ca and Na ions release in water.
the ASTM C78/C78M-18 [35], where the 10*10*50 cm hardened
concrete specimen lies on two 45 cm apart supporting spans. Then, Mix Ca ions Na ions PPM

the load is applied to the center using the loading nose at three 10% 23.0 mmol/L 96.3 mmol/L 1460
points bending at a specified rate till failure. Fig. 4 shows the
crushed sample (prism).

2.6. Activity index calculation 3.2. Fresh concrete properties

Pu [36] proposed the following mathematical method to calcu-
late and analyze the activity of any addition or cement replace-
ment material:
Relative Index or Activity Index
Compressiv e Strength of Control mix  GP percentage
¼ 1
Compressiv e Strength of GP mix  100
The activity index can have:
1- A negative value indicates no activity for GP and a decrease
of the compressive strength.
2- Zero value indicates no change due to GP and the compres-
sive strength is the same.
3- Positive value indicates a reactivity of GP and the GP
replacement has a positive effect on the compressive
strength.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Dissolution of glass powder in the water before mixing with the
concrete
The dissolution of glass powder in water leads to the release of
Na and Ca ions in water, Table 5 shows the amount of free ions in
water at 10% GP. The amount of Ca ions is less than the amount of
Na ions; this comes from the less mobility of Ca than Na to be dis-
solved from the glass particles. These free ions can actively partic-
ipate in the hydration process of cement by increasing the amount
of CSH.
25
3.2.1. Slump test
The effect of glass powder content on the workability of fresh
concrete is shown in Fig. 4. The results show that the workability
increases gradually by the increase of glass powder content. The
increase in workability can be attributed to the presence of more
water in the mix as the amount of the glass powder increases,
the real water to cement ration increase as the amount GP
increase. The slump after 15 min decreased due to the use of the
free water in the formation of hydrate products. The slump of con-
crete made with the new mixing method showed minor increase in
the slump. It didn’t report as it is negligible.
3.2.2. Density
3.2.2.1. A. Density of concrete prepared with conventional mix. Fig. 5
shows the density of concrete mixes as a function of the GP
replacement and age. The results showed two trends. First, an
increase in the density as a function of age which comes from
the formation of more hydrates products which lead to a decrease
of the porosity. Second, a decrease in the density as a function of
GP replacement which comes from loss of the excess of free water
as well as the reduction of the cement content which has higher
specific gravity. The 30% GP mix showed the lowest density. Later,
the density shows a higher value at 10 and 20% GP mixes, it sug-
gested that the pozzolanic reaction between glass powder and
cement becomes higher and leads to form more hydrate products.
The optimum is obtained at 20% GP.
2430
0% GP 10% GP 20% GP 30% GP
2420
2410
Density (Kg/M3)

2400
20
2390
15 2380
Slump (cm)

2370
0 Minute
10 2360
15 Minutes
2350
5
2340
0 2 7 28 90
0% 10% 20% 30% Age (Days)
GP (%)
Fig. 5. Density of concrete mixes as a function of GP replacement and age prepared
Fig. 4. Slump test results as a function of GP replacement at 0 and 15 min. with conventional mixing method.
 H.A. Elaqra et al. / Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82 79

2430 0% GP 10% GP Normal mix 40

10% GP mix with water 30% GP Normal mix 0% GP 10% GP 20% GP 30% GP
2420 35
30% GP mix with water
2410 30
Density (kg/cm3)

2400 25

(MPa)
2390 20
2380 115
2370 10
2360 5
2350 0
2 7 28 2 7 28 90
Time (Days) Age (Days)

Fig. 6. Density of concrete mixes as a function of GP replacement and age prepared Fig. 7. Compressive strength of concrete as a function of GP replacement and age
with the new mixing method. using conventional mixing method.

3.2.2.2. B. Density of concrete prepared with new mixing mix. Fig. 6
represents the density of concrete mixes as a function of GP
replacement and age using the new mixing method. The results
showed higher density at 10% GP using the new mixing method
than the other mixes. At 30% GP with the new mixing method,
the density was similar to the control mix at all ages. This result
indicates that the new mixing method gives higher density due
to the more hydrate products which can be emerged from the
inclusion of the glass powder’s free ions in the formation of the
CSH gel rather than CH. The immersion of glass powder in water
attests a positive effect in the formation of denser hydrate product
due to the pozzolanic reaction at all ages.
3.3. Hardened properties
3.3.1. Mechanical properties
The mechanical properties were obtained for the concrete pre-
pared by the conventional mixing method and the new mixing
method.
3.3.1.1. Compressive strength tests.
3.3.1.1.1. A. Compressive strength of concrete using the conventional
mixing method. Fig. 7 shows the compressive strength as a func-
tion of GP replacement and age. A decrease in the compressive
strength is observed as the amount of the GP increased till 28 days.
Later, at 90 days, an increase in the compressive strength was
obtained at 10% and 20% GP.
At 3, 7 and 28 days, the compressive strength of the 10% and
20% GP mixes were very close to the control mix, but the strength
of the 30% GP mix showed a sudden reduction.
At 90 days, both the 10% and 20% GP mixes showed higher com-
pressive strength than the control mix. This increase can be attrib-
uted to the pozzolanic reaction which takes place at later ages,
which affect the interfacial transition zone between the cement
paste, the aggregates and the pores which are more refined in
interfacial transition zone. This result was confirmed by Du [10].
sive strength of the various mixes using the new method. The high-
est compressive strength was obtained at 10% GP replacement. The
dissolution of glass powder leads to improve the compressive
strength at early age (at 2 and 7 days) which comes from the for-
mation of more free ions in the water before mixing as shown in
Table 5. Later at 90 days, the compressive strength is higher due
to the progress of the pozzolanic reaction like what has happened
with the conventional mixing method, see Fig. 7. It suggests that
the increase of the compressive strength at early age can related
to the pozzolanic reaction and the packing filling effect of the glass
powder, while later it is related only to the pozzolanic reaction.
Fig. 10 shows the normalized compressive strength (relative to
the control mix) of the concrete prepared with the new mixing
method as a function of age and GP replacement. The results
showed that both the 10% and 30% GP mixes resulted in the highest
compressive strength compared to the conventional mixing
method at early ages (2 and 7 days). The 10% GP, using the new
mixing, showed the highest compressive strength. The decrease
in the compressive strength at 30% GP, using the new mixing,
can be attributed to the presence of more free water compared
to the 10% GP and the limited percentage of dissolved free ions
as the GP/w ratio increases. In order to verify the results, mixing
the same concrete with higher w/c ratios should be conducted in
future research work.
In order to understand the effect of the new mixing method on
the compressive strength, Fig. 11 shows the results of the normal-
ized compressive strength of the 10% and 30% GP mixes. The curves
show increase in the compressive strength due to the new mixing
method in comparison to the conventional mixing method.
At early age, 2 days, both mixes show higher compressive
strength, the 30% GP mix shows higher increase than 10% GP
mix. After 28 days, both mixes show almost the same increase. It
120
10% GP 20% GP 30% GP
100
Normalized Strength (%)

A previous work by the researchers showed that the 20% GP mix

80
improve the pozzolanic reaction by the consumption of CH and
the formation of CSH [5]. 60
Fig. 8 shows the normalized compressive strength (according to
the control mix) as a function of GP replacement and age. At 40
90 days, the 20% GP mix showed a slight increase, around 5%, com-
pared to the control mix, while the 10% GP mix showed smaller 20
increase around 2% and the 30% GP mix showed 20% decrease.
0
3.3.1.1.2. B. Compressive strength of concrete prepared with the new 2 7 28 90
Age (Days)
mixing method. Fig. 9 presents the effect of the 10% and 30% GP
replacement on the compressive strength using the new mixing Fig. 8. Normalized compressive strength of concrete as a function of GP replace-
method. The results showed significant increase in the compres- ment and age.
80 H.A. Elaqra et al. / Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82

40 0% GP 0.4
10% GP
35 10% GP Conventional mixing method 20% GP
0.3

Relative Index (%)

10% GP new mixing method 30% GP
30
30% GP conventionalmixing method 0.2
25
30% GP new mixing method 0.1
20
(MPa)

0
15 0 20 40 60 80 100
10 -0.1

5 -0.2 Age (Day)

0
Fig. 12. Relative index as a function of GP replacement and age.
2 7 28 90
Age (Days)

Fig. 9. Compressive strength at 10 and 30% GP replacement with different mixing 3.3.1.1.3. C. Relative index calculation. Fig. 12 illustrates the relative
methods. index for GP mixes using the conventional mixing method as a
function of age. Both the 10% and 20% GP mixes indicate higher val-
ues at 7 days followed by decreasing rates at 28 days, and then ris-
140 10% GP conventional mixing method ing rates at 90 days. This behavior indicates higher reactivity at
10% GP new mixing method 7 days which can come due to the participation of the free ions
120
30% GP conventional mixing method of glass powder in the formation of denser CSH. Later at 90 days,
100 the reactivity became higher due to the participation of ions pre-
30% GP new mixing method
sent in the pore solution, where the pozzolanic reaction of glass
Normalized Strength

80 powder increases the concentration of Na2O and SiO2 and

decreases the CaO concentration. The dissolved Si2O ions produce
60 CSH which develops a rim around the glass powder particles [17].
The 30% GP mix showed the lowest value at 7 days, which then
40 increased to reach the same level as the 10% GP mix. This can be
attributed to the dissolution of the glass powder and the formation
20
of more CSH.
Fig. 13 shows the relative index of GP mixes which were pre-
0
2 7 28 90 pared using the new mixing method as a function of age. The
Age (Days) 30% GP mix showed higher relative index than the 10% GP mix.
Fig. 10. Normalized compressive strength of concrete using the new mixing
At early ages, both mixes showed higher values than those at later
method as a function of age and GP replacement. ages which can be attributed to the free glass powder ions and
their dissolution in water to form more CSH.

200
3.3.1.2. Flexural strength tests. Fig. 14 shows the flexural strength as
Normalized Strengrhth (%)

180 10% GP 30% GP

160 a function of GP replacement the age of 28 days. The results
140 showed that as the amount of GP increases, the flexure strength
120 decreases. The 10% GP mix gave the highest flexure strength, while
100 the 30% GP gave the lowest flexure strength. The flexure strength
80 indicates the presence of porosity in the structure, thus the 10%
60 mix is believed to have a finer pore size than the control mix.
40 The flexure strength of concrete made with the new mixing
20 method reveals an increase up to 5.5 MPa, which represents about
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Age (Day) 3
10% GP New Mixing Method
Fig. 11. Normalized compressive strength of the 10% and 30% GP mixes. 2.5
30% GP New Mixing Method
Relative Index (%)

2
is suggested that the immersion of GP in water can lead to the cre-
ation of free ions of SiO2, Na2O and CaO in water before mixing 1.5
with cement, so the free ions will be ready to react with cement.
1
As a result, more hydrate products will be formed, especially the
formation of CSH at an early age. The diminution in the normalized 0.5
compressive strength after 2 days can be the result of the partici-
pation of all free ions in the reaction at 2 days. 0
Later at 28 and 90 days, the GP particles which did not dissolve 0 20 40 60 80 100
and present in the structure will participate in the formation of the Age (Day)
new CSH, therefore increasing the compressive strength, which is
Fig. 13. Relative index as a function of GP replacement and age using the new
confirmed by Zheng [17]. mixing method.
 H.A. Elaqra et al. / Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82 81

5 6
0% GP 10% GP 20% GP 30% GP
4.5
4 5
3.5

Absorption (%)
4
3
(MPa)

2.5
3
2
1.5
1 2
1
0.5 1
0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 0
GP (%) 2 7 28 90
Age (Days)
Fig. 14. Flexure strength as a function of GP replacement at 28 days.
Fig. 16. Absorption of concrete as a function of GP replacement and age.

20% of the flexure strength of the 10% GP mix prepared with the
conventional mixing method. The increase in the flexural strength 8 0% GP
can be attributed to the increase of the binding of the interfacial 7 10% GP conventional mixing method
transition zone between the cement paste and the aggregates 10% GP new mixing method
and the refinement of porosity. 6
30% GP conventional mixing method

Absorption (%)
3.3.1.2.1. Relative index calculation. Fig. 15 shows the relative index 5 30% GP new mixing method
for the flexural strength as a function of GP replacement at 28 days.
4
The 20% GP mix showed the highest value of relative index which
indicated that the 20% GP replacement has the highest reactivity 3
for glass powder. 2

3.3.1.3. Water absorption. 1

3.3.1.3.1. A. Water absorption of concrete prepared with conventional
method. Fig. 16 represents the effect of GP replacement on water
absorption of the concrete mixes at different ages. The results
showed a decrease of the absorption as a function of age and GP
replacement. The inadequate water absorption of the glass powder
surface influences the total absorption of the mixes prepared with
GP. The decrease in the absorption is in correlation with the
increase of the density of mixes as a function of age, see Figs. 5
and 7. The absorption is directly related to the progress of the
hydration process as a function of age, therefore a decrease of
the porosity of the samples.
3.3.1.3.2. B. Water absorption of concrete prepared with the new
mixing method. Fig. 17 represents the effect of the new mixing
method on the absorption of concrete for the 10% and 30% GP
mixes. The results showed a significant decrease in the absorption
of the mixes prepared by the new mixing method compared to the
conventional mixing method. The decrease in the absorption is in
correlation with the increase in the density of the mixes prepared
by the new mixing method and the refinement of the pore struc-
ture as mentioned by Du [10].
0.2
0.15
Relative Index (%)
0
2 7
Age (Days)
28
Fig. 17. Absorption of concrete as a function of age and the mixing method.
The density and the absorption results support the trend
observed in the compressive strength results for the mixes pre-
pared by the new mixing method. The mixes with higher density
lead to form less porosities and as a result less water absorption
and higher compressive strength. These results are originated form
the participation of the glass powder free ions in the formation of
denser CSH than CH due to the pozzolanic reactivity of the glass
powder.
4. Conclusion
The increase of glass powder amount in concrete influences the
fresh and hardened concrete properties. The workability increases
as the amount of GP increases in the concrete while the density of
the concrete decreases. This can be attributed to the increase in the
amount of free water in the mix which comes from the decrease of
the amount of cement in concrete and the need for less water to
hydrate the cement. The mixes with higher amount of GP showed
low porosity and lower absorption rates.
The conventional mixing method showed that the optimum

compressive strength is obtained at 20% GP mix with the increase

0.1
of the compressive strength is more significant later at 90 days. The
progress of the pozzolanic reaction can be the origin of this
0.05 increase rather than the packing filling effect.
The new mixing method demonstrated that it is a good
0 approach to form denser hydrate products due to the pozzolanic
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% reactivity of glass powder. However and in spite of the promising
results, a comprehensive study is still needed to evaluate the
GP (%)
behavior related to density and pore structure using MIP or SEM
Fig. 15. Relative index for flexure strength as a function of GP replacement at observations, in order to correlate the total porosity with the
28 days. mechanical behavior.
82 H.A. Elaqra et al. / Construction and Building Materials 203 (2019) 75–82
The higher value of the compressive strength at 2 days proves
that the dissolution of glass particles leads to form free ions which
participate in the hydration process and the formation of denser
interfacial transition zone and finer porosity. This increase can
demonstrate the participation of pozzolanic effect reaction and
the packing filling effect on the densification of the interfacial tran-
sition zone, while later at 90 days, it is related to the pozzolanic
reaction.
Although the design of concrete structures is based on the
28 days compressive strength, the effect of glass powder in con-
crete, as cement replacement, shows higher compressive strength
at 90 days and above. The 10% and 20% GP mixes showed higher
compressive strength than the control mix at 90 days. The opti-
mum percentage was obtained at 20% GP replacement. The 10%
and 20% GP mixes showed almost the same values of flexure
strength as the control mix. The new mixing method leads to
higher flexure strength which comes from the pozzolanic reaction
and the packing filling effect of the glass powder particles.
A significant increase in the compressive strength using the
new mixing method was obtained. This can be attributed to the
dissolution of the GP particles in water before mixing. The 10%
GP showed an increase in the compressive strength of about
130% at early age, 2 days, and at 90 days compared to the conven-
tional mixing method. This increase indicates that the pozzolanic
reaction, which takes place in the process of cement hydration,
leads to the formation of more CSH than that in the control mix.
An extensive study by XRD and SEM could confirm the results
obtained. It is suggested that the presence of SiO2, Na2Oand CaO
ions in water will increase the chance of forming CSH rather than
CH at early and later ages. The use of the relative index represented
a good method to evaluate the reactivity of glass powder.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
This scientific research has been conducted and seen the light
by a generous fund from the French Consulate in Jerusalem for
the pursuit of a master thesis at the Islamic University of Gaza,
Palestine. Many thanks for Dr. Saud Khalil Akra Regional director
and Reham Maher Ibai Head of laboratory department of Jordan
consultative ivf center in Palestine.
References
[1] C. Shia, Y. Wua, C. Rieflerb, H. Wang, Characteristics and pozzolanic reactivity
of glass powder, Cem. Concr. Res. (Issue 35) (2005) 987–993.
[2] R. Idir, M. Cyr and A. Tagnit-Hamou, Use of waste glass powder and aggregate
in cement based materials, SBEIDCO 1st international conference on
sustainable built environment infrastructure in developing countries ENSET
Oran Algeria Oct. 2009.
[3] G. Vijayakumar, Ms H. Vishaliny, D. Dr, Govindarajulu, Studies on glass
powder as partial replacement of cement in concrete production, Int. J.
Emerging Technol. an Adv. Eng. 3 (2) (2013).
[4] A. Omran, A. Hamou, Performance of glass powder concrete in field
application, Constr. Build. Mater. 109 (2016) 84–95.
[5] H. Elaqra and R. Rustom, Effect of Using Glass Powder as Cement Replacement
on Rheological and Mechanical Properties of Cement Paste, submitted paper to
Materials and Construction Building.
[6] M. Kamali, Ali Ghahremanineshed, An investigation into the hydration and
microstructure of cement pastes modified with glass powder, Constr. Build.
Mater. (Issue 101) (2016) 915–924.
[7] M.C. Bignozzi, A. Saccani, L. Barbieri, I. Lancellotti, Glass waste as
supplementary cementing materials: the effects of glass chemical
composition, Cem. Concr. Compos. 55 (2005) 45–52.
[8] N. Kumarappan, Partial Replacement Cement in Concrete Using Waste Glass.
International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology (IJERT), Vol. 2
Issue 10. ISSN: 2278-0181. 2013.
[9] M. Tognovi, A. Zidol, P.-C. Aïtcin, A. Tagnit-Hamou, Aging of glass powder
surface, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 427 (2015) 175–183.
[10] H. Du, K.H. Tan, Waste glass powder as cement replacement in concrete, J. Adv.
Concr. Technol. 12 (2014) 468–477.
[11] M. Kamali, A. Ghahremanineshed, Effects of glass powder on mechanical and
durability properties of cementitious materials, Constr. Build. Mater. 98 (2015)
407–416.
[12] G. Vasudevan, Seri G.K. Pillay, Performance of using waste glass powder in
concrete as replacement of cement, Am. J. Eng. Res. (AJER) 02 (12) (2013).
[13] J. B. Jangid and A. C. Saoji, Experimental investigation of waste glass powder as
the partial replacement of cement in concrete production, IOSR Journal of
Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE), e-ISSN: 2278-1684, p-ISSN:
2320-334X [International Conference on Advances in Engineering and
Technology –(ICAET-2014)], 2014, pages 55-60.
[14] R. Chandak, M.V. Hussain, Strength Properties of Concrete Containing Waste
Glass Powder, 1Int. J. Eng. Res. App. 5 (4) (2015) 01–04.
[15] Y. Shao, T. Lefort, S. Moras, D. Rodriguez, Studies on concrete containing
ground waste glasses, Cem. Concr. Res. 30 (1) (2000) 91–100.
[16] T.Sezhiyan1 and R. Rajkumar, Study on the properties of high strength
concrete using glass powder and lathe scrap, International Journal of
Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology An ISO 3297:
2007 Certified Organization Volume 3, Special Issue 2, April 2014, Second
National Conference on Trends in Automotive Parts Systems and Applications
(TAPSA-2014), On 21st and 22nd March 2014.
[17] K. Zheng, Pozzolanic, Reaction of glass powder and its role in controlling alkali-
silica reaction, Cem. Concr. Compos. 67 (2016) 30–38.
[18] D.M. Patil K.S. Keshav Experimental investigation of waste glass powder as
partial replacement of cement in concrete Int. J. Adv. Technol. Civ. Eng 2. 1
2013 ISSN: 2231 –5721
[19] K. Vandhiyan, K. Ramkumar and R. Ramya, Experimental Study On
Replacement Of Cement By Glass Powder, International Journal of
Engineering Research and Technology (IJERT), Vol. 2, Issue 5, May. ISSN:
2278-0181.
[20] J.K. Khatib, E.M. Negim, H.S. Sohl, N. Chileshe, Glass powder utilisation in
concrete production, Eur. J. Appl. Sci. 4 (4) (2012) 173–176. ISSN: 2079-2077.
[21] R. Madandoust, R. Ghavide, Mechanical properties of concrete containing
waste glass powder and rice husk ash, Bio Syst. Eng. No. 116 (2013) 113–119.
[22] M. Dhanaraj, K.K. Sangle, Experimental investigation of waste glass powder as
partial replacement of cement in concrete, Int. J. Adv. Technol. Civ. Eng. 2 (1)
(2013).
[23] A. Shayan, Value-added utilisation of waste glass in concrete, IABSE
SYMPOSIUM MELBOURNE (2002).
[24] N. Schwarzl et al., Influence of a fine glass powder on the durability
characteristics of concrete and its comparison to fly ash, Cem. Concr.
Compos. No. 30 (2008) 486–496.
[25] A. AbdAlqader, J. Hamadn, Municipal solid waste composition determination
supporting the integrated solid waste management in gaza strip, Int. J.
Environ. Sci. Dev. 3 (2) (2012).
[26] Y. Abu El Combos, Habil, G. Busch, Solid waste management in Gaza strip
problems and solution, report for Environmental Quality Authority (EQA),
State of Palestine.
[27] ASTM D5357-03, (2013), Standard Test Method for Determination of Relative
Crystallinity of Zeolite Sodium A by X-ray Diffraction, ASTM International,
West Conshohocken, PA, 2013.
[28] ASTM C136/C136M-14, Standard Test Method for Sieve Analysis of Fine and
Coarse Aggregates, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2014.
[29] ASTM C192/C192M-16a, Standard Practice for Making and Curing Concrete
Test Specimens in the Laboratory, ASTM International, West Conshohocken,
PA, 2016, www.astm.org.
[30] ASTM D4691-17, Standard Practice for Measuring Elements in Water by Flame
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry, ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, PA, 2017, www.astm.org
[31] ASTM C143/C143M-00, Standard Test Method for Slump of Hydraulic Cement
Concrete, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2000, www.astm.org.
[32] ASTM C642-13, Standard Test Method for Density, Absorption, and Voids in
Hardened Concrete, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2013, www.
astm.org.
[33] ASTM C642, Standard Test Method for Density, Absorption, and Voids in
Hardened Concrete, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2013, www.
astm.org.
[34] ASTM C39/C39M-18, Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of
Cylindrical Concrete Specimens, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA,
2018, www.astm.org.
[35] ASTM C78/C78M-18, Standard Test Method for Flexural Strength of Concrete
(Using Simple Beam with Third-Point Loading), ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, PA, 2018, www.astm.org.
[36] X.C. Pu, Ultra-high strength high performance concrete, Chongqing University
Press, 2004.