Effect of glass sand used as aggregate on micro-concrete properties

Abstract

Micro-concrete (MC) can be defined as a high-performance cement-based material produced using microaggregates and cement in the required proportions. Owing to its high performance, it has the potential to be used in the structural repairs of existing building elements. Within the scope of this study, an evaluation was conducted by creating a usage scenario under which glass, which is a waste product, can be reduced and applied in a way that provides a sufficient MC performance. There are four different binder contents in the mixtures within the scope of the present study, i.e., 570, 580, 599, and 658 kg/m3. From these mixtures, together with the control mixture, 12 %, 27 %, and 50 % microaggregates were replaced with glass sand and 16 different mixtures with a total of 4 different aggregate contents were produced. For the mechanical, physical, and durability tests, 40 × 40 × 160 mm sized prisms and 50 × 50 × 50 mm sized cubes were produced. For the purposes of this research, mechanical tests were carried out on 144 7-, 28- and 56-day old prismatic specimens. In addition, the effects of a freeze-thaw and temperature on the mechanical properties were investigated on 192 prismatic samples. In determination of the durability, physical properties such as the porosity, sorptivity, and specific gravity were tested and determined using cubic samples. The test results show that the replacement of MA with GS has positive effects on all mechanical behaviours of MC.