Recycled Plastic and Cork Waste for Structural Lightweight Concrete Production

Abstract

The use of waste materials as lightweight aggregates in concrete is highly recommended in seismic risk areas and environmentally recommended. However, reaching the strength needed for the concrete to be used structurally may be challenging. In this study four dosages were assayed: the first two-specimen had high cement content (550 and 700 kg/m3 respectively), Nanosilica, fly ash and superplasticizer. These samples were high performance, reaching a strength of 100MPa at 90 days. The other two mixtures were identical but replaced 48% of the aggregates with recycled lightweight aggregates (30% polypropylene, 18.5% cork). To estimate its strength and durability the mixtures were subjected to several tests. Compression strength, elasticity modulus, mercury intrusion porosimetry, carbonation, attack by chlorides, and penetration of water under pressure were analyzed. The compression strength and density of the lightweight mixtures were reduced 68% and 19% respectively; nonetheless, both retained valid levels for structural use (over 30MPa at 90 days). Results, such as the total porosity between 9.83% and 17.75% or the chloride ion penetration between 8.6 and 5.9mm, suggest that the durability of these concretes, including the lightweight ones, is bound to be very high thanks to a very low porosity and high resistance to chemical attacks.

Durability of Concrete Structures with Sugar Cane Bagasse Ash

“…e effects of by-products' usage and waste materials as supplementary cementitious systems have been also extensively investigated [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. As a result, fly ashes [21,27], metakaolin [30], geopolymers [31,32], slags (such as steel slags) [24,25], and sugar cane bagasse ash [33][34][35][36] were added to green concrete. e sugar cane bagasse ash is a byproduct resulting from factories' sugar and alcohol boilers [33][34][35][36].…”

Deformation Analysis of Reinforced Beams Made of Lightweight Aggregate Concrete

“…Numerous studies around the world have been dedicated to research in the field of lightweight aggregate concrete. Consequently, various concrete mixtures with different mechanical properties have been proposed [5][6][7][8][9][10]. However, in most cases, traditional studies usually address the optimization of concrete properties with respect to one or more aspects, such as microstructure, mechanical resistance, and durability [6][7][8][9].…”

“…These tendencies can be explained by the fact that lightweight concrete significantly differs from normal concrete. In particular, the properties of lightweight concrete are highly dependent on the type, amount, and mechanical properties of the selected lightweight aggregates [10,16] as well as the technological aspects of concrete mix preparation [17,18]. Traditional engineering methods, which during many years have been developed to improve normal-weight concrete mixes, are usually insufficient for evaluating these factors.…”

Virgin Natural Cork Characterization as a Sustainable Material for Use in Acoustic Solutions

“…The main industrial use of cork is the manufacture of stoppers for wine bottles, although recent studies have shown that the overall environmental impact of cork stoppers in wine bottles is higher than when using screwcaps [7]. Apart from the use for stoppers, other uses of cork are becoming more widespread lately, given its low density, as is the case of its use for the lightening of concrete [8] or lightweight aggregate for cementbased materials [9]. If cork is used as a stopper, a minimum thickness without excessive irregularities or fractures is necessary.…”