Performance of Concrete with Plastics Granules as Coarse Aggregate

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Introduction: - Concrete is the most extensively used construction material in the world. It is widely used in all types of engineering works, because it provides good workability and can be molded in any shape. It is the largest man made material. It is used in all types of civil engineering works, including infrastructures, low and high rise buildings, local development etc. Concrete in the broad sense, is any product or mass made by the use of a cementing medium. [1] Generally this medium is the product of reaction between hydraulic cement and water. It also consists of aggregates. Among these aggregates i.e. inert granular materials such as sand, crushed stone or gravel form the major part (70%). The scarcity of natural aggregate has made it to find alternative materials for use in cement concrete. Continuous utilization of natural aggregates in construction has necessitated a search for sustainable alternatives by replacing natural aggregates either partially or fully. [2,3] One should be conscious about conserving natural resources and preserving environment by emphasizing use of waste materials innovatively as an alternative to natural materials.[4] The waste materials like glass granules, brick bats, copper slag, fly ash and other materials have been used as replacement of aggregate in concrete.

There are good qualities of waste material available like fly ash, silica fumes, concrete waste, marble scum, industrial waste, agricultural waste, red soils etc. Use of many of this waste has become common in producing various products like fly ash concrete, jute boards etc. One of such waste material is plastic produced in huge quantity throughout the world in the form of plastic carry bags, polythen bags, plastic bottles, plastic scrap etc. Disposal of plastic waste in environment is considered to be a big problem due to its very low biodegradability and presence in large quantities. In order to explore suitable replacement, for concrete constituent, an experimental program was undertaken to replace coarse aggregate of size 12.5 mm and down with plastic granules i.e. raw material produced from plastic waste to prepare plastic pipes for irrigation. [4]This research work therefore deals with studying the performance of concrete by replacing natural aggregate with plastic granules. The findings are presented in this paper.