Performance of concrete containing waste glass at a low water/binder ratio

This paper aims to evaluate the properties of concrete containing waste glass at a low water/binder ratio. Totally, seven concrete mixtures made with water/binder ratio of 0.27 in which recycled glass was partially replaced either as cement or fine aggregate. The properties of waste glass concrete were evaluated by compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, splitting tensile strength, initial and final absorption and electrical resistivity. Results showed that although, glass powder inclusion decreases the compressive strength of high-strength concrete (HSC), the use of waste glass as fine aggregate increased the 90-days compressive strength of reference HSC from 102.3 MPa to 106 MPa. Furthermore, good correlations can be found between UPV and compressive strength, with R2 values equal to 0.87 and 0.79 for HSC with glass powder and HSC containing glass sand, respectively. Splitting tensile strength of HSC with waste glass was lower than those obtained for reference HSC. A low absorption (below 3% at 30 min) can be achieved for waste glass mixes classified as ‘‘good’’ concrete quality. The electrical resistivity of HSC containing waste glass is determined to be higher than 20 kΩ-cm at the age of 28-days. In general, waste glass can be used either as cement or fine aggregate in the production of HSC with acceptable mechanical and durability properties.