Abstract:
The construction industry in Ethiopian is booming with a resulting increase in requirement of concrete as an input. Aggregate is the main constituent of concrete covering 60-75% of its volume. Accordingly, the demand of Natural Aggregate (NA) is increasing. Hence, an increasing in cost and shortage occur. On the other hand, the industry is also faced by the demolition wastes due to deterioration, reconstruction and crushed test samples at the laboratory. The issue is not limited to construction and demolition (C&D) waste but it also includes non-degradable wastes originating from materials like glass. This results in an increasing stockpiling and deposition with land filling which affects the environment. In this study, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) produced from demolished concrete structures and waste glass powder (WGP) sourced from end-life and broken glass containers and bottles are used for fresh concrete production. A detailed experimental analysis is conducted to assess the workability and compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) made with partial replacement of natural aggregate (NA) and cement by recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and Waste Glass Powder (WGP) respectively. A concrete mix with a specified compressive strength of 25MPa have been prepared with 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% replacement of NA by RCA and 0%, 10% and 20% replacement of cement by WGP in each RAC mixes. Here, concrete made with 0% RCA and 0%WGP is a control mix whereas RAC made with different RCA proportion and 0%WGP acts as counterpart RAC mix to investigate the effects of WGP. The RAC cubes are cured in the laboratory setting and the compressive strength measured and recorded at the concrete curing duration of 3rd, 7th, 28th, and 56th days. The result shows that the WGP replaced RAC shows a better workability and compressive strength development than the counterpart RAC mix and comparable with control mix. However, the compressive strength decreases with an increase proportion of RCA and WGP. The study examines the properties of concrete containing RCA and WGP, and its economic benefit towards producing sustainable concrete. The outcome of this research would be assist the growing construction industry to be sustainable thereby reducing waste and conserving natural resources.