Mechanisms for Recycling E-Glass Waste to Enhance The Fracture Energy of 3d Printed Structural Dune Sand Mortar

Abstract

Selecting the appropriate material is crucial for the successful performance of printed elements. The present study aims to develop a strong and lightweight 3D-printed sand mortar using E-glass waste powder. It evaluated the material’s fracture energy, compressive strength, and ultrasonic pulse velocity properties through three-point bending experiments. Mixture specimens were prepared with varying E-glass volume contents of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. The experiment concluded that the control mixture was brittle, while the addition of E-glass increased the fracture energy of the dune sand mortar by 21% to 143%. The compressive strengths of all specimens were higher than 25 MPa and up to 48 MPa. Ultrasonic pulse velocity confirmed the high quality of the E-glassy mortar specimens. It also performed manual flow ability tests to examine the printability and buildability of the mortar mixes. Using recycled E-glass waste in 3D printing enhances the buildability and resistance to the brittleness of lightweight mortar.