Behavior of reactive powder concrete containing recycled glass powder reinforced by steel fiber

Abstract

Abstract Environmental sustainability is described as one that avoids the depletion or deterioration of natural resources, while also allowing for the preservation of long-term environmental quality. By practicing environmental sustainability, we may assist to guarantee that the requirements of today’s population are satisfied without risking the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs in the future. Engineers in the field of concrete production are becoming increasingly interested in sustainable development, which includes the utilization of the locally available materials in addition to using the agricultural and industrial waste in construction industry as one of the possible solutions to the environmental and economic issues. This study investigated the effect of partial substitution of cement with recycled glass powder (0, 15, 20, and 25%) by weight of cement at various ages (on compressive strength) after determining the optimal ratio of replacement. This optimal ratio is used to study its effect on some mechanical properties (such as flexural strength, absorption, and dry density) of reactive powder concrete containing 1% micro steel fiber (SRPC), and furthermore, utilizing steam curing for 5 h at 90°C after hardening the sample directly. Reactive powder concrete (RPC) has been designed with the use of the local cement, silica fume, and super plasticizer with a water/cement ratio of 0.20 in order to achieve a compressive strength of 137.09 MPa at the age of 28 days. When recycled glass powder replacement (20%) was utilized, the findings revealed that the compressive strength of RPC improved by 4.2%, the flexural strength increased by 15.3%, the dry density increased by 0.61%, and the absorption was reduced by 32% at 28 days after the test results were compared to the reference mix.