Impact of Partial Replacement of Ordinary Aggregate by Plastic Waste Aggregate on Fresh Properties of Self-Compacting Concrete

Abstract

Different properties of Self-compacting concrete (SCC) containing plastic waste aggregate (PWA) have been experimentally studied by researchers. However, most of these works focused on examining the properties of one type of PA. In the present paper, the influence of four different types; namely Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Heat-treated plastic (PEL), Mixed plastic (Mix), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as a fine aggregate (FA) replacement; on fresh properties of SCC was examined. Results indicated that changing the PWA geometry influenced different properties of SCC. All concrete samples with PVC and PEL plastic were in the range of EFNARC classification (classified in VS2/PA2 class), causing no blocking in V-funnel and L-box test. Meanwhile, mixed plastic up to 7.5% and PET up to 5% fall within VS2/VF2 class; otherwise, the mixture was outside the range of EFNRAC standards. The best plastic waste aggregate regarding all new properties was PVC confirming all requirements for a successful SCC, causing no blocking or segregation. Thus, 10% was selected as the optimum percentage. Furthermore, PET was the worst, for PET-7.5% significant increase in the V-funnel (57.6 sec) and reduction in H2/H1 ratio (0.58) was obtained besides blocking in L-box tests, segregation, and bleeding in slump flow test. Thus, more than 5% is not recommended when using PET in Self-compacting concrete.