Flexural behavior of sustainable reinforced concrete beams containing HDPE plastic waste as coarse aggregate

Abstract

The peril increasing due to the increase in the accumulation of different types of plastic waste in the environment which is often burned, buried, or thrown into rivers and seas polluting the air, soil, and water. Therefore, it has become necessary to find ways to get rid of them primarily by using them as substitutes for materials used in other industries. Beams with 180 × 280 mm cross section and 2000 mm length were tested under a four-point bending load system. Three beams were ast with sustainable concrete made from high-strength concrete (HSC) containing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic type was taken from shredding vegetable boxes and used as a substitute for coarse aggregate with 10%, 20%, and 30% ratios. The fourth one contains 0% HDPE replacement and represents the reference beam. Test results for the beam with 30% replacement showed that the cracking manner and failure time were close to the reference beam and the toughness increased by 24%, while the load carrying capacity was reduced by 7%. These results are very promising to take into consideration a partial HDPE plastic replacement of 30% by the natural coarse aggregate while keeping a competent structural flexural behavior.

Keywords

• HDPE plastic waste
• vegetable plastic boxes
• coarse aggregate substitutes
• sustainable concrete
• high strength concrete
• reinforced concrete beam