Effect of Glass Powder on Concrete Sustainability

Abstract

As defined by the American Concrete Institute (ACI), alternative supplementary cementitious materials (ASCMs) and local materials are very important in concrete sustainability. As an ASCM, glass powder (GP) shows excellent pozzolanic properties. This paper focuses on characterization and the effect of GP on concrete properties compared to those of Class F fly ash (FFA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). Concrete incorporating 0, 20 and 30% of GP and other concrete mixes containing 30% of FFA or GGBS were cast. The concrete mixes considered in this study have water to binder (w/b) mass ratio ranging from 0.35 to 0.65. The mechanical properties such as compressive strength and durability including chloride ions permeability and chloride ions diffusion are evaluated. The results show that GP develops effects on mechanical properties similar to those of FFA and performs better than GGBS and FFA in terms of permeability reduction. GP reduces dramatically chloride permeability of concrete regardless w/b ratio, favoring an improvement of the concrete durability. Because of the interesting permeability developed by concretes incorporating GP, its use as an ASCM is promising.