Mechanical characterization of a new architectural concrete with glass-recycled aggregate

Abstract

Concrete is a material which is widely used in architecture, not only for structural purposes but also for architectural elements for its versatility and excellent performance. However, the manufacturing of this material as a mixture of water, cement, and fine and coarse aggregate comes with a high environmental cost, such as gas emissions, among other things. This is the reason why different alternatives are being proposed in order to replace coarse aggregates with other recycled materials, as it is one of the less sustainable components of the mixture in terms of extraction. One of these alternatives is recycled glass coming from drinking bottles, crushed into small grains and mixed in the same proportions as regular aggregates. This study proposes the mechanical characterization of a new architectural concrete mixture by using white Lafarge cement and glass-recycled aggregates; this proposed concrete is made especially for architectural elements like façade panels, rather than structural elements. The mechanical evaluation of this new material is done through a set of experimental tests under compression and also bending, comparing three different ratios of glass aggregate in the mixture.