Mechanical and microstructural properties of recycled reactive powder concrete containing waste glass powder and fly ash at standard curing

The objective of this study is to develop recycled reactive powder concrete from local waste raw materials and investigate their combined effect on mechanical properties for sustainable construction. Waste glass powder from construction sites and waste fly ash from cement industries in three different percentages were utilized for full replacement of silica fume. Waste ceramic powder was also utilized to replace quartz powder fully. Recycled reactive powder concrete were developed from Portland cement, finely dispersed waste glass powder, waste ceramic powder, waste fly ash, fine sand, admixture, steel fibres and water at standard curing and using hand mixing. All raw materials were analyzed for X-Ray Fluorescence analysis. To evaluate the mechanical performances of the developed concrete, compressive and flexural strengths were investigated experimentally and compared with the control mix. The experimental results indicated that replacing the silica fume fully by finely dispersed local waste glass powder and fly ash is a promising approach for local structural construction applications. A mean compressive strength of 62.9MPa and flexural strength of 8.8MPa were developed using 50% glass powder 50% fly ash at 28th days standard curing. In this study, 17.56% larger compressive strength and 30.6% flexural strength improvements were observed as compared to the control mix.