Experimental Analysis of Light Weight Thermal Resistant Concrete

Abstract

Growth in civil construction has increased the consumption of raw materials by the construction sector, resulting in chronic shortage of building materials and the associated environmental damage. In the last decade, construction industry has been conducting various researches on the utilization of easily available raw materials and use of plastic waste with concrete in construction since plastic waste is a waste which takes millions of years to decompose while its generation is increasing day by day. In this experimental research, light weight thermal resistant concrete block is developed using polyurethane plastic waste in concrete as it is one of the materials which can scope up with the shortage of building raw materials and can produce a light weight, thermal resistant, energy efficient and environmentally friendly concrete block. This study deals with the introduction to the polyurethane in concrete block and its experimental advantages compared to the normal concrete block.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Plastic Waste Problem

The plastic industry is one of the largest industries worldwide. Globally, in 2013, over 299 million tons of plastic were produced. Plastic has replaced paper, cardboard, metal and glass (Andrady, 2015). This displacement is a result of several advantages that plastic has over these other materials. Plastic is lowcost, lightweight and easy to handle, it also has relatively high strength and corrosion resistance (Andradi, 2015; Ferreira et al., 2012). Because plastic products have a large presence in a variety of markets (e.g. packaging, automotive, healthcare), these markets are directly contributing to increase the volumes of plastic in the waste stream (Silva, de Brito, and Saikia, 2013).

Plastic consumption has increased dramatically worldwide. This is in contrast to the recycling rate, which has remained low (Gu and Ozbakkaloglu, 2016). In USA, the contribution of plastic to the waste stream has increased from an average of 0.39 million tons in the 1960s to 31.75 million tons in 2012. Over the span of 50 years, the recycling rate has increased only 8.8%, which makes 2 plastic waste volume a serious issue for solid waste management (Gu and Ozbakkaloglu, 2016). Every year in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 4-thousand tons of plastic are consumed, which is approximately 8% of the solid waste generated in the province. This plastic waste is collected, compacted and sent to other provinces. Because of the option of sending plastic waste to other provinces, Newfoundland has not yet developed any long-term strategy for the management of this solid waste. This has drastic economic and environmental impacts (Government of Newfoundland, 2002).

B. Lightweight Concrete

Lightweight concrete is a specialized type of concrete that is known for its significantly reduced weight in comparison to traditional concrete.

It is designed to have a lower density by incorporating lightweight aggregates or by introducing air voids into the mixture. This unique composition results in a concrete that is lighter, making it an ideal choice for various construction applications where weight reduction is desired. The production of lightweight concrete involves the replacement of traditional coarse aggregates, such as gravel or crushed stone, with lightweight materials. These lightweight aggregates can include expanded clay, shale, slate, perlite, vermiculite, or pumice. These materials are chosen for their inherent lightweight properties while still providing adequate structural strength.

C. Polyurethane

Polyurethane (PUR and PU) is a polymer composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links.

E. Properties Of Polyurethane

1. Wide Range of Hardness
2. High Load Bearing Capacity
3. Flexibility
4. Abrasion & Impact Resistance
5. Tear Resistance
6. Resistance to Water, Oil & Grease
7. Electrical Properties
8. Wide Resiliency Range
9. Strong Bonding Properties
10. Performance in Harsh Environments
11. Mould, Mildew & Fungus Resistance
12. Colour Ranges
13. Economical Manufacturing Process
14. Short Production Lead Times

F. Objective

The specific objectives are to:

1. Identify an affordable and suitable waste material for the production of lightweight concrete.
2. Compare the strength and density of lightweight concrete with normal concrete.
3. Compare the heat transfer of lightweight concrete with normal concrete

II. METHODOLOGY

A. Summary Of Mixture Design Approach

The first stage involves: Goals of optimization, ranges of variation (constraints) Determination of number of experiments Execution of experiments Selection of the model -Analysis of variance ANOVA Adequacy of the models and predictions -Lack of fit test -Residuals OPTIMIZATION Verification in the lab of the predicted values Comparison between predicted and real values 

1. determination of optimization goals, selection of the components and their ranges of   variation and additional constraints;
2. identification of the responses and the number of experiments; and
3. execution of the experiments and measurement of the responses.

The second stage involves

a. selection of the model through the analysis of variance (ANOVA);

b. analysis of adequacy, through lack of fit test, R-squared adjusted and predicted, and graphical analysis of residuals; and

c. optimization through graphical and numerical optimization using the desirable function approach.

B. Selection of materials

1. Cement
2. Water
3. Aggregates
4. Waste Polyurethane

C. Test Performed

Compressive strength

Conclusion

1) The findings demonstrated the feasibility of using the waste material as a lightweight concrete and highlighted the potential benefits in terms of reduced density, satisfactory mechanical properties, improved thermal insulation, and sustainable construction practices. 2) Based on the provided results, it can be observed that the inclusion of polyurethane in the concrete mixture had an effect on the weight of the concrete cubes after curing. The concrete cubes containing polyurethane exhibited lower weights compared to the cubes without polyurethane, both at the 7-day and 28-day curing periods. 3) The compressive strength of the concrete cubes with polyurethane after 7 days of curing was measured to be 20.64 N/mm2, while the cubes without polyurethane had a compressive strength of 13.497 N/mm2. After 28 days of curing, the compressive strength of the cubes with polyurethane increased to 25.86 N/mm2, while the cubes without polyurethane reached a compressive strength of 23.08 N/mm2. 4) Based on the provided results concrete and polyurethane, the measured thermal conductivity values of 166.25W and 118.75W respectively indicate that polyurethane has a lower thermal conductivity compared to concrete. This suggests that polyurethane exhibits better insulation properties and reduces heat transfer more effectively than concrete. The involvement of polyurethane opens up the possibility of further research in specific areas. IT IS: a) Ratio of the contents can be varied and tested to further reduce the weight and cost of the block. b) Sound test will be conducted. c) A cost analysis is to be done.

References

[1] Xijun Zhang et al, Experimental Study on the Mechanical Properties of the Fiber Cement Mortar Containing polyurethane Advances in Materials Science and Engineering Volume 2021, 9956897. [2] M. Kura?ska , J.A. Pinto et al, Synthesis of thermal insulating polyurethane foams from lignin and rapeseed based polyols: A comparative study elsevier Industrial Crops and Products Volume 143, January 2020, 111882. [3] Firyal Mohammed Ali, Jassim Mohammed Mohaisen, Production of Lightweight Concrete with renewable polyurethane Foam as Coarse Aggregate Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, 2019, 6(7):131-137. [4] Thanapol Tantisattayakul, Premrudee Kanchanapiya, Pawadee Methacanon, Comparative waste management options for rigid polyurethane foam waste in Thailand, Cleaner Production, June 2018, S0959-6526(18)31816-X. [5] M. Kura?ska , J.A. Pinto et al, Synthesis of thermal insulating polyurethane foams from lignin and rapeseed based polyols: A comparative study Industrial Crops and Products Volume 143, January 2020, 111882 [6] Xavier Mathew and Binol Varghees, strength analysis - building frame with polyurethane cement composite (puc), International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), Apr 2018, Volume: 05 Issue: 04, 4567- 4572. [7] Mr. Abin Chandy and Mr. S.S. Janagan, study on foamed concrete with polyurethane as foaming agent, International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), Jan 2018, Volume: 05 Issue: 01, 873-879. [8] R.B.N.Santhosh and K.Sasidhar, An Experimental Study on Polyurethanes for Eco-Friendly and Light Weight Constructions, IJESC, Volume 7 Issue No.3, 5767-5769. [9] Leon Agavriloaie, Stefan Oprea, Marinela Barbuta and Florentina Luca, Characterisation of polymer concrete with epoxy polyurethane acryl matrix, Construction and Building Materials (ELSEVIER), July 2012, 0950-0618, 190-196. [10] Vojt?ch Václavík, Tomáš Dvorský, VojtechDirner, Jaromír Daxner and Martin Š?astný, polyurethane foam as aggregate for thermal insulating mortars and lightweight concrete, Tehni?ki vjesnik 19, 3(2012), 665-672. [11] S.Gutiérrez-González, J. Gadea, A. Rodríguez, C. Junco, V. Calderón, Lightweight plaster materials with enhanced thermal properties made with polyurethane foam wastes, Construction and Building Materials (ELSEVIER), Oct 2011, 0950-0618, 653-658. [12] Amor Ben Fraj, Mohamed Kismi, Pierre Mounanga, Valorization of coarse rigid polyurethane foam waste in lightweight aggregate concrete, Construction and Building Materials (ELSEVIER), Nov 2009, 0950-0618, 1069-1077. [13] P. Mounanga, W. Gbongbon, P. Poullain, P. Turcry, Proportioning and characterization of lightweight concrete mixtures made with rigid polyurethane foam wastes, Construction and Building Materials (ELSEVIER), June 2008, 0950-0618, 806-814. [14] IS Code 456:2000 [15] IS Code 10262:2009

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Abhishek Shrivastava, Dr. Ravindra Gautum , Prof. Alka Singh, Prof. Neha Sen. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.