Composite Materials with Glass Fiber Waste and Blast Furnace Slag

Abstract

Fiberglass is a waste generated in the construction materials industry, which is not dangerous for the environment, but long-term and very long-term storage is expensive. Finding a method of reuse as in creating a useful composite material led to the research work in this study. The impact of waste fiberglass and furnace slag on the characteristics of novel composite materials was examined in this study. The density and mechanical properties of the composite samples were examined to determine the impact of waste fiberglass (WFG) concentration in it. Washed river aggregates were replaced with WFG in various ratios in our laboratory tests. Concrete class C16/20 was utilized, having 0.35–0.7 w. % WFG and 2–10% slag. The obtained material was evaluated for density, workability, and compressive strength. The experiments were carried out in an accredited concrete station laboratory. The density of the resulting materials decreased as the WFG content was increased. The densities were higher than the witness sample, ranging from 2358 to 2405 kg/m3. The findings show that adding WFG and slag to concrete has a positive impact on its characteristics. With the addition of WFG, the mixture became more non-homogenous, but these characteristics can be optimized in future. Because of the differential in density between WFG and natural coarse aggregates, the fresh density of obtained composites dropped as the percentage of WFG increased; this could be an advantage, as the newly obtained material became lighter. The findings show that adding waste to concrete has a detrimental impact on its qualities. The introduction of blast furnace slag up to 5% does not modify the compressive strength, compared to the reference samples, but 10% slag causes a decrease in compressive strength of 4.2%. A proportion of 0.25% WFG causes a slight increase in mechanical strength; therefore, 0.25% WFG and 5% slag increased the compressive strength, the maximum value being obtained for a composite with 0.25% WFG, 5% slag, 5% sand and aggregates. Capitalization of WFG and slag resulted in significant economic and environmental benefits by reducing waste storage costs and production costs, and advantages resulted from the new material.