Reinforcement of cement mortar with recycled polyethylene waste for construction applications

Abstract

This current research work combines both experimental and theoretical study of the impact of cement mortar reinforced with recycled polyethylene waste for applications in the construction industry. The work explores incorporating low density polyethylene (LDPE) waste into cement mortar to improve its fracture toughness and flexural strength with balanced compressive strength. Different volume fractions (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40%) of the powdered LDPE were mixed with cement and the density, compressive strength, flexural strength, and the fracture toughness were observed under different testing conditions. All specimens were tested after curing of 7, 14, and 28 days. The results show that there was [Formula: see text]6% increase in the fracture toughness at 5 vol. %, [Formula: see text]7% increase at 10 vol. %, and 24% increases at 20 vol. % of LDPE. Also, it was observed that the weight and compressive strength decreased with increasing volume fraction up to 40 vol. % of LDPE waste. The results for the survival/failure probability show that the PE-mortar composites with PE volume percentages up to 20 vol. % had the highest survival probability. The composite with this volume percentage can withstand crack up to 6 mm, with a survival probability of 0.6.

Eco-friendly green composites reinforced with recycled polyethylene for engineering applications

“…Nowadays, the use of plastics such as polyethylene (PE) has become very necessary for the livelihood of humanity. Due to its high demand across the world, the different types of PE including low density polyethylene (LDPE), medium density polyethylene (MDPE) and highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) among others are becoming a nuisance to the environment [1,2]. The generation of these wastes has become very common in Africa and the world.…”

“…In trying to eliminate or reduce the pile-up of PE wastes on the environment, few researchers have capitalized on the need to re-use these polymers/plastics by incorporating them into cementbased structures for sustainable building applications [1,2,8,9,10,11,12] and other applications 3 in the composite industry [13,14]. The problem associated with these cement-based structures is that the cement itself is a pollutant and contributes to overall global carbon dioxide emission; otherwise, cement-based structures are durable and possess excellent mechanical [15,16,17] and physical properties [18,19].…”

Eco-friendly Green Composites Reinforced with Recycled Polyethylene for Engineering Applications

“…Nowadays, the use of plastics such as polyethylene (PE) has become very necessary for the livelihood of humanity. Due to its high demand across the world, the different types of PE including low density polyethylene (LDPE), medium density polyethylene (MDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) among others are becoming a nuisance to the environment (Azeko et al, 2018;Flomo et al, 2021). The generation of these wastes has become very common in Africa and the world.…”

Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Sustainable Composite Building Materials Produced by the Reprocessing of Low-Density Polyethylene, Biochar, Calcium Phosphate, and Phosphogypsum Wastes

“…Artificial and/or natural wastes as well as earth-based composites have been explored as potential alternative building materials that reduce the overall use of cement in building materials (Azeko et al 2015;Mustapha et al 2016;Flomo et al 2021). The composites also have enabled the recycling of agricultural wastes (natural fibers), industrial wastes [such as phosphogypsum (PG)], and human-made waste materials (such as plastics) into building materials that have attractive combinations of mechanical properties (Azeko et al 2015;Srijaroen et al 2020;Flomo et al 2021). Therefore, there is the potential to integrate different types of waste materials into the development of robust and sustainable building materials.…”

“…The use of cement in modern buildings are expensive and environmentally unfriendly, and therefore there is a need to replace this material partially with other natural and artificial wastes such as slags (Savastano et al 2001), straws (Mustapha et al 2016), banana fibers (Savastano et al 2000), discarded tires (Sukontasukkul and 9 Chaikaew 2006), ash (Saddique 2004), termite soil (Mahamat et al 2021), and polyethylene (Azeko et al 2015c(Azeko et al , 2018Flomo et al 2021) without causing additional pollution. These wastes when incorporated into cement-based materials have enhanced mechanical properties such as compressive strength, fracture toughness, and flexural strength that are similar to those of conventional cementbased structures (Table 1).…”