Efecto de la incorporación de residuos de vidrio en las propiedades del hormigón con poliestireno.

Introduction: expanded polystyrene (EPS) concrete is an environmentally friendly material; however, its compressive strength is lower than traditional concrete, requiring the incorporation of materials that improve its compressive strength. This paper reports the effect of waste glass (WG) incorporation on the properties of concrete containing polystyrene as partial replacement of fine aggregate. Objective: to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of glass residues on the physical and mechanical properties of concrete made from polystyrene. Methodology: concrete was produced with 10 % by volume replacement of fine aggregate. Different EPS:WG volume ratio 1:0, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4 (volume EPS +WG = 10 % volume fine aggregates replacement) were prepared. The slump of fresh mixtures was evaluated, density and compressive strength of hardened concrete at 28 days was evaluated; the durability was assessed through alkali silica reaction test. Results: an increasing in glass content was inversely proportional to slump, additionally, with the incorporation of glass, the density was not significantly affected. The incorporation of waste glass greatly increases the compressive strength, being the EPS:WG 1:3 mixture that showed the highest compressive strength, which was 37.2 % higher than reference concrete (1:0) was. Additionally, in 1:3 mixture was evidenced that the addition of waste glass does not lead to deleterious alkali silica reaction effect. Conclusions: the addition of waste glass to concrete prepared from expanded polystyrene improved its mechanical properties, making it a potential system to replace traditional materials used in concrete production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]