Evaluation of the durability of concrete made with crushed glass aggregates

Contrasting with previous studies that aimed to evaluate the mechanical properties of concrete made with glass, this one focuses on their durability performance. For this, water absorption by capillarity and immersion, carbonation resistance, chloride penetration and shrinkage tests were performed. Mixes containing 0%, 5%, 10% and 20% of glass aggregates (GA) as replacement of natural aggregates (NA) were prepared. Also analysed is the influence of the size of the replaced aggregates (fine and coarse, separately or simultaneously), in a total of 10 concrete mixes. It was found that the particle size strongly affects the workability of concrete. Due to the lower density of the glass aggregates, the mixes made with glass had a lighter fresh density than the reference concrete. Although there is a decrease in the compressive strength as the replacement rate increases, mixes with GA are totally feasible, even though there are some differences in performance as a function of the particle size of the GA used to replace the NA. It was found that in most cases the GA do not significantly alter the durability-related properties of concrete. In a few instances there is a variation from the reference concrete of ±15%, which is well within the expectable scatter of the results from experimental research.