Study of the Performance of HDPE and PVC Plastic Aggregates in Concrete

This work aims at immobilizing High-Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic wastes in the production of concrete for construction. The partial replacement of natural aggregates with plastic aggregates in the proportions 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% was performed to obtain two groups of concretes. The comparative analysis was done with the control concrete. The experimental results showed a decrease in the workability (3.10–0 cm) and the dry density (2186–1377KN/m³). The incorporation of HDPE aggregates in the concrete decreased the compressive strength (24.19–5.73 MPa), the splitting tensile strength (3.57–1.11 MPa), and the flexural strength (5.77–0.96 MPa). On the other hand, the incorporation of PVC aggregates in the concrete improved the flexural strength within the range of 5% and 10% of the addition (7.7 MPa for 5% and 6.25 MPa for 10% of PVC). The cubic morphology and the rough texture of PVC plastic aggregates contributed to the increase in cement paste aggregates adhesion strength. Unlike previous work where the compressive, flexural and tensile strength had decreased because of the smooth texture of the plastic aggregates, which had almost reduced the friction between the cement paste and the plastic aggregates. The decrease in mass was observed during the abrasion test from 5 to 1 g. The low Los Angeles coefficient of the plastic aggregates was responsible for this behavior. The plastic aggregate PVC can be used to reduce the weight of concrete, increase the flexural strength and abrasion of concrete.