Investigation of the use of recycled glass wastes as building material

In present conditions recycling is getting more and more important. The main purposes of my research are; contributing to sustainability by increasing the use of recycled materials, trying to improve the importance of recycling and increase the use of waste materials in construction. In this study, the physical and mechanical properties of recycled glass aggregate concrete at various glass ratios and control concrete without glass aggregate were compared. The research consists of literature research and experimental studies. The glass used in the concrete as additive and aggregate has been selected according to the properties of the glass. It is very important to examine the properties, production forms and classification of glass which will be used as aggregate. In the recycling of the glasses the particular chemical properties of the glass has taken into account. Literature studies have shown that glass color is not very important. However, the high cost of borosilicate glass and the potential damage upon releasing the materials contained within the lead glass makes them not recommended to be used in concrete. In the literature studies the use of glass as additives and aggregates at various ratios has been investigated and it has been determined that the optimal value of glass for the use as aggregate is %25. And a decision has been made to carry on with the experimental studies with this ratio. In experimental studies, samples both containing and not containing glass compared according to their physical and mechanical properties in periods of 7 and 28 days. The tensile and compressive strengths of the glass containing samples are very close to the control specimens, while the water absorption and capillary values are the same. In addition, the samples were compared with different building materials such as brick, sandstone, pumice concrete in terms of their physical and mechanical properties. Literature studies conducted in the study and comparison results in experimental studies have shown that the potential for the use of concrete blocks containing recycled glass aggregates is quite high. Concrete blocks containing recycled glass aggregate have been found to be of good quality to use as interior and exterior wall materials. This research suggests investigating the strength that will occur in long-term results of experimental studies using glass aggregates and examining the pozzolanic properties of glass more extensively.