Abrasion Resistance of Recycled Concrete Incorporating Recycled Aggregates and Plastic Waste

Abstract

Thailand is facing increasing challenges in managing waste from building demolitions and non-recyclable plastic, both of which pose serious environmental concerns. This study aims to utilize recycled concrete aggregate and plastic waste as alternative materials in concrete mixtures and evaluate the abrasion resistance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) incorporating plastic waste as a partial fine aggregate replacement at 10% and 20% by volume. Several mixes were also subjected to multiple recycling cycles. The specimens were
immersed in 5% magnesium sulfate solution for 28 days to simulate sulfate-rich soil environments. Abrasion resistance was tested using the Rotating-Cutter method in accordance with ASTM C944-99. The results showed that, in non-immersed samples, abrasion depth decreased from 2.70 mm to 0.70 mm as plastic content increased, whereas immersed samples showed an increase in abrasion depth from 0.29 mm to 0.48 mm. For weight loss percentage, non-immersed samples ranged from 0.05% to 0.10%, while immersed samples ranged from 0.03% to 0.08%. It was concluded that the RAC mix with 10% plastic waste and only one recycling cycle provided the best performance in terms of abrasion resistance, making it a suitable material for use in both sulfate and non-sulfate environments.