W/C REDUCTION FOR FLEXURAL STRENGTHENING OF R.C BEAMS HAVING PLASTIC AGGREGATE.

Due to the greater availability and low biodegradability plastic waste became a great concern for the researchers worldwide, because this waste is one of the main environmental issues. Nowadays harmful industrial waste can be helpful in place of conventional aggregate in concrete mix, which in turn will also save natural resources. A similar effort has been made in this research study for making concrete having replaced percentage of plastic aggregate along with plasticizer and reduced water cement ratio. Total of fifty-seven concrete cylinders and six beams were cast, and after curing period, these were tested for compression and flexural strength respectively. Compression strength decreases by increasing the percentages of plastic aggregates while reducing the w/c, the compression strength increases. The strength of beams in flexure increases by 57% through reduction of W/C from 0.68 (normal concrete/fc'=3000psi) to 0.3, and with further replacement of 40% plastic aggregate the increase in strength as compared to the normal concrete was still 3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]