LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (LDPE): ANALYSIS OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE WITH PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF THE SMALL AGGREGATE

Abstract

The development of polymers revolutionized the way of life of modern society, being present in all areas. Considering that plastic is a polymer with several applications in Engineering with widely known physical and chemical properties, its reuse and recycling is necessary in view of the importance of thinking about a more sustainable engineering. In civil construction, with a view to reducing the effects caused by plastic pollution, research has sought ways to reuse it in the cement matrix through the use of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) as a partial replacement of fine aggregate in concrete. With this in mind, the objective of this research was to replace fine aggregate with LDPE grains in a reference mix and analyze the changes in mechanical properties caused by different replacement levels. The results indicate that as the substitution increases, there is an increase in the slump of the concrete, a decrease in the compressive strength and water absorption by capillarity and an increase in the tensile strength for a replacement of 5% of LDPE by the fine aggregate. Although there was a loss in mechanical properties, there is the possibility of trying to improve them with the use of plasticizers, since the type of substitution proposed here makes the concrete lighter, which makes the material interesting in civil construction.