Investigation of the Effect of Granulated Polymer (Polyvinylchloride) Waste Material as an Additive on Properties of Concrete

In this study, an attempt was made to experimentally evaluate the effect of granulated polymer (PVC pipes) waste as additive on and physical properties of concrete. Total of one hundred and thirty (130) specimens were cast. The production of the specimen consists of sixty (60) specimens with the size 100 x 100 x100 mm. Different amount of granulated polymer (0, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) of total weight of fine aggregate were added to other constituents of the concrete mix. The grain size of sand ranges from 0.15 to 4.75mm, with the percentage passing of sieve 0.15 and 4.75mm are 0% and 98.4% respectively. The specific gravity of the granulated polymer was 1.10 which is lower than fine and coarse aggregate. At 28days, the average density were (2423kg/m3,2316 kg/m3, 2261 kg/m3 and 2232 kg/m3) respectively for 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% polymer content of granulated polymer were observed to be lower than that control with 0% polymer (2610 kg/m3). Water absorption rates for varying percentage of polymer added were observed to increase with increase in polymer added. This shows that, the higher the polymer added, the higher the water absorption rate for every time taken for the observation.