An Engineering approach to Environmental and Housing Sustainability Using Osadebe's Second degree Polynomial Model

Abstract: The increasing human population has remained the primary factor for plastic waste generation. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads are cellular lightweight plastics material that consists of well-arranged spherically shaped particles that are composed of about 98% air and 2% polystyrene. Polystyrene foam is a non-biodegradable, material that commonly serve as a packaging material for fragile items. Several studies have examined the use of polystyrene beads as partial replacement for aggregate materials in the production of lightweight concrete. However, its general acceptance has been limited by the low strength properties of the resultant concrete. Usually, this is achieved through trial mixes on a trial-and-error basis. This method is generally difficult, especially when more concrete components are involved, hence, the need for a mathematical model that can accurately predict and optimize polystyrene concrete. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a mathematical model for the optimization of the mechanical properties of polystyrene lightweight concrete, using the Osadebe’s second degree polynomial regression model. The materials used for this study were sand, water, coarse aggregate, ordinary limestone cement and expanded polystyrene beads. Except for polystyrene beads and coarse aggregates, which were mixed and batched together as a single material in volume, the materials were batched according to their weights. The partial replacement level considered was 12% replacement (88% coarse aggregate + 12% polystyrene) using an initial mix ratio of 1:3:6 (cement, sand and coarse aggregate) in accordance to BS EN 1992 for Structural Concrete for 20 N/mm2. The materials were mixed manually in the laboratory and the test results of the corresponding concretes were used for developing the prediction and optimization models respectively. Curing for all specimens was done as per NIS 87 (2004). The 28th day laboratory test results for the compressive strength were also obtained. From the aggregate mix ratio of 1, 2.42, 0.462 and 4.68 for cement, sand, water and coarse aggregates respectively, the model predicted a compressive strength value of 35.59 N/mm2 with an optimized strength of about 40.99 N/mm2. The model's results demonstrated that polystyrene lightweight concrete can be used as partitions in high-rise buildings and achieve a concrete strength suitable for residential use. Keywords: Polystyrene, Concrete, Lightweight, Sustainability, Environment, Housing, Waste, Mathematical Model, Optimization, Osadebe and Compressive Strength. Title: An Engineering approach to Environmental and Housing Sustainability Using Osadebe’s Second degree Polynomial Model Author: Stanley Emmanuel Ubi International Journal of Recent Research in Civil and Mechanical Engineering (IJRRCME) ISSN 2393-8471 Vol. 12, Issue 1, April 2025 - September 2025 Page No: 54-62 Paper Publications Website: www.paperpublications.org Published date: 09-August-2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16785837 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.paperpublications.org/upload/book/An%20Engineering%20approach%20to%20Environmental-09082025-5.pdf