Physical and mechanical properties of cementitious composites containing recycled glass powder (RGP) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR)

• The effect of FA (10%), SF (10%), and RGP (0–25%) on the properties of mortar is studied.
• The effect of SBR (10%) is also studied on the properties of mortar.
• Expansion induced due to an alkali-silica reaction of mortar is also studied.
• Fine RGP has potential to improve the physical and mechanical properties of mortars.
• 25% RGP shows the best performance against the ASR expansion and strength.

Substantial amount of glass wastes are being generated all around the world. In most cases, they end up in the landfill without considering recycling option. Since it is an inert material, they occupy the landfill space for considerable amount of time unless there is a potential for recycling. Such glass wastes in the crushed form have a good potential in the infrastructure industry. In this research we investigate the possibility of utilizing recycled glass powder (RGP) in along with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) as partial replacements of cement. The physical and mechanical properties of fresh and hardened cement mortar with such combinations are investigated. In order to improve the physical and mechanical properties of hardened mortar, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) was also added in the mortar mix. The result shows that the addition of fine RGP, FA and SF significantly improved the bond between the SBR and cement matrix which leads to an increase in the compressive and flexural strengths. Moreover, the addition of RGP, SF and FA considerably reduced the alkali silica reaction (ASR) expansions, percentage of water absorption, and the rate of water absorption than those of the control mix. This study shows that the RGP can be successfully utilized as an effective mineral admixture in cement mortar with 25% optimal replacement of cement.