High-Volume Glass Powder Concrete as an Alternative to High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete

Othon Moreira, Aires Camões (), Raphaele Malheiro and Manuel Ribeiro
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Othon Moreira: CTAC, Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Aires Camões: CTAC, Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Raphaele Malheiro: CTAC, Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Manuel Ribeiro: ProMetheus, Research Unit in Materials, Energy and Environment for Sustainability, Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun’Álvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-22

Abstract: The high consumption of concrete makes it a priority target for environmental goals. When supplementary cementing materials were introduced, important progress was made toward achieving these goals, with fly ash (FA) making a major contribution in this regard. Given the current situation, it has become necessary to identify an alternative to this material as a result of the shutdown of coal-fired power plants across the European Union. In this sense, glass powder (GP) has shown promising results. This research focused on reducing the dosage of Portland cement (PC) as extensively as possible in concrete formulations, through high incorporations (until 70%) with different dosages of binder to evaluate various applications without compromising its strength and durability. The results obtained are encouraging. With only 150 kg/m 3 of PC, 46.42 MPa was obtained, and with 250 kg/m 3 of PC, 71.50 MPa was obtained, both at 90 days. Durability was not significantly compromised in the tests carried out and even obtained better results in some tests. The findings suggest that a substantial replacement of PC with GP could serve as a feasible option for lowering the PC content or even substituting FA, promoting a reduction in CO 2 emissions and energy consumption, and making concrete more sustainable.

Keywords: low-cement concrete; glass powder; fly ash; sustainability; durability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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