Mechanical Properties and Optimal Design of Green Concrete Incorporating Waste Glass Powder based on Gene Expression Programming

Abstract

The ratio of production of waste glass annually throughout the world is around millions of tons. After transformation to waste, waste glass powder is usually dumped as landfill which is undesirable, as they are not biodegradable. In order to promote the usage of waste glass powder in concrete, Gene Expresion Programming (GEP) has been utilized in this research to develop empirical models and simplified equations to predict the mechanical properties of green concrete having waste glass powder as a partial replacement of cement. An extensive and reliable database was formed through a detailed literature review. The established dataset consists of 310 No.(s) of results for compressive strength, 129 No.(s) for split tensile strength and 45 No.(s) for flexural strength of GPC. Based on thorough study from literature, 9 No.(s) of influencing parameters were considered as input parameters for modelling. These parameters include %age of G.P added (%) as replacement of cement in concrete, Total Cementitious Materials (Cement & Glass Powder) Content (kg), Water Content (kg), Fine Aggregate Content (kg), Coarse Aggregate Content (kg), %age of SiO2 in Glass Powder, %age of Al2O3 in Glass Powder, Maximum Size of Glass Powder Particles (microns) and Age of Sample (days). Proposed models and simplified mathetical equations can be safely used to predict the mechanical properties of GPC. The performance of the models is evaluated by conducting statistical analysis of the models. Also, models were re-validated by re-checking the mechanical properties on unseen data i.e. testing dataset. The results of analysis imitated that the proposed models have great prediction ability and produce correct results. The results of this study will encourage the use of waste glass powder in concrete leading to great benefits both in terms of economy and environmental safety.