Innovative fracture-resistant construction material from C&D waste aggregate, fly ash and recycled plastics

A laboratory investigation was conducted to evaluate the fracture behaviour of an alternative pavement foundation material containing cement stabilised reclaimed crushed aggregate, Class C fly ash and waste-plastic strip (high density polyethylene or HDPE) reinforcement. The primary objective of using strip reinforcement was to improve the tensile strength, crack resistance and toughness characteristics of this alternative pavement foundation material, which is composed of more than 90% by weight of waste products. Laboratory characterisation included unconfined compression, flexural and specially instrumented splitting tension tests for mix-optimisation studies based on strength and toughness and cyclic flexural tests to evaluate the resistance of the selected mix against fatigue fracture. It was found that the innovative waste composite containing recycled HDPE strips could be used as a fracture-resistant material in civil engineering construction. Concurrently, this may help address the overwhelming solid waste disposal and management issues in the US and Caribbean regions.