FLEX REINFORCED CONCRETE

Civil Engineering

The manufacturing processes, service industries and municipal solid wastes give rise to countless waste materials. Solid waste management is one of the most important environmental concerns within the world. With the scarcity of space for landfilling and because of its increasing cost, waste utilization has become better than waste disposal. The alarming rate of waste materials and over exploitation of natural resources for building purposes, demands the necessity for sustainable construction materials. Researches are being done on the employment of waste products in concrete. The utilization of waste products to interchange natural resources in concrete may be a sustainable solution not only to the waste disposal problems but also for the conservation of natural resources. Here, this work aims at adding flex fibers obtained from waste flex boards to concrete, to develop a more durable, ductile and eco-friendly concrete composite with improved strength properties than nominal concrete. Landfill sites have become overcrowded and expensive for waste disposal, efforts are made to reduce the quantities of materials that are delivered to landfills. The threat because of leaching of non-biodegradable materials like waste plastics, scrap tyres, e-waste may contaminate the soil and ground water. Therefore utilization of waste materials for the modification of other usable materials is important. Flex board is formed of PVC which is not recyclable till now. National Green Tribunal has already banned the utilization of flex fibre everywhere in India, but still 15000 to 20000 tonnes of flex boards are produced in Kerala day by day. After using these flex boards, they were merely thrown out to the environment or burnt. Since it is non-biodegradable, it remains within the environment and if burned, toxic fumes are produced which causes serious health issues like cancer and infertility. Use of flex fibre in the modification of construction materials helps in the effective disposal of flex board and reducing environmental hazards to a good extent. Modification of concrete with flex fibre materials will increase its strength, durability and improves other properties likewise.

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