A Study On The Utilisation Of Plastic Wastes In Stabilised Masonry Blocks

Abstract

At this era of energy crisis and resource depletion, availability newlineof conventional materials throughout the year in quantity and quality, newlinepose a hectic problem for the builders. Adding fuel to the fire, the newlinedemand of these materials increases day by day, since the housing newlineand habitat requirements exponentially increase time to time. There is newlinean international concern over this crisis and researchers are newlinereorienting themselves, so as to evolve appropriate masonry units, newlineusing locally available cheap materials and technology. The concept newlineof green material and construction has been well conceived in the newlineresearch so that marginal materials and unskilled labour can be newlineemployed for the mass production of building blocks. In this context, newlineconsidering earth as a sustainable material, there is a growing interest newlinein the use of it, as a modern construction material. Solid waste newlinemanagement is one of the current major environmental concerns in newlineour country. Our country is left with millions of cubic metre of waste newlineplastics. One of the methods to satisfactorily address this solid waste newlinemanagement and the environmental issues is to suitably accommodate newlinethe waste in some form (as fibres). Their employability in block making newlinein the form of fibres (plastic fibre- mud blocks) can be investigated newlinethrough a fundamental research. Also, the review of the existing newlineliterature shows that most studies on natural fibres are focussed on cellulose based/ vegetable fibres obtained from renewable plant newlineresources except in very few cases, where animal fibre, plastic fibre newlineand polystyrene fabric were used. newlineAt this context, for the plastic fibre-mud blocks to be more newlinewidely applicable, a systematic quantification of the relevant physical newlineand mechanical properties of the fibre masonry units is crucial, to newlineenable an objective evaluation of the composite material s response to newlineactual field condition. This research highlights the salient newlineobservations from the detailed investigation of a systematic study on newlinethe effect of embedded fibres, made of plastic wastes on the newlineperformance of stabilised mud blocks. newline