Can glass be added to concrete to make it stronger? - conclusions of scientists and self-builders

The question came: "Can glass be added to concrete to make it stronger?" To be honest, I never came across this and was not interested in this topic. Therefore, of course, I went to the Internet for information, and found the answer to the question. I share with you.

A question from a subscriber

Is it possible to add breakage of ordinary (in particular, sheet) glass to concrete to improve its characteristics? There is a lot of glass waste (from the greenhouse). I don't want to take it to the landfill, it would be better to dispose of it.

I know that for the manufacture of small vessels (boats and yachts), "glass cement" has been successfully used - the impregnation of fiberglass with cement mortar (instead of resins).

The first thing I did was visit the construction forums. And there many say that cement with glass is a great thing!

But what's the point? Liquid glass, which I make in factories, is one thing. Everything is clear there - a chemical reaction that gives its result. The concrete becomes more durable and frost-resistant. But what can the fragments give? After all, they are not porous, smooth, respectively, have poor adhesion and should reduce the strength of concrete.

Earlier I saw that broken glass is used for pouring steps of floors and terraces, in the manufacture of countertops. But I was always sure that it was only for originality and aesthetics. In general, in these cases, this is probably the case.

But breaking glass, it turns out, is also used to make concrete stronger. This is what happens when glass gets into a grout.

Reaction of glass with concrete

Chemistry is an interesting thing. Sometimes things happen that you don't even think about. Glass is silicon dioxide - an acidic oxide. And concrete is alkaline. A chemical reaction takes place between them, as a result of which silicates are formed, and the glass firmly bonds with the concrete, making the concrete monolith stronger.

On the forums they write what the tests did: a bottle and a stone were placed in concrete. As a result, after a while the stone bounced off the concrete, and it was impossible to get the bottle. Whether this is so, I will only check in the spring.

Reading about the reactions of silicon with a concrete mixture, I wondered why sand does not give such an effect, because it is also silicon dioxide. If you are thinking about it, I will explain - sand is quartz with various impurities. To obtain pure silicon dioxide, the sand needs to be cleaned very long and painstakingly. Therefore, the sand in the concrete solution is used only as a filler. The glass is 99% clean.

What do scientists say about glass in concrete?

At Deakin University (Australia), a group of scientists conducted research. They crushed the glass shards to the size of grains of sand. Such a filler in concrete has shown very high strength results.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done at home. But broken glass can be used in cement, which will increase its quality. This technology is very active in the United States. Perhaps due to the fact that they have people there sorting garbage, and there is a lot of glass production waste that it needed to be used.

There is a benefit from this technology. If broken glass is disposed of like this everywhere, nature will definitely become cleaner.