Análise de desenvolvimento e durabilidade de revestimento com argila e resíduo de polietileno e polipropileno

Abstract

The construction industry consumes a significant amount of natural resources. Both plastic materials and waste generated by the construction sector decompose very slowly. Therefore, it is essential to adopt measures that minimize the environmental impact caused by these materials. This study used a mixture of industrial polymer waste from Plastex, containing polyethylene, polypropylene, and other impurities, for the production of mortar. This mortar was developed from a compacted soil-cement material, similar to compressed earth blocks (CEBs) or eco-bricks. Two types of soil were employed: one with plastic characteristics, referred to as soil A, and another without plasticity, called soil B. The objective was to produce panels for cladding, using the least amount of cement possible, limited to 6% of the soil mass, through a compaction process. Initially, a higher presence of clay and silt was detected in soil A, while soil B showed a greater incidence of fine sand, with quartz and feldspar minerals present in both. For the waste, a particle size analysis was conducted to remove impurities, using polymer particles in the range of 0.425 mm to 0.18 mm for the preparation of test specimens. Thermal analyses indicated that the polymers resist temperatures up to 160 ºC. After analyzing the nature of the materials, the mixes were defined as 𝑇0 (60% solo A, 40% solo B), 𝑇1 (40% solo B e 60% solo A) e 𝑇2 (20% solo A e 60% solo B), with a water content of 10% and polymer percentages of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 30%. The thermal analysis of the polymer indicated that it could be applied in outdoor environments with respect to sun exposure. The density analysis showed that the higher the polymer content, the lighter the product became. The flexural strength indicated a performance loss with the addition of polymer and soil B. The displacement analysis during the flexural test indicated that a mix with 30% waste and a higher incidence of soil A had better deformation capacity. The immersion in water demonstrated that the amount of cement was insufficient to prevent water absorption by the samples. The directed rainfall test indicated that the composition with a higher amount of soil B and greater quantities of waste had greater resistance to particle segregation in the presence of moisture. Finally, the environmental analysis showed that over a period of one month (without rain), the test specimens with added polymers remained intact, with 𝑇2 containing 20% waste showing the best performance.