Experimental Study of Physical Properties of River Sand on the Mechanical Properties of Sand/Plastic Composites for Roofing

Abstract

The non-biodegradability of plastics released into the environment makes the soils infertile, impedes the drainage of waste water and rain water in existing gutters and the spread of waterborne diseases which are traits to human life. This study aimed at producing roofing sheet from waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and river sand. Sand was collected from the river while plastic bottles were collected from the environment. The physical properties of the sand such as natural water content, specific gravity, apparent density, grain size analysis, Sand equivalent test and Organic matter content were determined. Nine different sample formulation of ten each were moulded with sand/PET content of 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, 40/60, 30/70, 20/80, 10/90 (A to I). Water absorption rate, flexural strength, impact test and drilling test were determined. It was observed that the averages of natural water content, specific gravity and apparent density were 0.871%, 2.66 and 1.654g/cm<sup>3</sup> respectively. The coefficients of uniformity, coefficient of curvature and fineness modulus of sand from grain size analysis were 3.17, 0.79 and 2.97 respectively. The averages of visual and piston sand equivalent and organic matter content were 94.89%, 89.82% and 2.42% respectively. The rates of water absorption of composites were 3.62% to 0.11% at saturation. Flexural strength and impact were 200.5daN/cm<sup>2</sup> and 123J/mm<sup>2</sup> respectively while the drilling time was maximum at 80% sand. These results obtained reveal that plastic/sand composite can be used as a roofing material.