Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering Nehru Institute of Technology
Abstract
Transparent concrete is the new type of concrete introduced in modern era which carries special property of light transmitting due to presence of glass rods & is also known as translucent concrete or light transmitting concrete. It is lighter than conventional concrete having special features such as low density and thermal conductivity with main advantage of reduction in dead weight, faster building rate in construction, lower haulage & handling cost. Light is transmitted from one surface of the brick wall to the other due to glass rods along the overall width of the wall which allows light to pass through. An optical glass fibre (or optical fibre) is a flexible, transparent fibre made of glass (silica) or plastic, slightly thicker than a human hair & can function as waveguide, or “light pipe” to transmit light between the two ends. Main aim of the study is to design translucent concrete blocks with the use of glass rods with sand & cement then analyse their various physical & engineering properties with respect to conventional concrete blocks by adding glass rods of 1%, 2 %, 3 % 4 % 5% at 1.5 cms spacingrespectively. From the study, it can be concluded that there is 5% to 10% increase in initial compressive strength for 7 days & also 10% to 15% increase in initial compressive strength for 28 days to a glass rod mix of up to 3% Whereas the initial & final characteristic compressive strength gradually decreases with an increase in glass rods in the concretemix.
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