Award Date

8-2011

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

First Committee Member

Aly Said, Chair

Second Committee Member

Samaan Ladkany

Third Committee Member

Ying Tian

Graduate Faculty Representative

David Hatchett

Number of Pages

108

Abstract

With over 16 million gallons of latex paint (WLP) being disposed every year it is the largest by volume, liquid hazardous waste in the United States. WLP is difficult to recycle and hazardous to the environment due to the volatile organic compounds it contains. Several methods exist for disposing WLP including paint swaps, combustion, drying and discarding in a landfill, and by placing pigments in cement. Many communities are moving to dispose WLP by drying and placing in a landfill due to the reduced cost. However, this is the least preferred technique for the environment because it creates a need for new resources.

Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world. Nonetheless, normal concrete has several disadvantages including low tensile strength, low weight to strength ratio, and low chemical resistance. Latex-modified concrete (LMC) was created to overcome several disadvantages found in normal concrete. The latex in LMC increases the cost of concrete which makes LMC economically practical only in special applications, such as bridge overlays, anti-corrosive linings, water-proofing, parking decks, and patching deteriorating concrete.

This thesis studies the ability of WLP to be used as a replacement for pure latex and as a method to improve normal concrete for special applications. These applications include bridge overlays, rigid pavements, and pervious concrete. Bridge overlays were studied due to latex being commonly used in bridge overlay concrete mixtures. Rigid pavements were studied because pavements are commonly used and WLP has the ability to improve normal concrete properties. Finally, WLP was studied in pervious concrete due to the importance of having a strong cementitious paste in pervious concrete.

Fresh concrete properties were tested along with hardened and durability properties. Testing was performed on the latex paint, pure latex, and the cementitious paste. The tested fresh properties include slump, air entrainment, and unit weight. The tested hardened properties will consist of compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and modulus of rupture. Tests for durability and chemical resistance include chloride penetration resistance, abrasion resistance, surface scaling, concrete porosimetry, and freeze-thaw resistance. A spectroscopy analysis tests was performed on the latex and cementitious pastes.

Keywords

Concrete; Hazardous wastes; Latex paint – Recycling

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering | Construction Engineering and Management | Engineering | Structural Engineering | Structural Materials

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS