Aluminum
Aluminum
Aluminum
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
City of Malolos, Bulacan
COURSE& SECT: CE – 4B
By: Youcef Ghernouti, Bahia Rabehi, Brahim Safi and Rabah Chaid
https://www.scientific-publications.net/get/1000002/1401702655607485.pdf
The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of recycling plastic bag
waste materials (PBW) which is now produced in large quantities in the preparation of
concrete mixture by replacing sand with variable percentages of 10, 20, 30 and 40 %. The
effects of PBW in concrete mixtures are the following: workability, bulk density, ultrasonic
pulse velocity testing, compressive and flexural strength of the different concretes. The
results showed that PBW improves the workability and the density. On the other hand, it
reduces the compressive strength of concrete containing 10 and 20 % of waste by 10 to 24
% respectively, but its mechanical strength is still acceptable for lightweight materials and
remains close to the control concrete (without the PBW). The results of this research
provide the idea of the use of PBW for the formulation of concrete mixtures for
construction. (2014)
In this study super plasticizers admixtures were used for the three grades of
concrete 15, 25 and 40 N/mm2 to improve the properties of fresh and harden
concrete in hot weather to achieve these properties in the summer season of
Sudan: increased workability, increased compressive strength reduction of water content
and reduce the cement content for cost saving. The experimental work was divided into
two phases: tests on basic materials (cement, aggregate, sand, water) and the effect of
quantity of admixture on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. The results of tests
for the basic materials were carried to ensure that their results conforming to their
standards; concrete testing program for the three grades which contain four mixes for each
grade. The results of the second phase for the three grades indicate that admixtures can be
used to: increase the workability of the concrete for the three grades, increase the
compressive strength of the three grades at 28 days, reduce the cement content by 23%
compared with reference mixes without reducing the compressive strength. (2001)
In this research, the purest kind of Neem Gum, extracted from Azadirachta indica
trees, is used in concrete mixtures as a natural enhancer. The gum is crushed and used in
powder form, then dissolved in water for the liquid additive. Neem gum was added to
concrete mixes at various radios (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1.0%, 1.2% & 1.5%) by
weight of cement content. Unfortunately, the gum decreases the compressive strength
(7,21, & 28 days) slightly with the increase in its proportion in concrete mixtures. (2015,
Vol.8, No.1, pp 178-183)
Let’s talk about an item that you probably use often but you don’t often think to
recycle. Aluminum foil is a common item found in most household kitchens. We use it to
wrap, shine and even sharpen. Aluminum foil is 100 percent recyclable. Unfortunately,
most of the aluminum foil used in the United States ends up in landfills. According to
reports, we throw away enough foil each year to build a fleet of aircraft and recycling a
single aluminum can saves enough energy to power a television for 3 hours. The aluminum
foil will sit for literally thousands of years. Next time you unwarp that casserole, think
twice before throwing the foil into the garbage can.
E-waste is on the landfill blacklist for a good reason. Electronic devices seem like
they were made to resist decomposition forever. The glass they might contain takes 1-2
million years to decompose. Plastics last forever: a plastic jug lasts 1 million years, and
plastic bags stick around 20 to 1,000 years. And that’s for comparatively thin, low-grade
plastics, not the kind that makes up your computer mouse. Flimsier metals, like tin can
steel, take 50 years to decompose, and an aluminum can takes 200 to 500 years to break
down. That’s not taking into account heavier duty components, like the neodymium-iron-
boron magnet in a computer’s hard disk head.
Pure aluminum is soft, ductile, corrosion resistant and has a high electrical
conductivity. It is widely used for foil and conductor cables but alloying with other
elements is necessary to provide the higher strengths needed for other applications.
Aluminum is one of the lightest engineering metals, having a strength to weight ratio
superior to steel. Aluminum has a density around one third that of steel or copper making
it one of the lightest commercially available metals. The resultant high strength to weight
ratio makes it an important structural material allowing increased payloads or fuel savings
for transport industries in particular. When exposed to air, a layer of aluminum oxide forms
almost instantaneously on the surface of aluminum. This layer has excellent resistance to
corrosion. It is fairly resistant to most acids but less resistant to alkalis. Aluminum can be
severely deformed without failure. This allows aluminum to be formed by rolling,
extruding, drawing, machining and other mechanical processes. It can also be cast to a high
tolerance.
The raw material of the aluminum beverage can is, of course, aluminum. Aluminum is
derived from an ore called bauxite. U.S. aluminum producers import bauxite, primarily
from Jamaica and Guinea. The bauxite is refined and then smelted, and the resulting molten
aluminum is cast into ingots The aluminum base, for beverage cans consists mostly of
aluminum, but it contains small amounts of other metals as well. These are typically
1% magnesium, 1% manganese, 0.4% iron, 0.2% silicon, and 0.15% copper. A large
portion of the aluminum used in the beverage can industry is derived from recycled
material. Twenty-five percent of the total American aluminum supply comes from recycled
scrap, and the beverage can industry is the primary user of recycled material. The energy
savings are significant when used cans are remelted, and the aluminum can industry now
reclaims more than 63% of used cans. Some aluminum is lost at several points in the
manufacturing process—when the blanks are cut and the ears are trimmed—but this scrap
can be reused. Cans which have been used and discarded by consumers can also be reused,
and as mentioned above, recycled material makes up a significant percentage of the
aluminum used for beverage cans. The savings from recycling are quite significant to the
industry. The major expense of the beverage can is in the energy needed to produce the
aluminum, but recycling can save up to 95% of the energy cost. Can producers also try to
control waste by developing stronger can sheet so that less aluminum goes into each can,
and by carefully controlling the manufacturing process to cut down on loss through earing.
The lid of the typical can is smaller in diameter than the walls in order to conserve the
amount of aluminum that goes into it, and as world-wide demand for beverage cans
continues to grow, the trend is to make the lid even smaller. A new can introduced in 1993
with a lid a quarter-inch smaller in diameter than most cans can save manufacturers $3 per
thousand. This figure seems small until it is multiplied by the hundreds of millions of cans
produced each day in the U.S. It becomes clear that any small savings in raw materials or
energy can be a major step in conserving both money and resources.
Every minute, every day, more than 120,000 aluminum cans are recycled only in
America. But, at the same time, in every three-month period, enough aluminum cans are
thrown away in America that can rebuild the entire American commercial air fleet.
Aluminum cans take 80-200 years in landfills to get completely decomposed. The
increasing waste volume are a major concern for mankind. So, the best way to deal with
this problem is avoiding products that generate waste materials that take more than a year
to decompose in landfills through a proactive design for recycling.