Mechanical behaviour of glass-mortar under uniaxial compression loading based on a meso-scale modelling approach

Waste glass has become one of the most attractive candidates for replacing natural aggregate in mortar/concrete. Although researchers have conducted extensive experiments to investigate the macroscopic behaviour of mortar/ concrete containing glass aggregate, certain mechanical behaviours are difficult to capture. These include damage initiation and propagation, and the effects of the intrinsic characteristics of glass aggregate, which are important in building applications. In this study, a two-dimensional meso-scale model was developed to numerically investigate the macroscopic and mesoscopic behaviour of glass mortar under uniaxial compression loading. Glass mortar was modelled as a three-phase composite including the surrounding normal mortar, glass aggregate and interfacial transition zone. The developed model was validated using experimental observations of the behaviour of glass mortar under uniaxial compression loading. Two prominent physical characteristics of glass aggregate were reflected in the developed meso-scale model, namely the angular aggregate shape and weaker interfacial transition zone. Based on the simulation results, it was found that both characteristics affected the mechanical response, while the aggregate shape was observed to be less significant. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effects of various aggregate's properties, including random distribution, volume fraction, particle size, and elongation ratio, on the mechanical response of mortar. Overall, the developed meso-scale model for glass mortar is expected to provide a better understanding of the failure mechanisms of glass mortar/concrete under uniaxial compression loading.