You are on page 1of 7

Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832838

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Reusing ceramic wastes in concrete


F. Pacheco-Torgal a,*, S. Jalali b
a
b

University of Minho, C-TAC Research Unit, 4800 Guimares, Portugal


University of Minho, Department of Civil Engineering, 4800 Guimares, Portugal

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 5 August 2009
Received in revised form 28 September
2009
Accepted 15 October 2009
Available online 7 November 2009
Keywords:
Concrete
Ceramic wastes
Calcined-clay
Mechanical properties
Durability performance

a b s t r a c t
The ceramic industry is known to generate large amounts of calcined-clay wastes each year. So far a huge
part is used in landlls. Reusing these wastes in concrete could be a winwin situation. For one hand by
solving the ceramic industry waste problem and at the same time leading to a more sustainable concrete
industry by reducing the use of non renewable resources like cement and aggregates and avoiding environmental problems related to land lled wastes. This paper examines the feasibility of using ceramic
wastes in concrete. Results show that concrete with 20% cement replacement although it has a minor
strength loss possess increase durability performance. Results also show that concrete mixtures with
ceramic aggregates perform better than the control concrete mixtures concerning compressive strength,
capillary water absorption, oxygen permeability and chloride diffusion thus leading to more durable concrete structures.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In Europe the amount of wastes in the different production
stages of the ceramic industry reaches some 37% of its global production meaning millions of tons of calcined-clays per year that are
just land lled [1]. With increasing restrictions on landlls in European Union area, the cost of deposition will increase and the industries will have to nd ways for reusing their wastes. Although the
reutilization of ceramic wastes has been practiced, the amount of
wastes reused in that way is still negligible. Hence, the need for
its application in other industries is becoming absolutely vital.
Construction industry as the end user of almost all the ceramic
materials is well posed to solve this environmental problem which
is partially its own. The nature of construction industry, especially
the concrete industry, is such that ceramic wastes can be used
safely with no need for dramatic change in production and application process. On one hand, the cost of deposition of ceramic waste
in landll will be saved and, on the other, raw materials and natural resources will be replaced, thus saving energy and protecting
the environment. According to some authors the best way for the
construction industry to become a more sustainable one is by using
wastes from other industries as building materials [2,3]. The production of cement requires high energy input (850 kcal per kg of
clinker) and implies the extraction of large quantities of raw materials from the earth (1.7 tonnes of rock to produce 1 tonne of clin* Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 253 510200; fax: +351 253 510213.
E-mail addresses: torgal@civil.uminho.pt (F. Pacheco-Torgal), said@civil.uminho.pt (S. Jalali).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2009.10.023

ker). On the other hand the production of one tonne of cement


generates 0.55 tonnes of chemical CO2 and requires an additional
0.39 tonnes of CO2 in fuel emissions, accounting for a total of
0.94 tonnes of CO2 [4]. Therefore, the replacement of cement in
concrete by ceramic wastes represents a tremendous saving of energy and has important environmental benets. Besides, it will also
have a major effect on decreasing concrete costs, since the cost of
cement represents more than 45% of the concrete cost. Several
authors already conrmed the pozzolanic reactivity of ceramic
waste powder [57], nevertheless, research carried out so far are
scarce and do not evaluate concrete durability performance which
is a key issue. The same could be said about investigations concerning the use of ceramic aggregates in concrete [8,9]. Consequently
the aim of this research project is the assessment of strength and
durability of ceramic wastes based concrete.

2. Experimental work
2.1. Materials and concrete mix design
Ceramic wastes can be separated in two categories in accordance with the
source of raw materials. The rst one are all red wastes generated by the structural
ceramic factories that use only red pastes to manufacture their products, such as
brick, blocks and roof tiles. The second one is all red waste produced in stoneware
ceramic such as wall, oor tiles and sanitary ware. These producers use red and
white pastes, nevertheless, the usage of white paste is more frequent and much
higher in volume. In each category the red ceramic waste was classied according
to the production process. This classication is reported in the following diagram
(Fig. 1). The chemical compositions of ceramic pastes were analysed and results obtained are reported in Table 1. It is well established that the chemical composition
of red ceramic products is not signicantly different of the one of raw materials

833

F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832838

CERAM IC W ASTES

W HITE PASTE

RED PASTE

ONCE-FIRED

TW ICE-FIRED

ONCE-FIRED

TWICE-FIRED

Sanitary Ware
Porous
Stoneware tile
Stoneware tile
China
Stoneware tile

Porous
Stoneware tile

Bricks
Blocks
Roof Tiles
Porous
Stoneware tile

Porous
Stoneware tile

Fig. 1. Classication of ceramic wastes by type and production process.

Table 1
Chemical composition of ceramic pastes.
Type

SiO2

Al2O3

Fe2O3

CaO

MgO

Na2O

K2O

TiO2

Red paste twice-red ceramic


White paste once-red ceramic
White paste for twice-red ceramic
Red paste for stoneware tile
White paste for stoneware tile
White paste for sanitary ware

51.7
58.0
59.8
29.1
65.0
65.8

18.2
18.0
18.6
20.3
21.3
22.2

6.1
1.0
1.7
7.7
1.3
0.6

6.1
8.3
5.5
1.2
0.2
0.1

2.4
0.6
3.5
1.1
0.3
0.1

0.2
0.2
1.6
0.4
2.5
1.0

4.6
1.2
2.5
4.2
3.7
3.5

0.8
0.8
0.4
0.9
0.2
0.3

used to make these products. Only the mineralogical composition is modied when
these materials are heated. The silica and alumina are the most signicant oxides
present in the ceramic pastes. The variation of proportion of the silica and alumina
is due to the clay used. It should be noted that the red paste shows high proportion
of iron oxide responsible for the red colour of the products. In order to determine
the mineralogical composition the representative samples were analysed by XRD
in a Philips diffractometer PW3710 with Cu Ka radiation, using secondary monochromater, automatic divergence slit and a receiving slit of 0.2. Routine conditions
of 40 Kv and 20 mA in range of 575, with steps of 0.025 and 1 s, were used. Table
2 shows the results of the mineralogical composition of ceramic wastes. As expected quartz and feldspars essentially compose ceramic wastes. Approximately
500 kg of wastes from a Portuguese ceramic company was crushed with a jaw
crusher to make the ceramic aggregate. Thus, by using this system to crush ceramic
wastes it is possible obtain coarse aggregates, ne aggregates and ceramic powder
that after sieving can be used without additional work and with minimal cost implications. At laboratory scale the ceramic wastes were grounded with a ball mill with
metal balls to obtain ceramic powder. The cost of grinding is related to the amount
of material grounded and varies between 10% and 20% of the cost of Portland
cement. This indicates saving of around 17% in the cost of Portland cement in

concrete. Therefore over all cost of concrete will be reduced by more than 7.5%. This
is a considerable gain in the direct savings of materials costs. The cost of deposition
and land occupied by land ll has not been considered and will be an additional
gain in efciency and savings. The present investigation studied the partial replacement of cement by ceramic powder (Phase A) and the replacement of traditional
aggregates by ceramic sand and ceramic aggregates (Phase B).The ceramic powders
with a particle size <75 lm were chosen for the partial substitution of cement. The
coarse aggregate and the coarse sand used in the concrete mixes with cement
replacement by ceramic powder were crushed granite aggregates. The water
absorption, particle size distribution, density and the neness modulus of the
aggregates were determined following tests methods described in the relevant
standards. Table 3 shows gradation and physical characteristics of these aggregates.
For the production of concrete samples in Phase A, Portland cement, CEM I-32.5,
complying with the NP EN 197-1:2001 was used along with both natural sand
and granite aggregates. The concrete mixes were determined using the Faury method, applying a computer programme [10,11]. A mix design, with characteristic
strength fc = 25 N/mm2 and a target mean strength fm = 30 N/mm2 was studied. Four
mixes with 20% replacement of cement by ceramic powder were also prepared.
Each one is named after the source of the ceramic waste: ceramic bricks (CB); white

Table 2
Mineralogical composition of ceramic wastes.
Sample

Majors

Minors

Traces

Ceramic brick
Overheated brick
White roof tile
Red roof tile
Ceramic table for cover
White porous stoneware tile in double baking
Red porous stoneware tile in single baking
White stoneware tile
Red stoneware tile
China stoneware tile

Q
Q,
Q,
Q,
Q,
Q
Q
Q,
Q,
Q

He, C, Ah, Mv, R


Mv, Cr, Ah, R, He
Ah, He, Cr
C, Fd
An, He, R
Fd2, Px
Zr, He, Fd2
Cr, ICN, G, Ha
Cr, Mu, Px
Fd1, Cr, Px

Fd
Lm, G
G, Hr, Cs, R
Ah, He
M, E
Cr, He, R-Cu, G
SF, Cr, Mu, Hr, R, Mg
Zr, Mu, He, Ti
Ah, Zr, He, Mg, Lm
Cu, He

Fd4
Mv, Fd4
I(Mv)
Fd

Fd4
Fd1

Ah, anhydrite; C, calcite; Co, cordierite; Cs, celsian; Cr, cristobalite; Cu, corundum; E, esseneite; Fd, feldspars; Fd1, albite Ca, ord; Fd2, anorthite Na, ord; Fd3, orthoclase; Fd4,
anorthoclase; G, gehlenite; Ha, hauyne; He, hematites; Hr, hercynite; I, illite; Lm, lime; M, mullite; Mg, magnetite; Mv, muscovite; Px, piroxene; Q, quartz; SF, franklinite; Ti,
titanite and Zr, zircon.

834

F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832838

Table 3
Gradation and physical characteristics of aggregates used in Phase A.

Table 5
Gradation and physical characteristics of aggregates used in Phase B.

Sieve size

Cumulative percentage passing

Sieve size

Fine sand

Coarse sand

Coarse aggregate

25.4
19.0
12.7
9.5 mm
4.76 mm
2.38 mm
1.19 mm
590 lm
297 lm
149 lm
74 lm
Fineness modulus
Density (kg/m3)
Water absorption (%)

100
100
100
100
100
98.3
89.4
66.9
37.3
13.6
4.5
1946
2658
1.3

100
100
100
100
99.8
79.4
55.7
37.2
20.5
8.3
3.9
2991
2631
1.6

100
100
98.5
70.1
13.6
2.5
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.4
0.8
6063
2619
2.0

25.4
19.0
12.7
9.5 mm
4.76 mm
2.38 mm
1.19 mm
590 lm
297 lm
149 lm
74 lm
Density (kg/m3)
Water
absorption
(%)

stoneware twice-red (WSTF); sanitary ware (SW); White stoneware twice-red


(WSOF). The compositions of the concrete mix used in Phase A are described in Table 4.The equivalent ceramic aggregate concrete for each mix was obtained by
replacing the natural aggregates with an equal volume of crushed ceramic, everything else remained the same. To have a direct comparison of concrete made with
crushed ceramic aggregate with conventional concrete, two corresponding mixes
were prepared one replacing natural sand by ceramic sand (MCS) and other where
coarse granite aggregate where replaced by ceramic coarse aggregate (MCCA). Because all other parameters were constant for the tree mixes, it was expected that
the effect of the type of coarse aggregate would be reected in any differences in
concrete properties. Table 5 shows gradation and physical characteristics of aggregates used in Phase B. The ceramic aggregates were soaked in water for 24 h and
then air-dried to a saturated surface dry condition before mixing with other ingredients. For the production of concrete samples in Phase B, Portland cement, CEM I42.5, complying with the NP EN 197-1:2001 was used. The concrete mixes were
determined using the Faury method, applying a computer programme. The compositions of the concrete mix used in Phase B are described in Table 6. Mixing was
done in a drum mixer, and workability of the fresh concrete was measured with
a standard slump cone immediately after mixing. The test specimens were cast in
steel moulds and compacted on a vibrating table. Concrete specimens were
demoulded 1 day after casted.

2.2. Experimental procedures


2.2.1. Compressive strength
The compressive strength was determinate following the NP EN 12390-3:2003.
The specimens were conditioned at a temperature equal to 18 1 C cured under
water until they have reached the testing ages. Tests were performed on
100  100  100 mm3 specimens. Compressive strength for each mixture was obtained from an average of three cubic specimens determined at the age of
7, 14, 28, 56 and 90 days of curing.

2.2.2. Vacuum water absorption


Specication to evaluate vacuum water absorption is based on water saturation
of the sample under vacuum. The test was performed by using cylindrical specimens 4 cm high and with 5 cm diameter. Vacuum water absorption for each mixture was obtained from an average of four specimens after 28 days of curing. This
test is carried out in two main steps: step one in which the specimens are submitted
to vacuum conditions (0.7 mbar) during 3 h and step two, in which the specimens
are saturated with distilled water and again submitted to vacuum conditions during
3 h.

Table 4
Concrete mix proportions per cubic meter of concrete used in Phase A.
Control mix
Portland cement
Coarse aggregate
Fine sand
Coarse sand
Water
W/C

Portland cement
Ceramic waste powder
Coarse aggregate
Fine sand
Coarse sand
Water

280.0 kg
70.0 kg
1084.0 kg
135.4 kg
564.0 kg
218.5 l

Sand

Ceramic
sand

Coarse
aggregate

Ceramic coarse
aggregate

100
100
100
100
98.6
78.2
58
38.6
21.6
9.6
4.4
2610
1.5

100
100
100
100
99.0
71.9
48.8
31.5
19.0
9.6
4.1
2210
6.1

100
100
97.1
76.2
13.5
4.9
4.0
3.4
2.7
2.0
1.3
2643
1.4

100
100
99.2
72.2
2.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.3
2263
6.0

Table 6
Concrete mix proportions per cubic meter of concrete in Phase B.
Materials

Control

MCS mix with


ceramic sand

MCCA mix with ceramic


coarse aggregate

CEM-II 42.5
Sand
Ceramic sand
Coarse
aggregate
Ceramic coarse
aggregate
Water
W/C

350
861

958

350

729
958

350
861

820

175
0.5

175
0.5

175
0.5

Absorption is determined as follows:

A %

W sat  W dry
 100
W sat  W wat

where A is the absorption, in percentage; Wsat, the weight of the saturated specimen;
Wdry, the weight of the dry specimen and Wwat is the weight of the saturated specimen immersed in water.
2.2.3. Capillary water absorption
Capillary water absorption was carried out using cylindrical specimens 15 cm
high and with 7 cm diameter. Preparation of test specimens is done as follows: after
drying in an oven at 105 C for 48 h, they are waterproof along the lateral surface
with a ne layer of silicon in order to reduce water evaporation and guarantee capillary water absorption. The test specimens are then placed on desiccators, for some
hours, to allow the hardening of the silicon. Capillary water absorption was obtained from an average of 3 specimens. Capillarity water absorption coefcient corresponds to the slope of the curves representing water absorbed per unit area
versus square root of time.
2.2.4. Oxygen permeability
To evaluate the oxygen permeability a permeability cell was used. The permeability cell used was developed at the University of Leeds (UK) and it has been used
broadly to determine either oxygen or water permeability of concrete and mortars.
This permeability cell allows to submitting specimens, with 4 cm high and 5 cm
diameter, to a certain pressure, guaranteeing that the ow of oxygen through the
specimen is uniaxial. The oxygen permeability for each mixture was obtained from
an average of four specimens after 28 days of curing. The oxygen permeability
(being g -oxygen dynamic viscosity = 2.02  105 N s/m2) can be determined as
follows:

Concrete mixtures with ceramic wastes


350.0 kg
1084.0 kg
135.4 kg
564.0 kg
218.5 l
0.6

Cumulative percentage passing

4:04  R  L  1016


A  P 22  1

where R is the oxygen ow through the specimen (cm3/s); L, the thickness of the test
specimen (m); A, the area of the section crossed by oxygen (m2); P2, the oxygen pressure at the forefront of specimen (bar), being the outlet pressure of 1 bar and K is the
Intrinsic oxygen permeability (m2).

835

F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832838


2.2.5. Water permeability
The water permeability uses the permeability cell, in a similar way and with in
the same specimen. This test was obtained from an average of four specimens after
28 days of curing. The water permeability coefcient can be determined as follows:
2

kw

dp  d
2ht

where kw is the water permeability coefcient (m s1); dp, the water penetration
depth (m); d, the absorption of the test specimen (open porosity); t, the time that
took to penetrate to the depth dp; h, the height of water column (m) and
1 bar = 10.207 m of water column.
2.2.6. Chloride diffusion test
The chloride diffusion test is based on the CTH rapid test method and is based
on the procedure developed by Luping [12]. This test method consists of determining the depth of penetration of chloride ions through 50 mm thick slices of 110 mm
nominal diameter cylinders after 28 days of curing. A potential difference of
30 0.2 V is maintained across the specimen. One face is immersed in a sodium
chloride and sodium hydroxide solution, the other in a sodium hydroxide solution.
The depth of penetration is measured by splitting the specimens, after exposure to
migration of chloride ions. The surface of split concrete is sprayed with silver nitrate
(NO3Ag) and the penetration depth is measured by difference in the colour. The
chloride diffusion coefcient can be calculated using the following equation:

p
D RTL=zFU  X d  a X d =t
p
a 2 RTL=zFU  erf 1 1  2cd =co

where D is the diffusion coefcient, m /s; z, the absolute valence of the ion involved,
for chloride ion, z = 1; F, the Faraday constant, F = 9.648  104 J/(V mol); U, the absolute potential difference, V; R, the constant of ideal gases, R = 8.314 J/(K mol); T, the
solution temperature, K; L, the thickness of specimen, m; Xd, the depth of penetration, m; t, the duration of the test, seconds; erf1, the inverse of error function; cd,
the chloride ion concentration with which the colour changes and co is the concentration of chloride ion in the sodium chloride solution.
2.2.7. Accelerated aging test
The accelerated aging test performed is composed by 12 cycles; each cycle has
four steps and one conditioning period (Table 7). Fig. 2 represents the scheduling of
daily sequence. The different phases have been selected to simulate dry heat, cold
weather and wet heat and cold. Further the rapid change of temperature from
75 C to 10 C and then from 10 C to 55 C and dropping quickly to 10 C in
each cycle intents to simulate the thermal shocks that concrete can suffer in very
harsh environments. Following the curing period, all the specimens were weighed
and half of the specimens were submitted to twelve cycles of aging 24 h long each,
the remaining specimens were kept in the curing chamber at constant 21 C. All
specimens were subjected to compressive strength test before and after the aging
test.

Table 7
Accelerated aging test phases.
Temperature (C)

Relative humidity (%)

Duration (min)

Principal phase
Dry heat
75 2
Cold
10 2
Wet heat
55 2
Cold
10 2

45

95

90
90
90
90

Conditioning phase
Conditioning
23 2

50

960n

Principal phase
TC
70
60
40
20
0
-20
-40
-60

3.1. Using ceramic powder as partial replacement of cement Phase A


3.1.1. Compressive strength
The results obtained indicate, as expected, large differences in
early curing ages and smaller differences at long curing ages
(Fig. 3). The concrete mixture with 20% of CB waste has the highest
mechanical performance for all ceramic wastes which means it has
the higher pozzolanic reactivity. The concrete mixture with WSOF
wastes has the worst mechanical performance at early ages, representing 74.8% of control strength for 7 days curing. For 28 days curing that concrete mixture has almost 80% of the control strength
index. However, for 90 days curing the compressive strength activity index of the WSOF mixture reaches 90.4%. For long curing ages
concrete mixtures with 20% cement replacement has minor
strength loss. Since higher curing temperatures increase the rate
of pozzolanic activity pre-fabrication industry may be an ideal
way to their employment. This is because higher curing temperatures are used in concrete pre-fabrication for accelerated
demoulding.

5
2

Exposure

3. Results and discussion

3.1.2. Durability performance


Except for the CB mixture which has a 5% higher vacuum water
absorption than the control mixture, all the others have lower vacuum water absorption than the control mixture (Fig. 4). As for the
oxygen permeability (Fig. 5) it can seem that two mixes (CB and
SB) shows values slightly higher than the control while two others
mixes show smaller values (WSTF and WSOF). The differences,
however, are between 6% and 12% in comparison with control
mix. It can be stated that no relevant differences are noticed for
oxygen permeability of these mixes. As far as water permeability
is concerned all the concrete mixtures reusing ceramic wastes as
cement replacement perform better than the control mixture
(Fig. 5). Different ceramic wastes lead to different concrete water
permeability. WSOF wastes based concrete have the lower water
permeability and since this wastes have the lower strength index
that may be due to the hydration of unreacted particles. Chloride
ion diffusion is shown in Fig. 6. All mixtures with ceramic wastes
performed better than the control, although SW mixture has almost the same diffusion coefcient of the control. With the exception of sanitary ware powder wastes it can be stated that the
partial replacement of cement by ceramic wastes is responsible
for very low chloride diffusion coefcients. According to the classication proposed by Gjorv [13], these concrete mixtures possess a
very high resistance against chloride penetration. This behaviour
must be related to the denser microstructure provided by the pozzolanic reaction between ceramic powder and calcium hydroxide
generating secondary CSH. Accelerated aging test results are
shown in Fig. 7. The advantage of using accelerated tests is that
the entire life of the concrete specimen can be simulated [14].

Conditioning phase

45% HR
95% HR
50% HR

Conditioning period

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.5

16

Fig. 2. Schedule of the sequence for the accelerated aging test.

Hours

836

F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832838


3

Control

Compressive strength (MPa)

40
35

CB

30
25

WSTF
20
15

SW

10
5

Chloride ion difusion (X 10-12 m2/s)

45

2.5

1.5

0.5

WSOF

Control

0
0

14

28

42

56

70

84

CB

WSTF

SW

WSOF

Concrete mix

98

Curing days
Fig. 6. Chloride ion diffusion coefcient.
Fig. 3. Compressive strength at different curing ages.

Before

After

53

Compressive strength (MPa)

Vaccum water absorption (%)

16

12

51

49

47

45

43

Control

CB

WSTF

SW

WSOF

Control

CB

WSTF

Concrete mix

SW

WSOF

Concrete mix

Fig. 4. Water absorption.

Fig. 7. Compressive strength: before and after the accelerated aging test.

Oxygen

3.2. Using ceramic aggregates replacing traditional aggregates Phase


B

Water

10

3.2.1. Compressive strength


The results obtained (Fig. 8) indicate that the strength is higher
for concrete with both replacements coarse ceramic aggregate
(MCCA) and ceramic sand (MCS) than control concrete with traditional aggregates. This behaviour is opposite to the one obtained by

8
7
6
5

60

4
3
2
1
0

Control

CB

WSTF

SW

WSOF

Concrete mix
Fig. 5. Permeability.

While the control mixture had a 6% strength loss the mixtures with
partial replacement of cement by ceramic powder wastes had lower strength losses, varying between 2% (CB) and 5% (WSOF).These
results indicate that all ceramic based mixtures have higher durability performance evaluated with the aging test which conrms
the positive impact of the ceramic additions as cement
replacement.

Compressive strength (MPa)

Permeability (x10-17m2)

50

Control

40

30

MCS

20

10

MCCA

0
0

14

28

42

56

70

84

Curing days
Fig. 8. Compressive strength.

98

837

F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832838

3.2.2. Durability performance


Although ceramic sand and aggregate based concrete has higher
water absorption under vacuum than traditional aggregate concrete (Fig. 9) the difference is negligible. As for capillarity water
absorption coefcients (Table 8) the differences are rather important since capillary water absorption for control concrete (with traditional aggregates) almost doubles the capillarity water
absorption coefcient of ceramic aggregates based concrete which
means that using ceramic aggregates may lead to superior durability performance concerning the resistance of concrete to prevent
the ingress of water into concrete. The oxygen permeability results
(Fig. 10) conrms the good performance of the concrete mixtures
with ceramic aggregates. When comparing the permeability results with the ones obtained by other authors [17,18], that leads
to the conclusion that ceramic aggregates based concrete possess
higher quality. Concerning the water permeability performance

Oxygen

Water

12
10

Permeability (x10-17m2)

others using a low percentage crushed brick aggregates [15,16].


One explanation for that may be due to the fact that they used
brick aggregates with a water absorption level between 16% and
19%, which is much higher than the water absorption of the ceramic aggregates used in the present investigation. Another explanation relates to the fact that ceramic aggregates are used in a presaturated state, thus providing water for cement hydration. Nevertheless, the strength performance is higher for concrete mixtures
with ceramic sand beyond 14 days curing. As for concrete mixtures
with coarse ceramic aggregate a maximum strength level is attained at 28 days curing.

8
6
4
2
0

Control

MCS

MCCA

Concrete mix
Fig. 10. Permeability.

the three mixtures does not show relevant differences. As for the
chloride diffusion (Fig. 11) it once more conrms the good performance of ceramic sand and coarse ceramic aggregate based concrete. Fig. 12 shows the accelerated aging test results.
Compressive strength reduction for the control mixture (14%) is
lower than the compressive strength reduction for concrete with
ceramic sand (18%) as well as for ceramic aggregate based concrete

Chloride ion difusion (X 10-12 m2/s)

35

Vacuum water absorption (%)

20

15

10

30

25

20

Control

MCS

MCCA

Concrete mix
0

Control

MCS

Fig. 11. Chloride ion diffusion coefcient.

MCCA

Concrete mix
Before

Fig. 9. Vacuum water absorption.

After

Table 8
Capillarity water absorption coefcients.
A (dm2)

W10 (g)

W90 (g)

(g/
dm2 min0.5)

(kg/
m2 h0.5)

Average

Control
1 0.384845
2
3

1423.42
1425.62
1417.85

1426.42
1428.96
1421.80

1.233
1.372
1.623

0.01591
0.01772
0.02095

0.01819

MCS
1
2
3

1338.76
1346.58
1367.38

1340.46
1348.48
1369.17

0.698
0.781
0.735

0.00902
0.01008
0.00949

0.00953

MCCA
1
2
3

1335.37
1328.10
1330.08

1337.00
1329.45
1331.65

0.670
0.555
0.645

0.00865
0.00716
0.00833

0.00804

Compressive strength (MPa)

58

54

50

46

42

38

Control

MCS

MCCA

Concrete mix
Fig. 12. Compressive strength: before and after the accelerated aging test.

838

F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832838

(19%). Nevertheless, compressive strength after the aging test is


still higher in ceramic aggregates based concrete, being higher
for the concrete mixture made with ceramic sand. Since the penetration of oxygen, water, chloride and other aggressive ions into
concrete is the most important factor in the physical and chemical
process of concrete deterioration [19,20], ceramic sand based concrete does not compromise durability requirements allowing
structures with longer service life and lower environmental impact
[21]. The replacement of traditional sand in concrete by ceramic
sand leads to relevant environmental benets. It avoids the extraction of large quantities of raw materials from the earth, reduces energy costs and also prevents landll problems.
4. Conclusions
Results show that concrete with ceramic waste powder
although has a minor strength loss possess increase durability performance because of its pozzolanic properties. Results also show
that replacement of traditional sand by ceramic sand is a good option because it does not imply strength loss and has a superior
durability performance. As for the replacement of traditional
coarse aggregates by ceramic coarse aggregates, the results are
promising but underperformed slightly in water absorption and
in water permeability meaning that the replacement of traditional
sand by ceramic sand is a better option.
References
[1] Fernandes M, Sousa A, Dias A. Environmental impact and emissions trade.
Ceramic industry. A case study. Portuguese Association of Ceramic Industry
APICER; 2004.
[2] Metha PK. Reducing the environment impact of concrete. Concrete can be
durable and environmentally friendly. Concr Int 2001;10.
[3] Meyer C. The greening of the concrete industry. Construct Build Mater 2009.

[4] Gartner Ellis. Industrially interesting approaches to low-CO2 cements. Cem


Concr Res 2004;34:148998.
[5] Puertas F, Garcia-Diaz I, Barba A, Gazulla M, Palacios M, Gomez M, et al.
Ceramic wastes as alternative raw materials for Portland cement clinker
production. Cement Concr Compos 2008;30:798805.
[6] Naceri A, Hamina M. Use of waste brick as a partial replacement of cement in
mortar. Waste Manage 2009;29:237884.
[7] Lavat A, Trezza M, Poggi M. Characterization of ceramic roof tile wastes as
pozzolanic admixture. Waste Manage 2009;29:166674.
[8] Binici H. Effect of crushed ceramic and basaltic pumice as ne aggregates on
concrete mortar properties. Construct Build Mater 2007;21:11917.
[9] Cachim P. Mechanical properties of brick aggregate concrete. Construct Build
Mater 2009;23:12927.
[10] Faury J-Le Beton. Inuence de ses constituents inverts. Regles adopter pour
sa meilheure composition. Sa confection et son transport sur les chantier. 3rd
ed. Paris: Dunod; 1958.
[11] Loureno Jorge, Coutinho Jos. Automatic calculations for concrete mix
selection. Faury and Bolomey methods. Technical documents, Coimbra; 1986.
[12] Luping T. Chloride transport in concrete measurement and prediction. Ph.D.
Thesis, Chalmers University of Technology, Gotenborg, Sweden; 1996.
[13] Gjorv O. Performance and serviceability of concrete structures in the marine
environment. In: Mehta PK, editor. Proceedings, Odd E. Gjorv symposium on
concrete for marine structures. CANMET/ACI; 1996. p. 25979.
[14] Monteny J, Belie N, Vincke E, Verstraete W, Taerwe L. Simulation of corrosion
in sewer systems by laboratory testing. In: Proceedings of the b-symposium
concrete and environment. Berlin, Germany; 2001. p. 91101.
[15] Brito J, Pereira A, Correia J. Mechanical behaviour of non-structural concrete
made with recycled ceramic aggregates. Cem Concr Compos 2005;27:42933.
[16] Khatib J. Properties of concrete incorporating ne recycled aggregate. Cem
Concr Res 2005;35:7639.
[17] Cabrera JG, Cusens AR, Lynsdale CJ. Porosity and permeability as indicators of
concrete performance, durability of structures, international association for
bridge and structural engineering. In: IABSE symposium, Lisbon; 1989.
[18] Pacheco-Torgal F, Castro Gomes JP. Inuence of physical and geometrical
properties of granite and limestone aggregates on the durability of a C20/25
strength class concrete. Construct Build Mater 2006;20:107988.
[19] Oh B, Cha S, Jang B, Jang S. Development of high-performance concrete having
high resistance to chloride penetration. Nucl Eng Des 2002;212:22131.
[20] Glasser F, Marchand J, Samson E. Durability of concrete. Degradation
phenomena involving detrimental chemical reactions. Cem Concr Res
2008;38:22646.
[21] Mora E. Life cycle, sustainability and the transcendent quality of building
materials. Build Environ 2007;42:132934.

You might also like