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Abstract
The majority of abandoned limestone powder wastes (LPW) and wood sawdust wastes (WSW) is accumulated from the
countries all over the world and causes certain serious environmental problems and health hazards. This paper presents
a parametric experimental study which investigates the potential use of WSWLPW combination for producing a low-cost
and lightweight composite as a building material. Some of the physical and mechanical properties of concrete mixes having
high level of WSW and LPW are investigated. The obtained compressive strength, exural strength, unit weight, ultrasonic pulse
velocity (UPV) and water absorption values satisfy the relevant international standards. The results show that the effect of
high-level replacement of WSW with LPW does not exhibit a sudden brittle fracture even beyond the failure loads, indicates high energy
absorption capacity, reduces the unit weight dramatically and introduces smother surface compared to the current concrete bricks
in the market. It shows a potential to be used for walls, wooden board substitute, economically alternative to the concrete blocks,
ceiling panels, sound barrier panels, etc.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0360-1323/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.08.012
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3400 P. Turgut, H. Murat Algin / Building and Environment 42 (2007) 33993403
dilemma for the industries has been disposal of WSW and 2. Experimental program
LPW generated. This predicament is not unique to Turkey
or the United States. This is a world-wide energy loss and 2.1. Materials
environmental disposal problem. Disposal of this product
waste is a major problem for the many small businesses. WSW used in this research is generated from the
Therefore, the acceptable solution of this problem with a mechanical processing of raw wood in the sawing process.
commercial value is crucial. The WSW used in the sampling is in its original form and
The physical and chemical properties of wood dust vary taken from its disposed area nearby the timber manufac-
signicantly depending on many factors such as geogra- tures in the local region. LPW used in the brick samples is
phical location and industrial processes. Hardwoods produced during quarrying operations in the region. The
usually produce more dust than softwoods, and the bark results of chemical and physical analysis of LPW, WSW
and leaves generally produce more wood dust than the and cement are given in Table 1. The grading of the LPW
inner wood parts of the tree. On average, the wood sawing and WSW is shown in Table 2.
results in 510% dust. Currently, the blocks of limestone The cement used in this study is Portland cement with
are extracted via chain saw, diamond wire and diamond calcite, complies with TS EN 197-1-CEM II/A-L 42.5 R
saws from quarries and then the blocks are cut into smaller [17], produced at the Cement Mill in the region. Tab water
suitable sizes to be used as building material [6]. The is used in the brick samples. The properties of the water
processing limestone which includes crashed limestone used in this study are pH of 6.2, 5.6 mg/lt sulphate content
production, results in approximately 20% LPW. The and hardness of 3.7.
estimated LPW of 21.2 million tones in the UK, 18 million
tones in Greece and 30 million tones in Turkey is reported
[5,6]. Disposal of LPW causes dust, environmental problem 2.2. Mixing and fabrication of bricks
and pollution because of its ne nature. It contaminates the
air with the storms in the summer and spring seasons and Four different types of mixtures are prepared according
therefore causes serious health hazards including speci- to the requirements of BS 6073 [18] in the laboratory trials.
cally asthma. The industry suffers to store LPW due to the The details of mixes are given in Table 3. The cement and
costs of storage. water proportions in the mixes are taken as constant to
There are limited numbers of studies about the possible determine the effects of various WSWLPW combinations.
utilization strategies of LPW in civil engineering industry
[5,6]. The samples with the diameters of 50 and 80 mm Table 1
Properties of WSW, LPW and cement
height are produced and their compressive strength,
modulus of elasticity and density are determined by Properties LPW WSW Cement
Galetakis and Raka [5]. The tests are undertaken on the
SiO2 (%) 0.26 1.17 19.20
limited number of cylindrical samples that are not on the
CaO (%) 56.19 0 52.00
standard brick sample forms. The exural strength and MgO (%) 0 0 1.00
water absorption values are not determined in this research Al2O3 (%) 0.25 2.38 3.70
[5]. The other engineering properties required by the Fe2O3 (%) 0.30 0.23 0.16
international standards such as ASTM C 67-03 [16] need SO3 (%) 0 0 2.80
Na2 O (%) 0 0 0
to be investigated.
K2O (%) 0 0 0.27
Using WSWLPW combination as a ne aggregate in its CL (%) 0 0 0.006
natural form has allowed economical, lighter and environ- Loss on ignition (%) 42.65 96.22 8.20
mental-friendly new composite material. This paper pre- pH 9.9
sents the research work undertaken to study the properties Density 2.67 3.00
Specic surface area (m2/kg) 145 500
of this new composite material which contains the various
Compressive strength for 28 days (MPa) 48
levels of WSW, LPW, small amount of cement as binder
and water. The replacement of these wastes as aggregate in
the tested samples dramatically reduces the unit weight.
A better and smother surface is obtained. This combina- Table 2
Sieve analysis of LPW and WSW
tion provides a unique kind of building material which
exhibits concrete-like appearance but it behaves similar to BS test sieve Passing by weight %
widely used autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC). Its
LPW WSW
physical and mechanical properties presented in this paper
show that it has a great potential as a low-cost lightweight 1.18 mm 99.76 91.50
building material which may offer signicant savings not 600 mm 97.06 43.50
only in labour and transportation, but also in the amounts 300 mm 86.39 11.50
150 mm 60.27 1.60
of binder and steel reinforcement consumed in the
75 mm 44.45 0.00
construction.
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Table 3
Mixture proportions for one brick sample
Mix no. Cement (g) Water (g) LPW (g) WSW (g) Total (g) Pressure (P) (MPa)
Table 4
Sample sizes and the number of samples prepared
Mix no. For the compressive strength test sample size: For the exural strength test sample size: For the unit weight test sample size:
105 mm 90 mm 75 mm 105 mm 225 mm 75 mm 105 mm 90 mm 75 mm
Control mix 5 5 5
LW-10 5 5 5
LW-20 5 5 5
LW-30 5 5 5
Total number 20 20 20
of samples
In the mixing process of samples, LPW, WSW and and allowed to drain the surface water by placing them on
cement contents are placed in a concrete mixer and mixed a metal wire mesh. The visible surface water is removed
for 1 min. It is observed that WSW is uniformly scattered with a damp cloth and the samples are weighted
within the mixes. In order to obtain more homogeneous immediately. After obtaining the saturated weight content,
mixes, the water is sprayed by air pump onto the mixes they are placed into an oven at 105 1C, dried to a constant
while the mixer is turning. Another 3 min of mixing is mass for 28 h, and then taken out from the oven and
conducted. Afterward, the fresh mixes are fed into the steel weighted at room temperature. The water absorption of
moulds. The total number of samples prepared by this wet and dry weight of samples is calculated. The brick
procedure is 60. Table 4 shows the sample sizes and the samples are cooled at room temperature and their unit
number of samples prepared for the corresponding weights are obtained by dividing the mass of the bricks by
compressive strength, the exural strength and the unit their overall volume.
weight tests. The dry compressive strength of brick samples is
The steel mould is over-lled with the mixes using the determined by using the servo-controlled compression test
mixture proportions given in Table 3. The initial depth machine with a maximum capacity of 800 kN. The
covering the mould is approximately 150 mm. The pressures compression load is applied onto the face of the sample
are applied for 4 h to compact the material in the mould. The having a dimension of 105 90 mm2. The compressive
amount of pressures (P) applied to the material is given in strength is determined by dividing the maximum load with
Table 3. Subsequently, the formed brick samples are removed the applied load area of the brick samples. The dry exural
from the mould. No damage was observed on the bricks strength of samples is determined by the three-point
while demoulding. All brick samples are cured in room bending test with a supporting span of 180 mm, a height
temperature for 24 h. Afterwards, the bricks are cured for a of 75 mm and a width of 105 mm. The direct UPV
period of 28 days in the cure tank lled with lime-saturated measurements are also taken for each brick sample
water at 22 1C. Then, the brick samples are dried for 24 h according to BS 1881 [19]. The direct path length for the
in a ventilated oven at 105 1C. The water absorption is direct UPV is measured through the brick length of
obtained from the samples prepared for the unit weight tests. 225 mm.
The ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) tests are also conducted
on the samples made for the exural strength tests. 3. Test results and discussion
2.3. Test methods Table 5 shows the averaged test results obtained from
the tests. Twenty brick samples with dimensions of
A series of tests are carried out according to ASTM C 105 225 75 mm3 are used for the exural strength and
67-03a [16] to determine the water absorption, the unit UPV tests. Another 20 samples with dimensions of
weight, the compressive strength and the exural strength 105 90 75 mm3 are tested for the compressive strength.
values of the brick samples. An additional 20 block samples of the same dimensions are
After 28 days of curing, the brick samples are tested for tested for the unit weight and water absorption. All of
water absorption. They are taken out of the curing tank these tests are conducted in accordance with ASTM C 67-
ARTICLE IN PRESS
3402 P. Turgut, H. Murat Algin / Building and Environment 42 (2007) 33993403
Table 5
Test results
Mix no Compressive Flexural strength Unit weight (g/cm3) Absorption (mass) Absorption UPV (m/sn)
strength (MPa) (MPa) (%) (Volume) (%)
03a [16]. The obtained test results show that the minimum
compressive and exural strength requirements in BS6073
[18] are obtained (see Table 5).
Fig. 2. Comparative relationship between the average compressive strength, exural strength and UPV values.
the reduction in the strength values causes the UPV to be [5] Galetakis M, Raka S. Utilization of limestone dust for articial stone
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