Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832–838

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Construction and Building Materials

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Reusing ceramic wastes in concrete

F. Pacheco-Torgal a,*, S. Jalali b
a
University of Minho, C-TAC Research Unit, 4800 Guimarães, Portugal
b
University of Minho, Department of Civil Engineering, 4800 Guimarães, Portugal

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The ceramic industry is known to generate large amounts of calcined-clay wastes each year. So far a huge
Received 5 August 2009 part is used in landfills. Reusing these wastes in concrete could be a win–win situation. For one hand by
Received in revised form 28 September solving the ceramic industry waste problem and at the same time leading to a more sustainable concrete
2009
industry by reducing the use of non renewable resources like cement and aggregates and avoiding envi-
Accepted 15 October 2009
Available online 7 November 2009
ronmental problems related to land filled 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
Keywords:
Concrete
ceramic aggregates perform better than the control concrete mixtures concerning compressive strength,
Ceramic wastes capillary water absorption, oxygen permeability and chloride diffusion thus leading to more durable con-
Calcined-clay crete structures.
Mechanical properties Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Durability performance

1. Introduction
In Europe the amount of wastes in the different production
stages of the ceramic industry reaches some 3–7% of its global pro-
duction meaning millions of tons of calcined-clays per year that are
just land filled [1]. With increasing restrictions on landfills in Euro-
pean Union area, the cost of deposition will increase and the indus-
tries will have to find 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 applica-
tion process. On one hand, the cost of deposition of ceramic waste
in landfill will be saved and, on the other, raw materials and natu-
ral 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 pro-
duction of cement requires high energy input (850 kcal per kg of
clinker) and implies the extraction of large quantities of raw mate-
rials 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.umin-
ho.pt (S. Jalali).
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 en-
ergy and has important environmental benefits. 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 confirmed the pozzolanic reactivity of ceramic
waste powder [5–7], 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 concern-
ing 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 first one are all fired 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 fired waste produced in stoneware
ceramic such as wall, floor 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 fired ceramic waste was classified according
to the production process. This classification is reported in the following diagram
(Fig. 1). The chemical compositions of ceramic pastes were analysed and results ob-
tained are reported in Table 1. It is well established that the chemical composition
of fired ceramic products is not significantly different of the one of raw materials

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2009.10.023
 F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832–838 833

CERAM IC W ASTES

W HITE PASTE RED PASTE

ONCE-FIRED TW ICE-FIRED ONCE-FIRED TWICE-FIRED

− Sanitary Ware − Porous − Bricks − Porous

− Porous Stoneware tile − Blocks Stoneware tile
Stoneware tile − Roof Tiles
− Stoneware tile − Porous
− China Stoneware tile
Stoneware tile

Fig. 1. Classification 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-fired ceramic 51.7 18.2 6.1 6.1 2.4 0.2 4.6 0.8
White paste once-fired ceramic 58.0 18.0 1.0 8.3 0.6 0.2 1.2 0.8
White paste for twice-fired ceramic 59.8 18.6 1.7 5.5 3.5 1.6 2.5 0.4
Red paste for stoneware tile 29.1 20.3 7.7 1.2 1.1 0.4 4.2 0.9
White paste for stoneware tile 65.0 21.3 1.3 0.2 0.3 2.5 3.7 0.2
White paste for sanitary ware 65.8 22.2 0.6 0.1 0.1 1.0 3.5 0.3

used to make these products. Only the mineralogical composition is modified when
these materials are heated. The silica and alumina are the most significant 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 mono-
chromater, automatic divergence slit and a receiving slit of 0.2°. Routine conditions
of 40 Kv and 20 mA in range of 5–75°, with steps of 0.025° and 1 s, were used. Table
2 shows the results of the mineralogical composition of ceramic wastes. As ex-
pected 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, fine aggregates and ceramic powder
that after sieving can be used without additional work and with minimal cost impli-
cations. 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 fill has not been considered and will be an additional
gain in efficiency and savings. The present investigation studied the partial replace-
ment 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 fineness 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 meth-
od, 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 Q He, C, Ah, Mv, R Fd
Overheated brick Q, Fd4 Mv, Cr, Ah, R, He Lm, G
White roof tile Q, Mv, Fd4 Ah, He, Cr G, Hr, Cs, R
Red roof tile Q, I(Mv) C, Fd Ah, He
Ceramic table for cover Q, Fd An, He, R M, E
White porous stoneware tile in double baking Q Fd2, Px Cr, He, R-Cu, G
Red porous stoneware tile in single baking Q Zr, He, Fd2 SF, Cr, Mu, Hr, R, Mg
White stoneware tile Q, Fd4 Cr, ICN, G, Ha Zr, Mu, He, Ti
Red stoneware tile Q, Fd1 Cr, Mu, Px Ah, Zr, He, Mg, Lm
China stoneware tile Q Fd1, Cr, Px Cu, He

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) 832–838

Table 3 Table 5
Gradation and physical characteristics of aggregates used in Phase A. Gradation and physical characteristics of aggregates used in Phase B.

Sieve size Cumulative percentage passing Sieve size Cumulative percentage passing
Fine sand Coarse sand Coarse aggregate Sand Ceramic Coarse Ceramic coarse
sand aggregate aggregate
25.4 100 100 100
19.0 100 100 100 25.4 100 100 100 100
12.7 100 100 98.5 19.0 100 100 100 100
9.5 mm 100 100 70.1 12.7 100 100 97.1 99.2
4.76 mm 100 99.8 13.6 9.5 mm 100 100 76.2 72.2
2.38 mm 98.3 79.4 2.5 4.76 mm 98.6 99.0 13.5 2.8
1.19 mm 89.4 55.7 2.2 2.38 mm 78.2 71.9 4.9 0.7
590 lm 66.9 37.2 2.0 1.19 mm 58 48.8 4.0 0.6
297 lm 37.3 20.5 1.8 590 lm 38.6 31.5 3.4 0.5
149 lm 13.6 8.3 1.4 297 lm 21.6 19.0 2.7 0.5
74 lm 4.5 3.9 0.8 149 lm 9.6 9.6 2.0 0.4
Fineness modulus 1946 2991 6063 74 lm 4.4 4.1 1.3 0.3
Density (kg/m3) 2658 2631 2619 Density (kg/m3) 2610 2210 2643 2263
Water absorption (%) 1.3 1.6 2.0 Water 1.5 6.1 1.4 6.0
absorption
(%)

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

(WSOF). The compositions of the concrete mix used in Phase A are described in Ta- Table 6
ble 4.The equivalent ceramic aggregate concrete for each mix was obtained by Concrete mix proportions per cubic meter of concrete in Phase B.
replacing the natural aggregates with an equal volume of crushed ceramic, every-
Materials Control MCS – mix with MCCA – mix with ceramic
thing else remained the same. To have a direct comparison of concrete made with
ceramic sand coarse aggregate
crushed ceramic aggregate with conventional concrete, two corresponding mixes
were prepared one replacing natural sand by ceramic sand (MCS) and other where CEM-II 42.5 350 350 350
coarse granite aggregate where replaced by ceramic coarse aggregate (MCCA). Be- Sand 861 – 861
cause all other parameters were constant for the tree mixes, it was expected that Ceramic sand – 729 –
the effect of the type of coarse aggregate would be reflected in any differences in Coarse 958 958 –
concrete properties. Table 5 shows gradation and physical characteristics of aggre- aggregate
gates used in Phase B. The ceramic aggregates were soaked in water for 24 h and Ceramic coarse – – 820
then air-dried to a saturated surface dry condition before mixing with other ingre- aggregate
dients. For the production of concrete samples in Phase B, Portland cement, CEM I- Water 175 175 175
42.5, complying with the NP EN 197-1:2001 was used. The concrete mixes were W/C 0.5 0.5 0.5
determined using the Faury method, applying a computer programme. The compo-
sitions 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 Absorption is determined as follows:
steel moulds and compacted on a vibrating table. Concrete specimens were
W sat  W dry
demoulded 1 day after casted. A ð%Þ ¼  100 ð1Þ
W sat  W wat

where A is the absorption, in percentage; Wsat, the weight of the saturated specimen;
2.2. Experimental procedures
Wdry, the weight of the dry specimen and Wwat is the weight of the saturated spec-
imen immersed in water.
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 2.2.3. Capillary water absorption
water until they have reached the testing ages. Tests were performed on Capillary water absorption was carried out using cylindrical specimens 15 cm
100  100  100 mm3 specimens. Compressive strength for each mixture was ob- high and with 7 cm diameter. Preparation of test specimens is done as follows: after
tained from an average of three cubic specimens determined at the age of drying in an oven at 105 °C for 48 h, they are waterproof along the lateral surface
7, 14, 28, 56 and 90 days of curing. with a fine layer of silicon in order to reduce water evaporation and guarantee cap-
illary water absorption. The test specimens are then placed on desiccators, for some
hours, to allow the hardening of the silicon. Capillary water absorption was ob-
2.2.2. Vacuum water absorption
tained from an average of 3 specimens. Capillarity water absorption coefficient cor-
Specification to evaluate vacuum water absorption is based on water saturation
responds to the slope of the curves representing water absorbed per unit area
of the sample under vacuum. The test was performed by using cylindrical speci-
versus square root of time.
mens 4 cm high and with 5 cm diameter. Vacuum water absorption for each mix-
ture 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 2.2.4. Oxygen permeability
to vacuum conditions (0.7 mbar) during 3 h and step two, in which the specimens To evaluate the oxygen permeability a permeability cell was used. The perme-
are saturated with distilled water and again submitted to vacuum conditions during ability cell used was developed at the University of Leeds (UK) and it has been used
3 h. 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 flow 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
Table 4
(being g -oxygen dynamic viscosity = 2.02  105 N s/m2) can be determined as
Concrete mix proportions per cubic meter of concrete used in Phase A.
follows:
Control mix Concrete mixtures with ceramic wastes
4:04  R  L  1016
Portland cement 350.0 kg Portland cement 280.0 kg K¼   ð2Þ
A  P 22  1
Coarse aggregate 1084.0 kg Ceramic waste powder 70.0 kg
Fine sand 135.4 kg Coarse aggregate 1084.0 kg
Coarse sand 564.0 kg Fine sand 135.4 kg where R is the oxygen flow through the specimen (cm3/s); L, the thickness of the test
Water 218.5 l Coarse sand 564.0 kg specimen (m); A, the area of the section crossed by oxygen (m2); P2, the oxygen pres-
W/C 0.6 Water 218.5 l sure at the forefront of specimen (bar), being the outlet pressure of 1 bar and K is the
Intrinsic oxygen permeability (m2).
 F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832–838 835

2.2.5. Water permeability 3. Results and discussion

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 coefficient can be determined as follows: 3.1. Using ceramic powder as partial replacement of cement – Phase A
2
dp  d 3.1.1. Compressive strength
kw ¼ ð3Þ
2ht
The results obtained indicate, as expected, large differences in
where kw is the water permeability coefficient (m s1); dp, the water penetration early curing ages and smaller differences at long curing ages
depth (m); d, the absorption of the test specimen (open porosity); t, the time that (Fig. 3). The concrete mixture with 20% of CB waste has the highest
took to penetrate to the depth dp; h, the height of water column (m) and
1 bar = 10.207 m of water column.
mechanical performance for all ceramic wastes which means it has
the higher pozzolanic reactivity. The concrete mixture with WSOF
2.2.6. Chloride diffusion test wastes has the worst mechanical performance at early ages, repre-
The chloride diffusion test is based on the CTH rapid test method and is based senting 74.8% of control strength for 7 days curing. For 28 days cur-
on the procedure developed by Luping [12]. This test method consists of determin- ing that concrete mixture has almost 80% of the control strength
ing the depth of penetration of chloride ions through 50 mm thick slices of 110 mm
index. However, for 90 days curing the compressive strength activ-
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 ity index of the WSOF mixture reaches 90.4%. For long curing ages
chloride and sodium hydroxide solution, the other in a sodium hydroxide solution. concrete mixtures with 20% cement replacement has minor
The depth of penetration is measured by splitting the specimens, after exposure to strength loss. Since higher curing temperatures increase the rate
migration of chloride ions. The surface of split concrete is sprayed with silver nitrate of pozzolanic activity pre-fabrication industry may be an ideal
(NO3Ag) and the penetration depth is measured by difference in the colour. The
chloride diffusion coefficient can be calculated using the following equation:
way to their employment. This is because higher curing tempera-
pffiffiffiffiffiffi tures are used in concrete pre-fabrication for accelerated
D ¼ ðRTL=zFUÞ  ½X d  ða X d Þ=t ð4Þ demoulding.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
a ¼ 2 ðRTL=zFUÞ  erf 1 ð1  2cd =co Þ ð5Þ
2
where D is the diffusion coefficient, m /s; z, the absolute valence of the ion involved,
3.1.2. Durability performance
for chloride ion, z = 1; F, the Faraday constant, F = 9.648  104 J/(V mol); U, the abso- Except for the CB mixture which has a 5% higher vacuum water
lute potential difference, V; R, the constant of ideal gases, R = 8.314 J/(K mol); T, the absorption than the control mixture, all the others have lower vac-
solution temperature, K; L, the thickness of specimen, m; Xd, the depth of penetra- uum water absorption than the control mixture (Fig. 4). As for the
tion, m; t, the duration of the test, seconds; erf1, the inverse of error function; cd,
oxygen permeability (Fig. 5) it can seem that two mixes (CB and
the chloride ion concentration with which the colour changes and co is the concen-
tration of chloride ion in the sodium chloride solution. SB) shows values slightly higher than the control while two others
mixes show smaller values (WSTF and WSOF). The differences,
2.2.7. Accelerated aging test however, are between 6% and 12% in comparison with control
The accelerated aging test performed is composed by 12 cycles; each cycle has mix. It can be stated that no relevant differences are noticed for
four steps and one conditioning period (Table 7). Fig. 2 represents the scheduling of oxygen permeability of these mixes. As far as water permeability
daily sequence. The different phases have been selected to simulate dry heat, cold
is concerned all the concrete mixtures reusing ceramic wastes as
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 cement replacement perform better than the control mixture
each cycle intents to simulate the thermal shocks that concrete can suffer in very (Fig. 5). Different ceramic wastes lead to different concrete water
harsh environments. Following the curing period, all the specimens were weighed permeability. WSOF wastes based concrete have the lower water
and half of the specimens were submitted to twelve cycles of aging 24 h long each,
permeability and since this wastes have the lower strength index
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 that may be due to the hydration of unreacted particles. Chloride
test. ion diffusion is shown in Fig. 6. All mixtures with ceramic wastes
performed better than the control, although SW mixture has al-
most the same diffusion coefficient of the control. With the excep-
Table 7 tion of sanitary ware powder wastes it can be stated that the
Accelerated aging test phases.
partial replacement of cement by ceramic wastes is responsible
Exposure Temperature (°C) Relative humidity (%) Duration (min) for very low chloride diffusion coefficients. According to the classi-
Principal phase fication proposed by Gjorv [13], these concrete mixtures possess a
Dry heat 75 ± 2 45 90 very high resistance against chloride penetration. This behaviour
Cold 10 ± 2 – 90 must be related to the denser microstructure provided by the poz-
Wet heat 55 ± 2 95 90
zolanic reaction between ceramic powder and calcium hydroxide
Cold 10 ± 2 – 90
generating secondary C–S–H. Accelerated aging test results are
Conditioning phase
shown in Fig. 7. The advantage of using accelerated tests is that
Conditioning 23 ± 2 50 960n
the entire life of the concrete specimen can be simulated [14].

Principal phase Conditioning phase

TºC 45% HR
70
60 95% HR
40 50% HR
20 Conditioning period
0
-20
-40
-60 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 16 Hours

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

836 F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832–838

45 3

Control

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

40
2.5
Compressive strength (MPa)

35
CB 2
30

25 1.5
WSTF
20
1
15
SW
0.5
10

5 WSOF 0
Control CB WSTF SW WSOF
0
0 14 28 42 56 70 84 98 Concrete mix
Curing days
Fig. 6. Chloride ion diffusion coefficient.
Fig. 3. Compressive strength at different curing ages.

Before After
16 53
Vaccum water absorption (%)

Compressive strength (MPa)

51
12

49
8

47

4
45

0 43
Control CB WSTF SW WSOF Control CB WSTF SW WSOF
Concrete mix Concrete mix

Fig. 4. Water absorption. Fig. 7. Compressive strength: before and after the accelerated aging test.

3.2. Using ceramic aggregates replacing traditional aggregates – Phase

Oxygen Water B
10
3.2.1. Compressive strength
9
The results obtained (Fig. 8) indicate that the strength is higher
8
Permeability (x10-17m2)

for concrete with both replacements coarse ceramic aggregate

7 (MCCA) and ceramic sand (MCS) than control concrete with tradi-
6 tional aggregates. This behaviour is opposite to the one obtained by
5

4 60

2 50 Control
Compressive strength (MPa)

0 40
Control CB WSTF SW WSOF
Concrete mix 30 MCS

Fig. 5. Permeability.
20

While the control mixture had a 6% strength loss the mixtures with 10 MCCA
partial replacement of cement by ceramic powder wastes had low-
er strength losses, varying between 2% (CB) and 5% (WSOF).These
0
results indicate that all ceramic based mixtures have higher dura- 0 14 28 42 56 70 84 98
bility performance evaluated with the aging test which confirms Curing days
the positive impact of the ceramic additions as cement
replacement. Fig. 8. Compressive strength.
 F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832–838 837

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

Oxygen Water
One explanation for that may be due to the fact that they used
12
brick aggregates with a water absorption level between 16% and
19%, which is much higher than the water absorption of the cera-
10
mic aggregates used in the present investigation. Another explana-

Permeability (x10-17m2)
tion relates to the fact that ceramic aggregates are used in a pre-
8
saturated state, thus providing water for cement hydration. Never-
theless, the strength performance is higher for concrete mixtures
6
with ceramic sand beyond 14 days curing. As for concrete mixtures
with coarse ceramic aggregate a maximum strength level is at-
4
tained at 28 days curing.
2

3.2.2. Durability performance

0
Although ceramic sand and aggregate based concrete has higher
Control MCS MCCA
water absorption under vacuum than traditional aggregate con-
Concrete mix
crete (Fig. 9) the difference is negligible. As for capillarity water
absorption coefficients (Table 8) the differences are rather impor- Fig. 10. Permeability.
tant since capillary water absorption for control concrete (with tra-
ditional aggregates) almost doubles the capillarity water
absorption coefficient of ceramic aggregates based concrete which the three mixtures does not show relevant differences. As for the
means that using ceramic aggregates may lead to superior durabil- chloride diffusion (Fig. 11) it once more confirms the good perfor-
ity performance concerning the resistance of concrete to prevent mance of ceramic sand and coarse ceramic aggregate based con-
the ingress of water into concrete. The oxygen permeability results crete. Fig. 12 shows the accelerated aging test results.
(Fig. 10) confirms the good performance of the concrete mixtures Compressive strength reduction for the control mixture (14%) is
with ceramic aggregates. When comparing the permeability re- lower than the compressive strength reduction for concrete with
sults with the ones obtained by other authors [17,18], that leads ceramic sand (18%) as well as for ceramic aggregate based concrete
to the conclusion that ceramic aggregates based concrete possess
higher quality. Concerning the water permeability performance
35
Chloride ion difusion (X 10-12 m2/s)

20

30
Vacuum water absorption (%)

15

25
10

5
20
Control MCS MCCA
Concrete mix

0
Fig. 11. Chloride ion diffusion coefficient.
Control MCS MCCA
Concrete mix

Fig. 9. Vacuum water absorption. Before After

58
Table 8
Capillarity water absorption coefficients.
Compressive strength (MPa)

54
A (dm2) W10 (g) W90 (g) (g/ (kg/ Average
dm2 min0.5) m2 h0.5)
50
Control
1 0.384845 1423.42 1426.42 1.233 0.01591 0.01819
2 1425.62 1428.96 1.372 0.01772 46
3 1417.85 1421.80 1.623 0.02095
MCS
1 1338.76 1340.46 0.698 0.00902 0.00953 42
2 1346.58 1348.48 0.781 0.01008
3 1367.38 1369.17 0.735 0.00949
38
MCCA Control MCS MCCA
1 1335.37 1337.00 0.670 0.00865 0.00804
2 1328.10 1329.45 0.555 0.00716
Concrete mix
3 1330.08 1331.65 0.645 0.00833
Fig. 12. Compressive strength: before and after the accelerated aging test.
838 F. Pacheco-Torgal, S. Jalali / Construction and Building Materials 24 (2010) 832–838
(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 pene-
tration 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 con-
crete 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 benefits. It avoids the extrac-
tion of large quantities of raw materials from the earth, reduces en-
ergy costs and also prevents landfill problems.
4. Conclusions
Results show that concrete with ceramic waste powder
although has a minor strength loss possess increase durability per-
formance because of its pozzolanic properties. Results also show
that replacement of traditional sand by ceramic sand is a good op-
tion 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.
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