Curing, thermal resistance and bending behavior of laterised concrete containing ceramic wastes

Recent years have witnessed an increase in volume of construction and demolition wastes generated in some developed and developing countries, which mostly constitute environmental issues. Therefore, it is important to explore the potential of such waste materials, or when used with locally available materials for concrete production. Thus, this research effort aims at determining the effects of curing methods (polythene wrapping and water immersion), and exposure to high temperature, on strength characteristics of laterised concrete samples made with ceramic floor tiles wastes as aggregates. The study also explored the bending behavior of steel reinforced beam mixes comprising ceramics and laterite. From the obtained results, samples made with ceramic and laterite developed higher strengths when cured with polythene covering than the water cured samples. However, the reference concrete samples developed better strength in normal curing condition (immersion in water). In terms of thermal resistance, the laterised samples had better resistance at elevated temperatures than the reference concrete. Lastly, for the tested beams, the maximum mid span bending strength decreased with increasing laterite content. Overall, it can be considered that ceramic floor tiles wastes with minimal laterite content can be used for concrete production, and by so doing, the negative impact of these wastes on the environment can be controlled