Characterization of materials used in the manufacture of ceramic tile with incorporation of ornamental rock waste

The production of ceramic tiles, such as tiles, has a great environmental impact, either in the extraction of natural raw materials or gas emissions in the burning stages. The use of industrial solid waste in ceramic materials can contribute to the reduction of these impacts, according to the characteristics of solid waste and its interaction with ceramic materials in the processing steps. Thus, this study aimed to characterize the materials needed to make a ceramic tile with incorporation of ornamental rock waste (ORW), thus evaluating its main characteristics regarding the feasibility of this incorporation. The physical characterization of the clays used in the production of ceramic artifacts was performed, and for the waste the mineralogical analyzes were performed, through x-ray diffraction (XRD), microstructure analysis from confocal optical microscopy, after sintering the prototypes and chemical analysis by X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Soon after the raw materials went through the step of conformation and preparation of the prismatic specimens by the process of extrusion of the ceramic mass, with an incorporation of the ORW in 0% and 15% of the ceramic mass, for its subsequent The prototypes were sintered at three different temperatures (850 °C, 950 °C and 1,050 °C). The specimens were submitted to technological tests of mechanical resistance, water absorption, firing shrinkage and porosity to evaluate the incorporation viability. The results indicated the presence of quartz particles in all raw materials, and also that the clays of the study region are predominantly kaolinitic. The presence of these materials in the ceramic masses directly influences the micrographs, because they result in the formation of liquid phase, inert particles that can turn the site into a stress concentration point and when incorporated in the ORW the specimens met the technical specifications of the Brazilian standard for application on ceramic tiles. The results found in the technological tests carried out, that the incorporation of 15% of ornamental rock waste in both clays did not affect the tile properties, indicating the feasibility of incorporating this waste in civil construction, minimizing the impacts generated

Study of the Compressive Strength of Mortars as a Function of Material Composition, Workability, and Specimen Geometry

In the present work, the statistical dispersion of the mortar compressive strength as a function of the geometric parameters of the specimens as well as the effect of the mortar workability difference on the compressive strength was investigated. For this purpose, specimens were prepared for six types of mortars: two conventional mortars in the proportions of 1 : 1 : 6 and 1 : 2 : 9 of cement, hydrated lime, and sand, respectively, two with clay replacing lime, and two with marble waste in place of lime. The results confirm the difference between the results found for the two geometries due to the differences in the heights of the molding layers and show that the workability of the mortar modifies the resistance properties, especially in the cylindrical mold where the molding of the specimens is more complex. By comparing the differences between the destructive test results and those defined by the Finite Element Modeling (FEM) for conventional mortars, it was clear that the effect of excess material in the sample during the compression tests did not change the strength properties studied. This facilitates the performance of the assay as specimens may be used excessively on the side without the need for sample rectification