Open Ceramics (Dec 2021)

Mechanical properties of porcelain waste alkali-activated mortar

  • Rodrigo H. Geraldo,
  • Luiz F.R. Fernandes,
  • Gladis Camarini

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8
p. 100184

Abstract

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Natural sand is extensively used in mortars and concretes as aggregate, and the consumption of this material in construction activities is leading to depletion. This study investigated the use of porcelain waste (PW) that comes from the electrical insulator industry as a replacement of sand in alkali-activated mortar (AAM) production. NaOH and rice husk ash were used to make a sodium silicate which was used as alkali activator, and metakaolin was the aluminosilicate source. Some properties of AAM were evaluated (e.g., workability, compressive and flexural strengths). Results indicated AAM made with PW developed minimum compressive and bond strengths at 28 days of 34 MPa and 1.4 MPa, respectively. PW showed to be a good material to replace natural sand in AAM production, which makes it a feasible alternative to the final disposal of PW generated by electrical insulators industries.

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