The Wastes of Sanitary Ceramics as Recycling Aggregate to Special Concretes

Abstract

This article presents the results of research on the wastes of sanitary ceramics as an aggregate to concretes. The case of high temperature load was taken into account. Six concrete mixes were designed on Portland and calcium aluminate cement with various content of aerating admixture. Only the ground waste ceramics were used as an aggregate from one of the Polish sanitary ceramics plants. The abrasion test by Boehme blade of the designed concrete was conducted within the frame of study and compression strength tests on the cylindrical samples were performed as well. Some samples were initially annealed at 400 or 800 °C prior to strength tests. In order to determine the impact of annealing on the phase content and the concrete sample structure, the analyses on phase content (XRD—X-ray diffraction) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were conducted. The tests on compression strength demonstrated that there is considerable resistance of concrete containing ceramic aggregate and calcium aluminate cement to high temperatures. Abrasion tests confirmed that selected mixes have a high resistance to abrasion and they can be applied as a concrete coating. The possibility of ceramic cullet use as an aggregate to special concretes has been confirmed by the conducted research on specific features. Taking into consideration the available literature, the article presents widely conducted research in the area of the internal structure of concrete designed on the basis of recycled ceramic aggregate, the phase content of individual components, and basic mechanical tests both in normal temperatures and under thermal stress.