Physical-Mechanical Behavior of CDW and Tire Flake Integration in Building Block Manufacturing

Abstract

Among the construction products manufactured with Portland cement (PC) are (in addition to hydraulic concrete) construction blocks. These elements are used as masonry materials for the elaboration of walls in all types of construction. For the elaboration of these elements, large amounts of geomaterials such as sand are utilized. The aim of this investigation was to reduce the consumption of geomaterials using block manufacturing that incorporates construction and demolition waste as a substitute for gravel and tire flakes as a substitute for sand. These blocks were characterized by their resistance in a compression test, flexion, modulus of elasticity, electrical resistivity, moisture absorption, and MEB microscopy, as well as an analysis of the unit price for different mixtures. The results show that the addition of tire flakes severely decreased the blocks’ physical-mechanical performance and increased the production costs, while the incorporation of 50% construction and demolition waste achieved a performance very close to that of the control blocks and presented improvements in the modulus of elasticity, although the costs could be higher than those for the control blocks.