Novel Sustainable Masonry from Ancient Construction Techniques by Reusing Waste Modern Tiles

Abstract

The recycling and reuse of wastes, especially Construction Waste (CW), is a fundamental way for sustainability. The act of reusing is not a modern practice; as early as in Ancient Rome and even more during the Middle Ages, materials were already being taken from existing buildings in order to reuse them in different ways. Starting from these general considerations and taking inspiration from specific construction techniques found in some Roman and Romanesque masonries made by unbroken tiles and tile fragments, two novel sustainable masonry constructive techniques are proposed here. They are composed of modern U-shaped tiles and their fragments so as to use CW. Monotonic and cyclic compression tests were performed so as to determine their main mechanical characteristics, such as compressive strength, Young’s modulus, and failure mode, and a first attempt at establishing their possible use in the construction sector is sought. A comparison with the literature values from other constructive techniques with similar values was also performed. It results that both the wall typologies showed satisfactory mechanical properties (i.e., compressive strengths are in the range of 1.28 ÷ 2.27 MPa), provided that their use is restricted for constructions of moderate dimensions.