In concrete manufacturing industry, utilisation of ceramic waste from various sources was increased in context of producing sustainable concrete. It was observed from previous studies that, the use of ceramic electrical insulator waste as concrete ingredients was unexplored. The study aims to develop a sustainable thermal resistance concrete using Ceramic insulator industry waste.
The study explores the thermal efficiency of concrete made with ceramic waste. Concrete cubes were casted with different mixes, namely, ceramic binder standard strength concrete (CB-SSC, 70% cement + 30% CW and 100% natural aggregates), ceramic binder-filler standard strength concrete (CBF- SSC, 70% cement + 30% CW and 100% CW aggregates) and ceramic filler standard strength concrete (CF-SSC, 100% cement + 100% CW aggregates). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray florescence (XRF) analysis were done.
The concrete samples were tested under the elevated temperatures of 800°C and 1,000°C. The drop down in the compressive strength was observed in all the mix specimens when the temperature rises from 800 °C to 1,000 °C. An increase in the compressive strengths of CB-SSC and CBF-SSC was observed to be 10% compared to C-SSC subjected to 800 °C. At 1,000°C, the increase in compressive strengths of CB-SSC and CBF-SSC was around 9%–12% when compared with C-SSC. XRD analysis shows C-A-S-H and calcium silicate hydrate gel presence was predominant in CBF-SSC sample even at 1,000°C which are responsible for strength achievement of concrete.
Replacing natural aggregates and cement with recycled ceramic insulator waste in concrete improves the pozzolanic properties, workability and compressive strength. This reduces the environmental impacts and aligns with sustainable development goal (SDG-9). The better performance under higher temperatures makes it as sustainable materials that can be used in concrete in real world applications. The SEM shows, adding ceramic waste makes the microstructure denser and more uniform. Almost 26% reduction in cost was estimated for CBF-SSC mix when compared with conventional SSC mix in the present study.
The study highlights the possible usage of ceramic electrical insulator waste as a partial replacement of cement, fine as well as coarse aggregates.
