Reutilizing ceramic polishing waste as powder filler in mortar to reduce cement content by 33% and increase strength by 85%

Abstract

Usually, the ceramic wastes are reutilized as cement or aggregate replacement in concrete. Among the ceramic wastes, the ceramic polishing waste (CPW) generated during polishing of ceramic products is a powder. Herein, the CPW is added as paste replacement. This would reduce the amount of ceramic waste to be dumped, and the cement consumption and carbon footprint of the concrete production. To study the feasibility of such powder filler technology, a number of mortar mixes containing different water, cement and CPW contents were produced for workability, strength and SEM tests. It was found that with up to 20% CPW by volume added as paste replacement, the cement content could be reduced by 33%, the 7-day and 28-day cube strengths could both be increased by at least 85%, and the microstructure could be densified. Lastly, two design charts for adding CPW as paste replacement were developed.