Applicability of Stone Powder Sludge as a Substitute Material for Quartz Sand in Autoclaved Aerated Concrete

Abstract

Stone powder sludge is a byproduct of the crushed aggregate industry, and most of it is dumped with soil in landfills. The disposal of stone powder sludge presents a major environmental problem. This paper investigates the effects of stone powder sludge on the fluidity, density, strength and micro-structure properties of AAC(autoclaved aerated concrete) samples. Stone powder sludge was obtained from a crushed aggregate factory in order to investigate its applicability as a substitute for quartz sand in AAC. To determine the properties of the AAC samples produced with stone powder sludge, specimens containing different foam ratios were produced. Flow value, density, compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength of the samples were tested, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed. The test results indicated that the compressive strength of AAC specimens (F120) with stone powder sludge was higher than that of AAC specimens (Q120) with quartz sand for same foam ratio of 120%. For all XRD diagrams, a higher number of tobermorite peaks was shown for the F120 sample than for the Q120 sample, which may explain the slightly higher strength gain in the F120 sample.