Effect of Crushed Glass Cullet Sizes on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Red Clay Bricks

Patricia Ponce Peña,René Homero Lara Castro,Juan Carlos Pérez Medina,Zoe V Quiñones Jurado,Martha Emilia Poisot Vázquez,María Azucena González Lozano,Alicia Rodríguez Pulido,Axel Villavicencio Torres

doi:10.1155/2016/2842969

Patricia Ponce Peña, René Homero Lara Castro + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2842969

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Abstract

This study reports the effect of clear waste glass from bottles added on 20 to 30 wt.% and variable particle size (<500, <300, and <212 μm), into clay mixtures for the handmade brick manufacturing process. The bricks were manufactured with mixtures of clay, crushed glass, and water in different proportions, homogenized, casted in wooden molds, air-dried at room temperature for 72 h, and sintered at 1000°C for 12 h. Total shrinkage, water absorption, compressive strength, microstructure, and phase composition are discussed with respect to glass content and its particle size. The results indicate that increasing the content of glass and decreasing its particle size enhanced significantly the brick properties of water absorption and compressive strength by up to 18.5% and 6.8 MPa, for bricks with 30 wt% and particle size lower than 212 μm. It is proposed that decreasing the glass particle size its surface area increases allowing easier melting of glass by lower energy consumption, reducing porosity and enhancing brick properties.

Highlights

The problems related to waste generation are becoming more and more significant in relation to the improvement of economic conditions and the progress of industrial development, Karamberi et al [1]
All the compositions with glass show lower water absorption than the TBs; it can be seen that water absorption has decreased from 28.7% in traditional bricks to 18.5% in bricks with 30% of cullet with particle size smaller than 212 μmin accordance with Loryuenyong et al results
It is suggested that increasing the cullet content promotes the formation of liquid-phase of glass that contributes reducing the voids and pore volume into the material; as a consequence, the water absorption rate of TB added with cullet is lower than the normal TB

Summary

Introduction

The problems related to waste generation are becoming more and more significant in relation to the improvement of economic conditions and the progress of industrial development, Karamberi et al [1]. The increasing amount of industrial wastes such as plastics, glass (cullet), and grogs (fired clays) has brought environmental problems to our society. The most common uses of cullet include its application as an additive in glass reforming due to its low softening temperature [3]; as a promising alternative cementitious material in cement and concrete production [4]; in road work applications, [5], in glass foam production [6, 7]; and in the porcelain stoneware tile and brick industries [8–11].

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