Abstract
Waste foundry sand (WFS) is a ferrous and non-ferrous foundry industry by-product, produced in the amount of approximately 700 thousand tons annually in Poland and it is estimated that only a small percentage of this waste is recycled. The study used WFS to produce ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as a partial substitute for quartz sand. It was replaced with WFS levels of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% by weight of quartz sand content. The UHPC mixtures were produced and tested to determine the compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength as well as the modulus of elasticity at 28, 56, and 112 days. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis was done to identify the presence of various compounds and micro-cracks in UHPC with WFS. The results revealed an increase as well as an insignificant decrease in the mechanical properties up to 5% and 10% WFS replacement, respectively. These studies also prove improvement in the microstructure of UHPC up to a 5% WFS level. In all the tested properties in this work, 5% WFS was found to be an apt substitute for quartz sand.
Highlights
Nowadays, practices related to the development of sustainable construction have the highest priority
When studying CWFS10, cubes made with a 10% Waste foundry sand (WFS) substitution for quartz sand, the results revealed a drop in the compressive strength in contrast to the reference CWFS0 mixture
The results reveal the influence on the ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) flexural strength due to WFS replacement up to 15%, but a only slight effect up to 10%
Summary
Practices related to the development of sustainable construction have the highest priority. Waste foundry sand (WFS) is a ferrous and non-ferrous foundry industry by-product. Foundry sand is a silica sand that is reused a number of times to fabricate new moulds, which after several repeated cycles accumulates an excessive level of impurities that could compromise their quality. For this reason, the mixture becomes useless in the fabrication of moulds and generates waste foundry sand (WFS). Landfilling WFS is not environmentally friendly, reusing the material would help to promote more sustainable waste disposal methods
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