Durability of concrete made with granite and marble as recycle aggregates

The ornamental stone industries in Turkey produce vast amount of by-product rock waste (marble, granite) that could be used in concrete production suitable for construction purposes. in this work we have highlighted some technical aspects concerning the use of these waste materials. Durability of concrete made with granite and marble as coarse aggregates was studied. River sand and ground blast furnace slag (GBFS) were used as fine aggregates. The results were compared with those of conventional concretes. Slump, air content, slump loss and setting time of the fresh concrete were determined. Furthermore, the compressive strength, flexural- and splitting-tensile strengths, Young's modulus of elasticity, resistance to abrasion, chloride penetration and sulphate resistance were also determined. Control mortars were prepared with crushed limestone as coarse aggregates. The influence of coarse and fine aggregates on the strength of the concrete was evaluated. Durability of the concrete made with marble and GBFS was found to be superior to the control concrete. In the specimens containing marble, granite and GBFS there was a much better bonding between the additives and the cement. Furthermore, it might be claimed that marble, granite and GBFS replacement provided a good condensed matrix. These results illustrate the prospects of using these waste by-products in the concrete production. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.