The use of the powder marble by-product to enhance the properties of brick ceramic

In general, the ornamental stone industries have as by-product a fine rock powder that might be suitable to be used in civil engineering construction purposes. Therefore, this work intends to discuss some technical aspects concerning the use of this material, which derives from sawing operation of marble blocks, in the ceramic raw material (clayey matrix). The study has been carried out using clayey soils from the municipal district of Campos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where more than 130 ceramic industries are settled, which are potential consumers of such a waste. Characterization laboratory tests were carried out on samples that were conformed in a laboratory extruder, simulating, thus, the actual industrial process. These samples were molded with different marble powder contents, fired at temperature varying from 750 to 950 degrees C and had theirs mechanical properties evaluated. This range of temperature was considered representative because most of ceramic industries in this region of Brazil make use of Hoffman kiln type, where temperatures above 900 degrees C, is difficult to be obtained. The results depict the possibility of using this by-product in the paste composition of ceramic bricks for the use in civil engineering construction industry, without impairment of their mechanical properties. In several cases, some of these properties have been improved. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.