Ceramic Waste Powder for Eco-Friendly Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) was developed in the 1980s in Japan and has since received wide attention and use in the construction industry worldwide. Numerous investigations have been conducted on SCC to establish comprehensive knowledge of its mixture requirements and performance. The use of high powder content, mostly cement, is one of the SCC mixture’s requirements, although it is not desirable, as it will increase the cost and has other negative environmental effects. The use of industrial solid waste materials such as slag, fly ash, and limestone powder as fillers in SCC has proven to be a successful way of solid waste recycling without impairing SCC properties. Ceramic waste powder (CWP) produced during the manufacture of ceramic tiles is dumped in landfills and will cause soil, air, and groundwater pollution which pose a serious problem on the society. The use of CWP as a partial replacement of portland cement in SCC can convert the landfilled waste material to a valuable ingredient and will also contribute to the reduction in the overall energy consumption and CO₂ emission accompanying the production of portland cement. In this study, the utilization of CWP, in large quantities, as a partial cement replacement in making SCC will be evaluated. Its effect on hardened concrete properties, durability characteristics, and microstructure development is studied. It is found that CWP can be used successfully to partially replace cement in large quantities to produce eco-friendly SCC.