The manufacture of bricks for building purposes consumes large quantities of virgin materials, such as clay. On the other hand, the ornamental stone processing industry produces a huge amount of stone cutting sludge in its process. Therefore, this study presents the development of ceramic materials for the manufacture of bricks with stone cutting sludges, more specifically from granite. For this purpose, the physical properties of the stone cutting sludge and the chemical composition were mainly analyzed. Subsequently, different groups of ceramic samples were conformed and sintered with various combinations of clay and of stone cutting sludges. The conformed samples were evaluated with different physical tests and with the compressive strength test. The addition of stone cutting sludges to the ceramics reflected the creation of a material with lower density and higher porosity. The compressive strength of the different groups reflected a maximum allowable percentage of stone cutting sludges incorporation of 70%. Therefore, ceramic materials were developed with stone cutting sludges, developing a sustainable, lighter material with acceptable mechanical and physical characteristics. Avoiding the deposition of a polluting waste in a landfill and at the same time avoiding the extraction of new virgin materials.

An important task of stone processing enterprises is decorativeness management of natural stone products. Among different ways to change the natural stone decorativeness parameters, stone polishing is the most common. Classification of the types of Pokostivskiy granodiorite of different hues is based on the characteristics of different types of stone after machining. However, information about the original color characteristics of stone blocks is needed for selecting the polishing technology. In the study of Pokostivskiy granodiorite blocks, the patterns of lightness changes in rough and polished samples of the types of Pokostivskiy granodiorite of different hues depending on the share of white minerals were identified. Before polishing, lightness and average share of white minerals for light, dark and very dark types of Pokostivskiy granodiorite are virtually unchanged. After polishing, lightness of different types of Pokostivskiy granodiorite changes respectively from 59.5 % to 69.4 % – for light types; from 59.0 % to 65.5 % – for dark types; from 58.8 % to 61.2 % – for very dark types. The developed method of determining the types of Pokostivskiy granodiorite of different hues using digital image processing will allow distinguishing rough blocks, different in lightness and hue, on stone processing enterprises. This will enable stone processing enterprises to select raw materials without prior processing and to choose the polishing technology for standardized products that are made of similar rocks.

In most settlements of Ukraine there are no existing programs for municipal solid waste management (MSW) and schemes for sanitary cleaning of settlements, there are no registers of waste generation, treatment and disposal and disposal sites, which leads to the formation of landfills,...

Studies have been conducted with the aim of studying ways to improve the decorative properties of natural stone products. That will allow to make finished product run of natural stone with a homogeneous tint. For this purpose, the...

Purpose is to assess the influence of technological and natural factors on the decorative properties of natural facing stone to identify the regularities of changes in lightness and saturation of its surface. Methods. To assess the effect of technological and natural factors on the decorative properties of natural facing stone, methods of digital processing of images and infrared spectroscopy have been applied. The methods make it possible to obtain the data on the influence of mineralogical and chemical composition on the decorative properties of natural stone and characterize the physicochemical processes that occur during the natural stone processing by different methods. Findings. The regularities of changes in surface gloss of facing stone after its chemical treatment have been specified. It has been proved that all chemical impregnations increases stone gloss; the lower the initial indices of the natural stone surface gloss are, the greater stone changes are observed. In turn, that is caused by the fact that each type of natural stone has its own gloss limit. The regularities of lightness changes and surface saturation of natural facing stone after chemical treatment have been defined. They indicate that all agents reduce lightness and increase saturation of the natural stone surface (except Impregnation agent 3). According to the identified regularities, it is possible to control quality indices of the natural stone surface with simultaneous provision of uniform colour shade of a stone-faced building. The main problem arising during the study of surfaces of natural stone samples by means of infrared spectroscopy was inhomogeneity of its mineral-chemical composition over the sample area. As a result, various spectra have been obtained that are difficult to identify without the prepared reference samples. Complete infrared spectra of the natural stone surfaces of Pokostivskyi granodiorite and Bukivskyi gabbro. Both Pokostivskyi granodiorite and Bukivskyi gabbro have different infrared spectra within the analyzed range of wavelengths that can be explained by the difference in mineralogical composition of both natural stone types. Originality is in identifying the regularities of changes in lightness and saturation of the natural facing stone surface after its chemical treatment. Practical implications. The determined regularities of changes in lightness and saturation of the natural facing stone surface can help control the quality indices of the natural stone surface with the simultaneous provision of uniform colour shade of a stone-faced building.