Ceramic materials are largely used in all over the world and consequently, large quantities of wastes are produced simultaneously by tile manufacturers and construction industry. Nevertheless, part of these wastes and those produced by the construction industry are dumped in landfills. This paper presents the effect of using ceramic waste in mortar as cement replacement. Four mortar mixes were prepared in this study and focuses on the effect of ceramic powder as cement replacement on the strength development and the morphology of the mortar. The microstructural characteristics of the mortar were investigated by scanning field emission electron microscopy (FESEM) and the mineralogical properties was investigated using the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The cement was replaced by ceramic powder from 0% to 60% by weight of cement. The specimens were cast in 50 x 50 x 50 mm cube and water curing regime was used until the age of testing. The fineness of ceramic powder used is less than 45µm. The developments of compressive strength were studied for all samples. It is found that the optimum replacement that gave the highest strength was 40% replacement. It was also found that the use of ceramic powder enhanced the microstructure and strength properties of the mortar.

The flexural behavior of five reinforced concrete beams containing recycled ceramic as cement and aggregate replacement subjected to a monotonic static load up to failure was studied. A full-scale, four-point load test was conducted on these beams for 28 days. The experimental results were compared with the conventional concrete as a control specimen. The cross-section and effective span of these beams were (160 × 200 mm) and 2200 mm, respectively. The data recorded during the tests were the ultimate load at failure, steel-reinforcement bar strain, the strain of concrete, cracking history, and mode of failure. The beam containing 100% recycled aggregates displayed an ultimate load of up to 99% of the control beam specimen. In addition, the first crack load was almost similar for both specimens (about 14 kN). The deflection of the beam composed of 100% of the recycled aggregates was reduced by 43% compared to the control specimen. Regardless of the recycled ceramic aggregates ratio, quantities such as service, yield, and ultimate load of the proposed beams exhibited a comparable trend. It was asserted that the ceramic wastes might be of potential use in producing high-performance concrete needed by the structural industry. It might be an effective strategy to decrease the pressure on the environment, thus reducing the amount of natural resources usage.

Palm oil fuel ash is a waste material that can be used as partial cement replacement. However, its reactivity as pozzolanic material depends on the size of the particle. This paper presents the effects of nano size palm oil fuel ash on the long term characteristics of mortar. The study covers basic properties of mortar including the morphology, porosity, compressive strength and microstructural with regards to the variations in the mix design of the mortar. The palm oil fuel ash used has gone through heat treatment and was ground to a nano size with the percentage replacement of cement used was 60%, 80% and 100%. The different types of mortar samples were cast in a 70x70x70mm cube for compressive strength test. All casting and testing of the samples were conducted in the laboratory at ambient temperature. The results show that the use of 80% nano size palm oil fuel ash has produced higher compressive strength at the age of 28 days by 32% compared to the control mortar. Grinding the palm oil fuel ash to a nano size particle has improved the reactivity of the ash and because of it is a waste material it reduces the cost of the mortar. The experimental result also show that the compressive strength of the 80% nano size palm oil fuel ash mortar at 365 days was 25% higher than its strength at 28 days. In addition, the porosity of the 80% nano palm oil fuel ash mortar was reduced by 51% at the age of 1 year. The overall results have revealed that the use of high volume nano palm oil fuel ash can enhances the mortar properties and due to the high percentage of replacement it can contribute to a more sustainable construction.