The main objective of this study was to evaluate the use of construction and demolition waste (CDW) from the Passo Fundo region of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil, in the development of aerated foamed concrete. This waste had not yet been characterized or even reused. CDW was processed (sieved only), characterized, and used as an aggregate, completely substituting natural sand. The influence of CDW granulometry and the amount of foam upon compressive strength, wet and dry bulk density, water absorption, and the air voids of concrete blocks were determined. Results showed that CDW has regular characteristics for the development of aerated foamed concrete. Compressive strength and density decreased as the amount of foam increased, while water absorption and air voids also increased. Also, CDW that was classified as coarse showed higher compressive strength. On average, CDW medium-sized particles had a higher air void content, while water absorption showed little variation with respect to granulometry. CDW residue from the region of study can be used as aggregate for the development of aerated foamed concrete. However, it must characterized before being used to guarantee the quality of the final product.

The main aim of this work was to evaluate the influence and optimize the factors of the TIG-MIG/MAG hybrid welding process on the geometry of the weld bead. An experimental design using the Taguchi methodology (robust design method) was used to conduct the experiments. The experiments were carried out according to an orthogonal matrix with 27 experiments, with three replicates each, totaling 81 test specimens. The factors (MIG/MAG shielding gas type, MIG/MAG voltage, MIG/MAG wire feed, gas flow rate of TIG, electric current intensity of TIG and welding speed) were varied with three levels each. Penetration, heat-affected zone (HAZ), bead width and bead height were the response variables analyzed. The results showed that the penetration was significantly influenced by the MIG/MAG wire feed, MIG/MAG shielding gas type, MIG/MAG voltage and welding speed. The HAZ has been influenced by MIG/MAG voltage, MIG/MAG shielding gas type, welding speed and electric current intensity of TIG. All factors had effects on the width, except the MIG/MAG wire feed. The bead height was significantly influenced by the MIG/MAG wire feed and by the electric current intensity of TIG. Optimizing the process was performed, so that for each output variable, the values of the factors that should be used were indicated, and the optimization was confirmed by welding test specimens.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the use of additives in producing foamed concrete blocks, which were made by totally replacing natural sand with civil construction waste (CCW). The concrete blocks were developed in accordance with an experimental design that used the complete factorial statistical method, for which three factors with different levels were considered: cement type (CP-V, CP II-Z, and CP II-F); use of additive (without additive, plasticizer, air entrainment, and superplasticizer) and foam amount (5.7%, 7.7%, and 9.5% of the total mass). The influence of each factor and the interactions between them were assessed on the following response variables: compressive strength, dry and saturated density, air voids, water absorption, and thermal conductivity. The results show that all factors had a significant influence on the variable response. For example, the use of the superplasticizer additive resulted in higher compressive strength, lower density, lower air void, and lower thermal conductivity. Finally, the use of additives had little influence on the response variables in relation to the other factors.

The use of solid waste for the development of new building materials has been an alternative to reduce environmental impacts through the preservation of natural resources. In this context, this paper evaluates the possibility of using agate gemstone waste, called rolled powder, which basically consists of silica (SiO₂), in the manufacture of aerated foamed concrete blocks completely replacing the natural sand. Preformed foam was used as the air entrained by mechanical stirring with a mixture of natural foaming agents derived from coconut. To produce test specimens, the water/cement ratio and foam concentrations were varied, with three and four levels, respectively. The specimens were left for 28 days at room temperature to be cured, and then underwent analysis to determine their compressive strength, density, and the distribution of air-voids. The experiments demonstrated that the best water/cement ratio was 1.28 for 18% (of total solid mass) addition of foam, which generated a sample with a density of 430 kg/m³, and a compressive strength of 1.07 MPa. The result for compressive strength is 11% smaller than the requirements of the Brazilian standard (NBR 13438) for autoclaved aerated concrete blocks, but the results are promising.