Optimum Blend Ratio of Tropical Soil and Porcelain Tile Residue to Highway Applications Based on Statistical Analysis of the Results of Unconfined Compression Tests

Ceramic materials are used worldwide due to offer important technical and economic advantages. The ceramic industry, however, has to deal with production losses that are wasted, such as the residue of polishing porcelain tiles. This paper presents the results of laboratory tests performed using different proportions of a lateritic soil and residue of polishing porcelain tile, in order to verify the possibility to use them for highway applications. The main focus of this paper is to propose the optimum ratio of soil and residue based on statistical analysis of the results of unconfined compression tests. Grain size distribution test, X-ray fluoresce analysis and compaction tests were also conducted. An analysis of the data indicates that the addition of residue increases the unconfined compression strength, in comparison to specimens with pure soil. A statistical analysis of the data showed that the best proportion is approximately 92% of soil and 8% of residue.