Evaluating the conventional mixing grades of demolished tiles aggregate concrete and mortar for sustainable use

Abstract Demolished marble and ceramic clay tiles waste management are one of the greatest concerns for sustainable development nowadays. The reason behind that chemical components of these two substances create a serious threat to the biodiversity. Consequently, this study aims to find the scope of applying marble and ceramic clay tiles wastes as green materials through immobilizing the potential contaminants in the structural bond of concrete and mortar. In favour of this, four widely used compositions such as 1:1:2 (OPC: FA: CA), 1:1.5:3, 1:2:4 and 1:3:6 for concrete specimens as well as 1:1 (OPC: FA), 1:1.5, 1:2 and 1:3 for mortar were selected as surrogate composition, where both wastes was substituted by 20% of the total volume of both natural aggregates. The study analyzed the relationship between the engineering characteristics of monolithic matrices and migration behavior of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , which are abundantly available in the adopted demolished aggregates. The research revealed that releasing content of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ from the representative samples increased with the increase of demolished aggregate content, void space and water absorption ratio, as well as with the reduction in compressive strength, density and coefficient of permeability. Furthermore, the combination 1:3:6 for concrete and 1:3 for mortar specimens showed that the total transport content of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ exceeded the standard for disposal in the earth surface in static and hydraulic pressure leaching test and not safe for land disposal. The remaining employed mixtures of both cases exhibited the satisfactory level with non-pollutant in which entrapment of the measured ions ranged from 99.5% to 97.2%. Finally, the outcomes can be a potential option in producing eco-friendly construction materials by utilizing the concern wastes.