OLALEKAN, Taiwo Samuel

The need to reduce the increasing demand for crushed granite as coarse aggregate as well as the need to safeguard the environment from degradation has given rise to various researches on alternative materials that can serve the same purpose while minimizing environment hazard. The suitability of waste ceramic tiles as coarse aggregate in concrete and ascertain its strength against normal crushed granite were assessed. Crushed waste ceramic tiles was mixed with crushed granite stones as partial replacement for concrete. A mix ratio of 1: 2: 4, with attached mix design in appendix plate 1, for C20 concrete is produced with (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40) percent volume ceramic waste aggregate replacement for crushed granite at a constant water-cement ratio of 0.5. Concrete cubes of size 150mm x 150mm x 150mm were produced and tested for 7, 14 and 28 days for compressive strength, density and water absorption. The results obtained shows that the compressive strength of concrete reduced gradually for all ages with the increase in percentage replacement. Ceramic wastes from the construction sites and manufacturing industries could be recycled by breaking them into various coarse aggregate sizes and used in concrete mixes. However, a maximum content of 20% ceramic waste aggregate replacement in a mix is ideal to produce the required strength and durability of structural concrete. It was also observed that the percentage water absorption increased from 0% to 30%, it then dropped at 40% ceramic waste replacement of granite specimen. The increase in water absorption was probably due to relatively porous nature of the unpolished side of the ceramic waste as compared to the granite. It is therefore advised that coarse aggregate replacement must not exceed 20% since there was not much significant increase in water absorption up to this limit compared to the control. Meanwhile the density decreases with increase in percentage ceramic waste replacement, that is from 0% to 40%, for granite in the concrete produced. With no doubt, this mode of recycling ceramic waste could positively sustain the environment.