Abstract

The paper assessed the suitability of ceramic waste tile (CWT – aggregates) as 100% replacement of both fine and coarse aggregates in concrete production for sustainable purposes. The dearth of literature on the combined hundred percent usage of CWT as both fine and coarse aggregate motivates this research, because previous studies focused on the use of CWT as either fine, coarse aggregates or less than or equal to fifty percent combined replacement of conventional aggregates with CWT. The ceramic waste tiles (CWT) were sourced and obtained from Kaduna State and its environs and then transported in bags to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Concrete laboratory for the preliminary tests. The ceramic waste tiles were soaked for 24 hours in water, washed with clean fabrics and then oven dried for 24 hours before broken down manually into ceramic waste tile – fine Aggregates (CWT – FA) < 2mm in size and ceramic waste tile – coarse aggregates (CWT – CA) ≥ 18mm in size using a hammer and a hard surface. Particle size distribution, specific gravity, bulk density, water absorption capacity, crushing and impact value tests were carried out on the produced CWT - aggregates. Results show that the produced CWT – FA and CWT – CA aggregates have bulk densities of 1449kg/m 3 and 1274kg/m 3 with specific gravities of 2.63 and 2.28 respectively. Furthermore, the CWT – CA aggregates had a water absorption capacity of 2.3%, an average crushing and impact value of 18.11% and 12.22% respectively. The study also reveals that the CWT – CA aggregates were more resistant to crushing and impact than the control Granite GRT – CA aggregates in the range of 14% – 28%. Based on the preliminary study on the CWT Aggregates it is recommended that ceramic waste tiles can be usefully transformed into crushed fine and coarse aggregates and be wholly use to replace conventional aggregates in concrete production.