Desenvolvimento de mármore sintético utilizando resíduos cerâmicos da indústria cerâmica vermelha de Pernambuco

Abstract

The red ceramic industry is responsible for producing a significant amount of waste, reaching up to 10% of total production. These, when released randomly to the environment cause a negatively impact, even if they do not have toxic compounds in their majority. Nowadays, there is a growing trend of reuse of industrial waste in order to reduce environmental impact. A typical alternative to waste is incorporate into a production process that can be economically viable. Artificial stones or synthetic marble, are particularly profitable composites that simulate natural ornamental stones. The practical use of an artificial stone rather than a natural one is based on technical advantages, such as the lower density of the polymer matrix (1g/cm3)compared to the naturalstone (2g/cm3),which makes the artificialstone significantly lighter. The work presented here aimed the production of synthetic marble pieces using residues from the red ceramic industry, known as chamote, as load into polyester matrix. The compositions were chosen using experimental planning in a simplex centroid network {3.2}. Flexural bending, compression and impact tests were performed. It was verified that the granulometry of the residue used directly impacts on the mechanical performance of the parts produced, presenting better performance the samples with higher proportion of residue with finer granulometry. Results are similar to those found in the literature for natural marble, indicating that the developed product has potential for application as ornamental stone in the construction industry, adding value to the waste generated by the red ceramic industry and generating opportunities for a sustainable cycle of waste management.