Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

In this paper, Mortar was prepared from medium alumina refractory grog, bricks crashed as a mean material to a particular size, and Iraqi raw (kaolin or bentonite) as binding materials. Refractory bricks were crushed, milled, then sieved to three particle sizes: fine as (1.18 >fine> 0) mm, medium as (2.36 > medium > 1.18) mm, crushed as (400 > coarse > 2.36) mm. Then these particle sizes were mixed with Iraqi raw kaolin or bentonite with selected ratios (10,15,20,30 and 40) %. Specimens were formed by the wetting method, then drying it at laboratory temperature for one day, followed by firing it at 1200 ℃. Results showed that the porosity of specimens decreases when increasing the clay ratio from 3-4% (kaolin or bentonite), and the bond strength between grog and clay increases when increasing the clay ratio from 2-3% (kaolin or bentonite). Also, the diametrical strength increases when increasing the clay ratio from 4-7% (kaolin or bentonite). The thermal shock results showed that K-mortar is better than B-mortar, depending on the results we obtained through the effect of temperature and diametrical strength. The SEM results showed that mortar structure was produced by adding 40% bentonite with small irregularly shaped. The mortar was produced by adding 40% of kaolin which possesses regular mullite crystals. Finally, the results of the test EDS that K-mortar were revealed in showed that there is no adsorption of carbon while B-mortar showed that there is adsorption of carbon atoms.

Conventional concrete is recognized for its high density, which leads to a higher cost of building foundations and columns. Recently, many efforts have been made to produce lower density concrete with acceptable and applicable mechanical properties. One option can reduce the density of the conventional concrete by using partial or total replacement of porcelanite instead of natural gravel.  Porcelanite aggregate concrete can be prepared by adding different ratios of porcelanite and several other additives to the mortar, depending on the required density of the prepared porcelanite concrete. This study aims to assess porcelanite aggregate concrete components, manufacturing methods, and features of porcelanite aggregate concrete. Furthermore, this literature review aims to appraise and provide a complete vision of the testing program, including compressive strength, density, porosity, splitting tensile strength, and water absorption of porcelanite aggregate concrete. Also, this paper focuses on studying the development and applications of the porcelanite aggregate concrete, which will be presented in detail through this study.