Evaluation and Field Application of Terrazzo Tiles Manufactured from Coal Bottom Ash as Fine Aggregate
摘要
The current study evaluates the potential application of terrazzo tiles produced using coal bottom ash as fine aggregate in real practice. The tiles were first prepared and tested on the laboratory scale. The same mixture proportion was then applied for the production of tiles at the factory scale. The differences in engineering characteristics between terrazzo tile production in the laboratory and the factory were also identified. All of the produced terrazzo tiles were tested for flexural strength, surface water absorption, and surface abrasion before applying to the field construction. The leaching of heavy metals and cost analysis were also determined to evaluate the possible environmental issues and ensure the feasibility of using terrazzo tiles incorporating coal bottom ash in field applications. The results reveal that the flexural strength of all terrazzo tiles was above 5 MPa. The surface water absorption and surface abrasion were below 6% and 0.4 g/cm2, respectively. These results satisfied the type-I terrazzo tiles criteria for external use as per the Vietnamese standard. Besides, the concentration of primary heavy metals leached from the tiles was far below the threshold of the National standard, demonstrating the eco-friendly tiles. Using coal bottom ash as a fine aggregate cut down the cost by approximately 36%, demonstrating the high application potential of coal bottom ash-tiles in real practice.