Performance of eco-friendly cement mortars incorporating ceramic molds shells and paraffin wax

Abstract

The lost wax foundry industry has been rapidly expanding in recent years, generating a large amount of waste due to the fact that most of the durable goods include castings and the need for dimensional precision castings for specific purposes, such as the automotive and aeronautics sectors. The waste produced by this industry is currently being deposited in landfills because practical applications are not known and cannot be reused in a new production process, and recycling is also a challenge because of the economics of the process. Thus, the main objective of this study consists in the incorporation of the produced wastes by the lost wax casting foundry industry (ceramic molds shells and paraffin wax) as substitutes for natural aggregate in exterior coatings mortars, evaluating their behavior under normal operating conditions and against freeze–thaw actions. The obtained results revealed porosity, flexural strength, and compressive strength adequate under normal operating conditions. The freeze–thaw performance of the mortars with waste incorporation was similar to the mortars developed with natural aggregates. Thus, the potential of the ceramic mold shells and paraffinic waxes utilization in cementitious mortars for the construction sector was demonstrated.