Potential Application of Marble and Crushed Mussel Shells By-products to be Used as Aggregates in Plain Concrete Mixes

The main objective of the following paper is to verify the possible applications of marble by-products obtained from the ornamental stone industry and mussel shells deriving from aquaculture farming to be used as alternative aggregates in plain concrete mixes. Both marble and mussel shells came from Sardinia Island (Italy), very active in the commercialization of marble for ornamental purposes and mussels from aquaculture farming. Italy is the third producer in Europe of mussel and one of the leaders worldwide together with China and Turkey for the production of marble. Marble by-products were used to replace coarse natural aggregates while the crushed mussel shells partially replaced fine aggregates. The mixes were studied to obtain non-structural concrete. Various mix designs were studied, in which marble and mussel shells, in different percentages, replaced natural aggregates (sand and gravel). The research aimed to identify the characteristics of the materials through laboratory tests and to create the optimal mix design. From the test conducted it was possible to evaluate that marble and mussel shells by-products can be considered valid alternatives to natural aggregates. From the preliminary results, encouraging mechanical performances were obtained when replacing 50% of coarse aggregates fraction 8–16 mm with marble by-products and 8% of fine aggregates 0–4 mm with crushed mussels shells. The reuse of these materials is essential in a sustainable and environmentally friendly circular economy approach, which focuses on reducing waste and reusing materials within production cycles. The resulting advantages are less exploitation of natural aggregates and less production of waste.

This study is supported by the projects “WEAKI TRANSIT: WEAK-demand areas Innovative TRANsport Shared services for Italian Towns (Project protocol: 20174ARRHT_004; CUP Code: F74I19001290001), financed with the PRIN 2017 (Research Projects of National Relevance) program and e.INS Ecosystem of Innovation for Next Generation Sardinia - SPOKE 8 - (CUP F53C22000430001 –MUR Code: ECS00000038) financed with PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan). We authorize the MIUR to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes, notwithstanding any copyright notations thereon. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the MIUR.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Civil Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, 09042, Cagliari, Italy

   James Rombi, Marta Salis, Marco Olianas, Francesca Maltinti & Mauro Coni

Contributions

Concept and methodology, Rombi, J., Salis M. and Coni, M.; experimental campaign and validation, Rombi, J., Salis M. and Olianas M., analysis, Rombi, J., Salis M., and Maltinti F., writing, review and editing, Rombi, J., Salis M. and Maltinti F., project administration, Coni, M.. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Rombi .

Editors and Affiliations

1. University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

   Osvaldo Gervasi

2. University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

   Beniamino Murgante

3. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

   Ana Maria A. C. Rocha

4. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

   Chiara Garau

5. University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

   Francesco Scorza

6. University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

   Yeliz Karaca

7. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

   Carmelo M. Torre

Reprints and permissions

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Policies and ethics