CHARACTERIZATION OF GRANITE QUARRY WASTE FOR GEOTECHNICAL PURPOSES
Ornamental Rock. Parelhas-RN. Mechanical Characterization. Geotechnical Projects
The municipality of Parelhas-RN can be considered as one of the main producers of ornamental stones,
mainly composed of granites and marbles, from the state and the northeast region. Nowadays, due
the great concern with the environment, the debate about reusing materials is increasing, aiming the economic impacts and environmental issues. Based on that and the large volume of waste generated by the mining company, the main objective of the present work is to characterize waste from the granite mining process of a mining activity located in the city of Parelhas-RN and to identify the potntial uses for the waste, replacing natural aggregate, in geotechnical purposes. The following characterizations were carried out: microstructural and chemical characterization, physical characterization and mechanical characterization. The microstructural and chemical characterization was carried out by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The physical characterization was composed by tests to determine the specific mass, absorption and porosity accordind to ABNT NBR 15845-2: 2015 standard, the mechanical characterization was performed to determine the mechanical streght of the samples, according to ABNT NBR 15845-5: 2015. In general, the samples collected, at the three collection points, obtained high mechanical strength, indicating that the unaltered samples can be used as a natural aggregate for geotechnical purposes.