Physical and mechanical evaluation of artificial marble produced with dolomitic marble residue processed by diamond-plated bladed gang-saws

The production of artificial stone from the agglutination of the epoxy resin fine waste can be a viable alternative from technical, economic and ecological points of views. The residue derives from the dolomitic marble produced by diamond-plated bladed gang-saws and it is usually discarded. With this new application, there is value added to the residue, reducing the consequent environmental impact. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of an artificial marble produced through vacuum vibro-compression. With this purpose, stone plates were produced, using appropriate tools, characterized by a distribution of 85% of residual particle weight and 15% of epoxy system. The material was manufactured with the following conditions for 20 (twenty) minutes, compacting pressure of 0.5 MPa and temperature of 90 °C. Later on, the samples were characterized by density, water absorption, porosity, flexural strength, compressive strength and scanning electron microscopy. The result was an artificial marble produced applying vacuum vibro-compression with water absorption levels below 0.06%, flexural strength of 33.93 MPa and uniaxial compression of 96.49 MPa, thus indicating residual particles and epoxy resin grip at satisfactory levels.