Marwa Marza Salman, Hussein Talab Nhabih
In this study, waste glass was utilized as a sintering agent and silica source in red ceramic products and investigated its effect on the properties of these products. The sample composition was prepared from waste glass, kaolin clay, and natural sand. Formulations of samples were contained (0- 40) % of glass waste. After preparation of the samples by the powder technology technique, some properties such as apparent porosity, bulk density, linear shrinkage, fracture strength, hardness, SEM, and XRD were examined. From the results of this investigation, the highest bulk density of the tested specimens was 2.19 g/cm3, the lowest apparent porosity was 3.2%, the highest strength was 59 MPa and the highest hardness was 219 MPa. From results of XRD analysis for the specimens, it can be indicated that the similarity in crystalline patterns confirms that the improvement mechanism is physical (liquid phase sintering) and not chemical (formation of new compounds), which is a positive aspect that enhances the simplicity of industrial application. The SEM image for the specimen with 40% of glass waste shows that the glassy phase content considerably increases, while the pores significantly reduce. Therefore, the utilization of glass waste improves mechanical properties and reduces the large quantity of the inherent imperfections in the microstructures of ceramic products. Thus, industrial economic and environmental benefits can be obtained by this replacement from the side of avoiding landfilling with these wastes, saving energy, and reducing material consumption