Estudio técnico en la producción de adoquines a partir de residuos de madera de tarimas, Cartago, Costa Rica

Abstract

Three different treatments were applied to wooden particles from reused pallets of Pinus sp: hot water wash, unwashed and unwashed with calcium carbonate. These wooden particles were incorporated with cement, sand and stone powder to form a mixture in different proportion in relation to weight to manufacture blocks, which were evaluated in hardening using the velocity of ultrasonic pulse (VPU) and the density during the first 21 and 15 days respectively, water absorption, modulus of rupture (MR) in flexion, abrasion resistance after 28 days of manufacture and resistance to attack by decay fungi during 16 weeks. Results showed that hardening occurs at 8 days with variation in the VPU and density. Moisture absorption varies between 15 and 22% with a tendency to decrease as the proportion decreases or as the wooden particles load decreases. MR ranged from 0.40 to 1.23 MPa and blocks with unwashed wooden particles and calcium carbonate showed the highest significant differences. In abrasion resistance, blocks with unwashed wooden particles reported the best results. Finally, it was concluded that, the mixture with 60:40 proportion (concrete: wood) for blocks with washed wooded particles and calcium carbonate, shows a good performance in all the parameters evaluated. Besides, these blocks are not attacked by decay fungi.