Reinforced geopolymeric mortars were obtained by mixing mine tailing, fine sand, alpaca wool fibers ( in variable amounts) sodium hydroxide and potable water, it was possible to verify the effect of the addition of alpaca wool on the mechanical behavior in uniaxial compression of the mortars studied. The mechanical data found revealed a systematic decrease in the maximum stress as the volume of wool added in the mortar mixtures manufactured increased. On the other hand, a higher degree of deformation was verified in mixtures with a greater volume of added fibers, reaching deformation values of up to 5%. The maximum strength values were in the range of 4 to 21 MPa for samples with 8 and 0 Vol. % of added fibers, respectively. Among the microstructural characteristics of the mortars studied, a continuous binder phase corresponding to the geopolymer could be appreciated, with sand particles and wool fibers dispersed within the binder phase. The real density and average porosity of the reinforced mortars were 2.65 g/cm3 and 32%, respectively.

The traditional method of manufacturing SiC compounds is associated with a serious environmental problem, mainly due to the need for large amounts of energy (generally derived from oil) to reach processing temperatures (typically above 2500 ºC). In addition, the chemical reaction that gives rise to the formation of SiC has CO and CO2 as by-products. Therefore, in this work an alternative method to manufacture SiC/Si composites using waste from the wood industry as the main raw material was developed. SiC/Si composites were fabricated by infiltration of molten silicon into carbon preforms at 1500 °C. The carbon preforms were obtained by pyrolysis (in an inert Ar atmosphere) of four types of resin-carbon mixtures. The carbon used in the mixtures was obtained by pyrolysis of sawdust powder. The mechanical and thermomechanical behavior in uniaxial compression was studied at a constant compression rate of 0.05 mm/min at different temperatures (ambient, 1100 °C and 1400 °C). The maximum resistance values found were in the range of 58 and 384 MPa, while the Young's modulus values were between 40 and 120 GPa. The porosity found in the materials was between 1 and 4%. Finally, the fabricated compounds presented a homogeneous microstructure of interconnected silicon carbide in gray contrast and dispersed and unconnected whitish phases of uniformly distributed silicon.