Experimental and Feasibility Studies of Recycled Bricks using C & D Waste

Abstract

Traditional fired clay bricks are widely used as a fundamental building material in most countries. The use of burnt bricks has negative effects such as cutting of trees for burning fuel and degradation of soil near rivers where clay is available for manufacturing of bricks. The other problem is that of improper disposing of C & D waste which results in environmental degradation. With growing awareness of sustainable development it is important to incorporate this waste in the production of building materials and reduce burden on the virgin materials. In this view an experimental investigation is carried to utilize these C & D waste as raw materials for brick making. The materials includes: brick powder, recycled fine aggregate, natural fine aggregate along with cement as a stabilizer. The principles of stabilized earth blocks are employed to attain proper binding rather than burning the bricks. Three different mix compositions are used in this study with Brick powder is a predominant constituent which is about 70%. To assess the properties of the bricks a representative cube samples of size 70.6mm X 70.6mm X 70.6mm are first prepared, and then bricks of size 222mm X 106mm X 73mm is casted for three different mixes. The bricks were cured and tested for compressive strength and water absorption. Based on the results, it has been concluded that C& D waste be can used as a substitute materials for brick making.