Investigation of mechanical and physical properties of concrete brick made of waste materials

Shanmugam, Tinish (2023) Investigation of mechanical and physical properties of concrete brick made of waste materials. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

The construction industry has expanded because of rapid urbanisation and economic development. As a result, the demand for brick as a building material has increased in tandem with the expansion of the construction industry all over the world. Building developers and engineers are entitled to consider the surrounding environment when they are constructing buildings and should support sustainable development in their works. Thus, the production and use of bricks and aggregates that are friendlier to the environment would be significant. According to past research, recycled materials can be used to replace part of the usual mixed components in brick products, resulting in a more sustainable building material. Waste oyster shell, eggshell, and plastic are three common waste items that can be recycled. The objective of this research is to create a new generation of sustainable bricks from waste material and investigate their physical and mechanical properties. This study will also evaluate the new generation brick's reliability as a construction material as compared to the traditional burnt clay brick and concrete brick The brick sample produced in this study is based on ASTM standards with the addition of various composition of waste material treated into fine (300 μm) and coarse (4.7 mm) aggregates. The proportion is ranging from 30% to 90%, with various cement-water ratio. Individually, the samples are tested for compressive strength, water absorption, and the presence of efflorescence. The compressive strength and water absorption decreases as the percentage of waste aggregates increases. Only seven samples meet the minimum requirements in terms of compressive strength and thirteen samples in terms for water absorption that can be used for construction purposes. As for samples tested for efflorescence, six samples are classified as heavy efflorescence and one sample with severe flaking where it will damage building structure. Samples made with only plastic aggregates exhibited highest efflorescence in this research. No samples produced better results compared to commercial bricks in terms of efflorescence and water absorption. However, sample with 30% eggshell (S30-E) exhibited higher compressive strength (17.6 N/mm²) with a difference of 71.2% for concrete brick (10.28 N/mm²) and 62.2% for clay brick (10.85 N/mm²). In nutshell, using oyster shell, eggshell and plastic is a reliable source of aggregates to be used in concrete.

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