Compressive strength behavior of concrete by partial replacement of regular brick with over-burnt brick aggregate

Abstract

Numerous kinds of coarse aggregates are being used around the world, and most of these coarse aggregates are naturally originated. Due to the gradual diminution of natural resources, modern society is facing a challenge in concrete work which demands a huge amount of coarse aggregate. In Bangladesh, handful brick fields around the country made brick aggregate available as well as economical compared to natural coarse aggregates. Uncontrolled heat in brick kilns produces a good number of over-burnt bricks. Due to the unevenness, those bricks are staked as an idle in brick fields. Those over-burnt brick could be a source of recycled coarse aggregate. This paper highlights on the behavior of concrete, prepared by the partial replacement of regular brick aggregate (RBA) with over-burnt brick aggregate (OBBA) in a range from 0 to 100%. Three different water cement ratios (0.5, 0.55 and 0.6) are considered in this study. Result shows that compressive strength of concrete increases with the increment of OBBA content. For 75% replacement of RBA with OBBA in concrete increases the compressive strength by 33%. Unit weight of concrete decreases with the increment of OBBA content. The lowest achieved unit weight of concrete is 79% of the usual value of unit weight of concrete. The slump test was conducted for each batches of mixing, and the slump values are in between the range of 3.5–9.0 cm. OBBA in concrete could decrease structure’s dead load and increase its strength with a provision of economy.