Effect of crushed brick chips as coarse aggregate on the mechanical properties, water absorption and cost of concrete
Abstract
In Bangladesh, natural coarse aggregates (NCA) are limited in availability and more expensive to transport than other materials. On the other hand, brick chips (BC) are a more affordable, widely available option for use as coarse aggregate in concrete production. Also, owners tend to use stone chips in particular structural components, such as foundations and columns, and brick chips in others, such as beams and slabs. This leads to non-homogeneous structural strength, which increases differential shrinkage and the development of cracks. Therefore, replacing NCA with BC may help reduce structural dead load, improve cost-effectiveness, and mitigate the problems associated with NCA. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effects of replacing NCA with BC (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of NCA) on selecting the optimal BC replacement percentage and on the mechanical properties and water absorption capacity of concrete. This study was designed to attain a target compressive strength of 25 MPa and was evaluated at 7, 14, and 28 days. In this study, standard cylindrical specimens measuring 100 mm × 200 mm were cast, cured, and tested for mechanical properties at 7, 14, and 28 days to evaluate the effect of increasing the brick chip content on concrete performance. This study identified an optimal replacement ratio of 40% BC replaced with NCA, resulting in a 6.90% reduction in unit weight, a 6.28% reduction in compressive strength, a 17.97% reduction in splitting tensile strength, and a 3.25% reduction in modulus of elasticity. Additionally, a trend of rising water absorption is observed with higher replacement levels.
Keywords
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