Diminishing Environmental Impact in the Construction Industry: The Use of Brick Coarse Aggregates Instead of Natural Coarse Aggregates
Received: 20 October 2024 | Revised: 18 November 2024 | Accepted: 21 November 2024 | Online: 2 February 2025
Corresponding author: Saloua Filali
Abstract
The rapid growth of infrastructure, urbanization, and industrialization has increased global concrete demand, putting pressure on natural resources and creating ecological challenges. In response, using Brick Waste (BW) as a substitute for natural aggregates in concrete offers a promising solution to enhance sustainability in construction materials. This study specifically investigates the replacement of Natural Coarse Aggregates (NCA) with Brick Coarse Aggregates (BCA) at substitution rates of 25%, 45%, 65%, and 85%. The experimental results show that replacing 25% of NCA with BCA leads to a 12% decrease in workability and a 2.48% reduction in density compared to a control concrete mix. In its hardened state, this substitution results in a slight decrease of 6.45% in compressive strength (fc). At higher substitution rates, such as 85%, the decrease is intensified, with a 32% reduction in workability, 7.93% in density, and 50.32% in compressive strength, all compared to the control concrete after 56 days. The present study also emphasizes a significant correlation between the measured compressive strength and that estimated by non-destructive methods, such as the Schmidt Rebound Hammer Test. Optimizing substitute materials is crucial for achieving high performance while ensuring environmental benefits. This research proposes an innovative approach to sustainable construction, providing a unique opportunity to reconcile performance and sustainability in the construction sector. The importance of this work lies in its potential to transform waste management practices and promote more ecological construction materials.
Keywords:
brick powder, workability, density, strength, Schmidt rebound hammer test, ultrasonic velocityDownloads
References
K. Ullah, M. Irshad Qureshi, A. Ahmad, and Z. Ullah, "Substitution potential of plastic fine aggregate in concrete for sustainable production," Structures, vol. 35, pp. 622–637, Jan. 2022.
P. K. Mehta and P. J. M. Monteiro, Concrete : microstructure, properties, and materials, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2014.
U. Jureje, M. W. Tjaronge, and M. A. Caronge, "Basic Engineering Properties of Concrete with Refractory Brick as Coarse Aggregate: Compressive Stress-Time Relationship Assessment," International Journal of Engineering, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 931–940, May 2024.
H. Y. Aruntaş, M. Gürü, M. Dayı, and İ. Tekin, "Utilization of waste marble dust as an additive in cement production," Materials & Design, vol. 31, no. 8, pp. 4039–4042, Sep. 2010.
Z. A. Hussain and N. Aljalawi, "Effect of Sustainable Glass Powder on the Properties of Reactive Powder Concrete with Polypropylene Fibers," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 8388–8392, Apr. 2022.
A. Anwar, S. Ahmad, S. M. A. Husain, and S. A. Ahmad, "Replacement Of Cement By Marble Dust And Ceramic Waste In Concrete For Sustainable Development," International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 496–503, Jun. 2015.
A. M. Rashad, "Metakaolin as cementitious material: History, scours, production and composition – A comprehensive overview," Construction and Building Materials, vol. 41, pp. 303–318, Apr. 2013.
A. C. Sankh, P. M. Biradar, S. J. Naghathan, and M. B. Ishwargol, "Recent Trends in Replacement of Natural Sand With Different Alternatives," IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE), pp. 59–66, 2014.
A. M. Rashad, "A brief on high-volume Class F fly ash as cement replacement – A guide for Civil Engineer," International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 278–306, Dec. 2015.
D. J. Kazem and N. M. Fawzi, "Effect of Sustainable Materials on Some Properties of Pervious Concrete," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 14039–14043, Jun. 2024.
V. T. Phan and T. H. Nguyen, "The Influence of Fly Ash on the Compressive Strength of Recycled Concrete Utilizing Coarse Aggregates from Demolition Works," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 7107–7110, Jun. 2021.
S. Maner, S. Khalipe, V. Meher, S. Malve, S. Adalinge, and N. N. Ingale, "Experimental Study on Recycling of Brick Waste in Concrete as Coarse Aggregate," International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research, vol. 5, no. 3, Jun. 2023, Art. no. 3917.
M. Y. Abdul Hakim, M. El-Zeadani, and S. A. Osman, "Physical and Mechanical Properties of Concrete using Recycled Clay Bricks as Coarse Aggregate," American Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 88–100, Jan. 2022.
N. Bheel et al., "Innovative use of brick wastes as coarse aggregate in concrete," IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 981, no. 3, Sep. 2020, Art. no. 032077.
M. A. Rashid, A. Salam, S. K. Shill, and K. Hasan, "Effect of Replacing Natural Coarse Aggregate by Brick Aggregate on the Properties of Concrete," DUET Journal, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 17–22, Jun. 2012.
D. S. Alsadey, "Properties of concrete using crushed brick as coarse aggregate," International Journal of Advances in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 44–47, Jan. 2019.
T. Wang et al., "Study on the mechanical properties and microstructure of recycled brick aggregate concrete with waste fiber," Reviews on Advanced Materials Science, vol. 63, no. 1, Jan. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1515/rams-2023-0175.
"Norme Marocaine NM 10.1.004." 2019.
"NF EN 12620: Aggregates for concrete." 2003.
"P18-560: Aggregates. Particle size distribution by sieving." 1990.
"NM 10.1.353." 2009.
C. Hamza, S. Bouchra, B. Mostapha, and B. Mohamed, "Formulation of Ordinary Concrete using the Dreux-Gorisse Method," Procedia Structural Integrity, vol. 28, pp. 430–439, Jan. 2020.
Testing fresh concrete - Part 2: Slump test. EUROPEAN STANDARD, 2019.
Testing fresh concrete - Part 6: Density. EUROPEAN STANDARD, 2009.
Testing hardened concrete - Part 3: Compressive strength of test specimens. EUROPEAN STANDARD, 2019.
Testing concrete in structures - Part 4: Determination of ultrasonic pulse velocity. EUROPEAN STANDARD, 2021.
Testing concrete in structures - Part 2: Non-destructive testing - Determination of rebound number. EUROPEAN STANDARD, 2012.
R. Kasi and P. Malasani, "Usage of Recycled Brick as Coarse Aggregate in Concrete," International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology, vol. 3, no. 9, pp. 95–100, Sep. 2016.
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Saloua Filali, Abdelkader Nasser, Abdelhamid Kerkour-El Miad

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after its publication in ETASR with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.