Benefits of using pieces of crushed brick in the concrete Essay

Benefits of using pieces of crushed brick in the concrete - Essay Example Aggregates in the concrete make the concrete weather resistant through their design and composition. Brick can not be considered a suitable material for mixing in concrete if its weather resistance is declined. To increase the durability of concrete structures, Romans tried several materials in place of aggregates. Owing to the lower modulus of elasticity and higher tensile strength than stone aggregate concrete, brick aggregate concrete is considered a suitable option. Three different concrete mixtures were produced and tested in different conditions. The first sample group was made of 100% gravel, the second sample group contained 100% crushed bricks and the third sample group contained 50% bricks and 50% gravel. A total of 33 concrete cubes were cast, 11 from each group. The concrete cube samples were subjected to repeated cycles of the frosting and thawing process to simulate the real-world conditions. For each concrete mixture, 3 of the cubes were not frozen at all, 3 cubes unde rwent 10 freeze-thaw cycles and the last 3 cube samples were subjected to a maximum of 20 freeze-thaw cycles. The remaining 2 cubes were subjected to the oven temperatures to determine their porosity. Each concrete cube was tested for its compressive strength, and tensile strength. Brick concrete showed more compressive and tensile strength than ordinary concrete because of lower w/c ratio.