Influence of waste refractory brick on the destructive and non-destructive properties of sustainable eco-friendly concrete

Abstract

Concrete is one of the most popularly used structural materials in the construction. It is a composite mixture of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, water, and with or without admixture. For concrete production, large amounts of natural aggregates are being consumed and as a result, the environment is facing severe challenges. The imbalance in the ecosystem is creating immense complications in the environment due to the illegal mining of aggregate from natural resources. Under these circumstances, researchers are finding suitable alternatives to preserve natural resources and raise environmental awareness and consequently the concept of sustainability is introduced. Depending on the level of difficulties, the utilization of waste materials may be exercised for the preparation of sustainable concrete that are economically and environmentally acceptable. Refractory Bricks turn out to be such a waste after a few cyclic usages in various thermal industries and may be utilized in concrete. In this present experimental work, the utilization of waste refractory bricks are proposed for the partial/total replacement of natural fine aggregate at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, and 100% levels by crushing it into fine particles. In this study, experiments are mainly divided into two parts, one is non-destructive tests and others are destructive tests. In non-destructive section, the prediction of compressive strength by Rebound Hammer has been performed. Subsequently, destructive tests, like Compression test, Flexural test, and Split Tensile test have been performed to check the mechanical properties of the concrete specimens. From the compression and split tensile test 20% replacement level provided the optimum result. The specimen with 30% replacement presented the best Flexural Strength. All the test results of sustainable concrete specimens are being compared with conventional concrete to check the enrichment or retrenchment of properties of concrete specimens with the incorporation of waste refractory bricks.