Laboratory evaluation of cement treated aggregate containing crushed clay brick

Abstract

Abstract: The waste clay bricks from debris of buildings were evaluated through lab tests as environmental friendly materials for pavement sub-base in the research. Five sets of coarse aggregates which contained 0, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% crushed bricks, respectively, were blended with sand and treated by 5% cement. The test results indicated that cement treated aggregate which contains crushed clay brick aggregate had a lower maximum dry density (MDD) and a higher optimum moisture content (OMC). Moreover, the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), resilience modulus, splitting strength, and frost resistance performance of the specimens decreased with increase of the amount of crushed clay brick aggregate. On the other hand, it can be observed that the use of crushed clay brick in the mixture decreased the dry shrinkage strain of the specimens. Compared with the asphalt pavement design specifications of China, the results imply that the substitution rate of natural aggregate with crushed clay brick aggregate in the cement treated aggregate sub-base material should be less than 50% (5% cement content in the mixture). Furthermore, it needs to be noted that the cement treated aggregate which contains crushed clay bricks should be cautiously used in the cold region due to its insufficient frost resistance performance.