Red Brick Research Articles

PEMANFAATAN LIMBAH BATU BATA MERAH DALAM STABILISASI TANAH LEMPUNG

Land is a place to build a foundation or building that supports all the loads of the structure or construction that stands on it, both building construction and road construction. Especially for roads, soil inspection is important so that the road construction that is built can last a long time. In the area of Kampung Baru, Simpang Haru, Sawahan Timur Village, Padang Timur District, the land needs to be researched because the soil condition is less stable, it can be seen by the damage to several infrastructures, especially roads, damage in the form of cracks, potholes to collapse. location. To improve the stability of the soil, research was carried out using a stabilizing agent in the form of red brick waste. The waste red bricks used are those that pass filter no. 200, with the percentage of red bricks in the soil content of 0%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%. The tests carried out consisted of testing the physical properties and mechanical properties of the soil. Testing the physical properties of the soil includes the sieve test no. 200, specific gravity test (Gs), atterberg limit test and sieve test. Meanwhile, testing of mechanical properties includes soil density test, expansion test and expansion pressure. Based on the research that has been done above, it can be concluded that the addition of red brick waste powder can reduce the plasticity, expansion and expansion pressure of clay soil. The best results were achieved by mixing 5% of red brick waste to the dry weight of the soil

Equivalency of the diagonal shear strength of plastered and non-plastered lightweight brick walls to the strength of red brick walls

Simple (non-engineered) house buildings are so popular in Indonesia. However, the vast majority of these buildings were damaged in the past earthquake events. In such building type, the masonry walls contribute as structural elements to withstand the load. Currently, the innovation that is emerged to be favoured by the community is lightweight brick walls, therefore, such kinds of walls need to be deeply and widely explored by a series of research. The purposes of this study are to compare the maximum shear loads between plastered and non-plastered brick walls as well as lightweight brick walls with various thicknesses through laboratory tests and to find the equality of maximum shear loads lightweight brick walls against red brick walls. This study used laboratory test and literature study. This study concludes that, the addition of plaster on a lightweight brick wall provides additional maximum load to the wall in the amount of 74,6336%. Maximum load of non-plastered red brick walls is equivalent to the strength of a non-plastered light brick wall with a thickness of 47.26 mm. For plastered red brick walls, maximum load to carry is equivalent to plastered lightweight brick walls with a thickness of 168.76 mm.

Analysis of the effect of CO and PM 2.5 parameters on vegetation conditions in red brick industrial area, Srimulyo Village, Sragen Regency

Red brick industrial activity which is developing in Srimulyo Village generates pros and cons related to CO gas emissions and the resulting particulates, which affect to the flora diversity. This study aims to identify flora biodiversity in the red brick industrial area of Srimulyo Village, then analyze the effect of the emission value of CO and Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 on vegetation in the area. This study conducted at 4-point locations for sampling, using Shannon-Wiener formula to determine the biodiversity index. Result obtain low vegetation diversity index and low stability with the average index value was 1.91. The low vegetation diversity index has correlation with the measured value of CO and PM 2.5 gases which above the standard thresholds. The average range of CO gas levels is 353.3-844.7 ppm, and PM 2.5 levels is 1928.7-9517.7 µg/m3. In conclusion, this study shows that the CO gases and PM 2.5 resulted from Red Brick Industrial Area affect to the flora diversity index into a low cluster in the observed location.

Kuat Tekan dan Penyerapan Batako Menggunakan Serat Pelepah Kelapa

Brick is a building material that has a function as a room sealer. Its larger size, when compared to red brick, makes bricks more in demand in the market. Improving the quality of bricks needs to be done to meet the needs of the building. The use of added materials becomes one of the things that can be considered to improve the nature and quality of bricks. This research aims to find out the strong press and absorption of bricks with the use of coconut pellet fiber. The research was conducted experimentally with the manufacture of test objects in the laboratory. The test object used is in the form of a beam of 30x15x10 cm. The percentage variation of coconut fiber is 5%, 10%, and 15% of the weight mass in bricks. The tests carried out include a strong compressive and water absorption test with reference to the Indonesian National Standard (SNI). The results of water absorption tests obtained the optimum value in bricks with a mixture of 5% fiber which is 6% of the mass of the weight of the brick, while the minimum value is in the brick, 15% fiber, which is 10%. While the compressive strength results get the optimum value on the 5% fiber mix variation, which is 20.1 kg/cm², and the minimum value on the variation of 15% fiber is 8.8 kg/cm². From these results showed that bricks with coconut pellet fiber have not been able to improve the quality of bricks.

Analysis of the Sand Drying Process in the Biomass-Energized Rotary Drying Machine

Hebel brick (also known as a lightweight brick) is a product of modern building materials because it has a lighter weight but it is stronger than cement bricks and red bricks. Hebel bricks can withstand pressures of more than 4 MPa and are suitable as building wall materials, and speed up construction, and save on cement material costs. One of the most important materials is silica sand in the manufacture of Hebel bricks. The silica sand used in the manufacture of Hebel bricks must have a moisture content of 10 % to 15 %. The purpose of this study is to provide a solution in the form of a drying technique design using a rotational speed control method and a machine that uses biomass-based energy sources. This rotary drying machine is designed to be able to dry wet silica sand into silica sand with water content according to standards. The development of this drying machine begins with making an initial design and parameter analysis. Then proceed to the design, manufacture, and performance testing. The calculation results show that the wet base moisture content has decreased from 33.17 % to 16.58 %, the dry base moisture content decreased from 49.63 % to 19.88 % and drying efficiency also decreased from 63.11 % to 17.11 %. Hence it can be seen that the percentage of wet base moisture content reduced by 50 %, the percentage of dry base moisture content reduced by 59.94 %, and the percentage of drying efficiency reduced by 72.9 %.

Analysis of the views of NGO representatives’ about social responsibility of HEI: case of Mariupol State University

The article investigates the university social responsibility and the conditions in which the implementation of social functions carried out by higher education institutions can be possible. Models of interaction between society and universities are presented: the model of «civic university», which means the interaction of university, local community and local government, and the model of «quadruple spiral of innovation», which means a high degree of interaction between universities, business, government and society in various organizational forms. In the conditions of societal changes Ukrainian universities are gradually adapting their organizational mission to expand the list of functions, including those that meet the principles of social responsibility.
 To analyze the social responsibility of Ukrainian HEIs, a case method was applied, to analyze public materials of Mariupol State University. This university was chosen for research for a number of reasons: the institution is integrated into the life of the local community, city and region; the institution has successful experience of cooperation with local authorities and local NGOs; the university has educational programs in the humanities, social sciences and public administration; MSU staff and students are involved in many local community initiatives.
 To study the degree of interaction between the university and the local community, the representatives of local NGOs were interviewed. They, on the one hand, confirmed the hypothesis of the study that cooperation between HEIs and NGOs increases the ability of both social actors to respond to current local needs of communities, but outlined the main problems of this interaction, which are characteristic of most HEIs of the country: a high degree of bureaucracy, focusing on the provision of educational services and research, projects related to the infrastructure of the institution and its international presence. It is concluded that the policy of isolationism of Ukrainian HEIs inhibits the adaptation of the «civic university» model and the “quadruple spiral of innovation” model in Ukrainian society.

Hope under Neoliberal Austerity—Responses from Civil Society and Civic Universities

Hope under Neoliberal Austerity—Responses from Civil Society and Civic Universities

Multifunctional Composite Coatings Based on Photoactive Metal-Oxide Nanopowders (MgO/TiO2) in Hydrophobic Polymer Matrix for Stone Heritage Conservation.

Multifunctional composite coatings composed of metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed in polymer matrices are an advanced solution to solve the problem of stone heritage deterioration. Their innovative design is meant to be stable, durable, transparent, easy to apply and remove, non-toxic, hydrophobic, and permeable. Coating formulations for the protection of buildings and monuments have been intensively researched lately. Such formulations are based on multifunctional composite coatings incorporating metal oxides. The present work aims to combine the hydrophobic properties of sodium polyacrylate (NaPAC16) with the antimicrobial effectiveness, with promising antimicrobial results even in the absence of light, and good compatibility of MgO (a safe to use, low cost and environmentally friendly material) and TiO2 (with antibacterial and antifungal properties), in order to develop coatings for stone materials protection. MgO (pure phase periclase) and TiO2 (pure phase anatase) nanopowders were prepared through sol–gel method, specifically routes. Aqueous dispersions of hydrophobically modified polymer (NaPAC16, polyacrylic acid sodium salt) and MgO/TiO2 nanopowders were deposited through layer-by-layer dip coating technique on glass slides and through immersion on stone fragments closely resembling the mosaic stone from the fourth century AD Roman Mosaic Edifice, from Constanta, Romania. The oxide nanopowders were characterized by: Thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET specific surface area and porosity, and UV–Vis spectroscopy for band gap determination. An aqueous dispersion of modified polyacrylate polymer and oxide nanopowders was deposited on different substrates (glass slides, red bricks, gypsum mortars). Film hydrophobicity was verified by contact angle measurements. The colour parameters were evaluated. Photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity of the powders and composite coatings were tested.

The Analysis of Students’ Opinions about the Social Responsibility Of Ukrainian Universities

Aim. The paper is aimed to investigate the students’ opinion about the social responsibility carried out by higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ukraine. Nowadays social responsibility has become one of the key characteristics of modern HEIs. Ukrainian universities are trying to become 'civic universities', i.e., institutions which contribute to the development of the local community. The students, as key stakeholders of the university activities, also take part in this process. Methods. To investigate the social responsibility of the Ukrainian HEIs, the case study method is used in the present paper: the case of Mariupol State University and its social functions within the city are highlighted. The online survey was applied to investigate the level of students’ awareness of the university social functions and the role played by the university in the local community. Materials published by the university and the results of the survey have been analysed to test the hypothesis that students consider Mariupol State University to be a socially responsible university which cooperates with the local community. Results. The students’ opinion on the social functions carried out by Mariupol State University is that this local university has strong ties with the local community and authorities and perform its social mission. However, the social functions of the university, according to the students, are limited by teaching and research activities. Few students consider social responsibility of the university in a wider context. Conclusion. On the example of the MSU the paper shows that modern universities in Ukraine perform social functions and try to become truly civic universities to contribute to the development of the local communities in cooperation with different stakeholders. Nevertheless, students as a key stakeholder of the university activities still consider social responsibility of the university primarily aimed at teaching and research.

Developing a university-voluntary sector collaboration for social impact

This article outlines how a team of academics, professional staff and students from a Scottish University in the United Kingdom worked with voluntary sector partners to achieve civic and ‘social purpose’ goals, through setting up a project called The Collaborative. This is a reflective paper that draws on collaborative autoethnography and is written collarboratively by that team of academics, professional staff and students. We explore how universities can achieve their civic engagement goals by serving as anchor institutions, and we develop a conceptual framework for how anchor institutions can enact their institutional mission of ‘social purpose’. We uncover important considerations for university initiatives aiming to improve academic and student engagement with community partners for social change, with three learning points around building relationships, building capacity, and barriers to engagement. Service-learning can be used as a pathway to becoming a civic university, however, there are structural barriers that need to be overcome. This is an account of an ethical fact-finding project, reflecting on our experience of working with the local voluntary sector, designed to facilitate the University’s better engagement with such collaborative ‘social purpose’ ventures.

Assessment of Excess Gamma Dose Exposure Level in Typical Nigeria Commercial Building Materials Distribution Outlets

The gamma dose rate exposure levels from different brands of building materials at commercial distribution stores/shops in two major cities in Ondo State, Nigeria, were measured using a well calibrated Inspector 1000 scintillator detector. The results showed that the different brands of building materials which are Corrugated iron sheet, Aluminum roofing sheets, Conduit pipes, Paints, Cement, PVC pipes, Wash hand basin, Bath tub, Water closet, Kitchen zinc, Asbestos, Floor tiles, Wall tiles, Bullet proof door, Binding wire, rings and rods, Red bricks, Galvanized pipes, Copper pipes, Water tanks contributed excess annual effective doses of 0.332 mSv/y and 0.311mSv/y to store keepers in Ikare Akoko and Akure cities respectively. The indoor and outdoor annual effective dose of each of the investigated two cities are correlated using simple linear regression equations. The results of the modeling and experiment show that annual effective dose received by the occupants of these shops/stores was about 12 % higher than what could be received in a typical natural radiation environment in the two cities because the building materials acts as a source of radiation indoor. The research indicated that the typical habit of using poorly ventilated and confined space as stores/shops by the sales men might subject them to internal exposure through inhalation of radon gas and its short-lived decay products. Implementation of the developed equations would definitely promote rapid determination of outdoor annual effective dose through indoor annual effective dose and ultimately save time and other valuable resources.

Improved fired clay brick compressive strength by recycling wastes of blacksmiths\u2019 workshops

This study investigates the effect of using steel filings from the waste of blacksmiths workshops on the clay bricks mixture to improve the bricks’ compressive strength. On the other hand, this process can reduce workshops’ waste by recycling it to preserve the resources and achieve sustainability. Adding steel filings to the mixture of red clay bricks was in different proportions by weight (1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) on prototype bricks produced in a lab. Moreover, it aims to increase the effectiveness of clay bricks used in load-bearing walls, which can be used extensively in economical housing to reduce the cost if its strength increases by utilizing it in the load-bearing walls system instead of skeleton. The experimental approach was adopted to reach conclusions, as it is the appropriate approach suitable for this research. Before and after adding steel filings, many properties were tested, such as dimensions, weight, density, water absorption, and compressive strength. It is observed that on increasing the steel filings ratios by the mixture’s weight, the prototypes’ compressive strength also increases. The highest percentage of increased compressive strength occurred for the specimen with 3% steel filings by the mixture’s weight is (84%).

Effect of low-temperature solvothermal route on controlled growth mechanism of Se rich-ZnSe(en)0.5 templates for ZnO NR-Zn1-xCdxSe photoelectrodes

A novel inorganic-organic Se rich-ZnSe(en)0.5 red-brick (ZnSe(en)0.5 RB) was developed on Zinc (Zn) foil through a low-temperature solvothermal synthesis. The structure evolution and growth mechanism of ZnSe(en)0.5 RB were systematically proposed at 80 °C by varying the solvothermal times (2−12 h) . In the reaction system, adsorption of reduced Se2− in presence of ethylenediamine ((en)0.5) induced the red-brick (RB) color to ZnSe(en)0.5. Furthermore, Cd2+ ion-exchange strategy was adopted for converting ZnSe(en)0.5 RB into dual nanoarchitecture photoelectrode (ZnO-Zn1-xCdxSe). The optimum ZnO NR-Zn1-xCdxSe NP 160 photoelectrode converted from ZnSe(en)0.5 RB-12 exhibited a photocurrent density of 13.14 mA·cm-2 at -0.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl with 237.79 μmol·cm−2 hydrogen evolution over 3 h. The enhanced photocurrent performance was due to the effective light absorption, and the prolonged recombination lifetime. The charge separation and transport mechanisms during photoelectrochemical hydrogen production were also investigated in detail.

A comparative study of red brick powder and lime as soft soil stabilizer

Background: Soil has an important role to play in planning buildings because it supports the loads above it. Different types of soil with poor mechanical properties require more attention. Therefore, it is necessary to put in more effort to stabilize soil in order to improve its properties. This study aimed to compare the potential of lime and brick powder as stabilizers based on the values of California bearing ratio (CBR). Soil stabilization can be defined as the process of stabilizing soil properties by chemical or physical means to improve its engineering efficiency. The main objectives of stabilizing soil are to increase the bearing capacity of soil, to increase its resistance to weathering processes, and its permeability. Methods: In this work laboratory tests were done with disturbed and undisturbed soil samples. The proportions of lime or red brick powder additives mixed together are 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% of the original soil sample. From the results of the laboratory tests, the soil type obtained is MH soil based on the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). The MH soil type is a low plasticity silt soil. Results: The study’s results showed that with the addition of lime and brick powder, the soil could be stabilized. In both soaked and unsoaked CBR tests, there was an increase in the CBR value for each proportion of the mixed additives. However, red brick powder had a significant increase of 15%. Conclusions: This study found a very large range of variations because of the many material requirements for each test. We suggest other researchers perform the CBR test by reducing the range of variations in the additives to get firm data and using our experimental procedure in this study for further research.

Civic universities and bottom-up approaches to boost local development of rural areas: the case of the University of Macerata

The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the main roles HEIs can play in rural areas. A longitudinal case study about the civic engagement of the University of Macerata - UNIMC (Italy) is presented, by assessing its attempt to fulfil its third and fourth mission through the application of the Quadruple Helix and 3 Model and by implementing the Civic University’s dimensions. Furthermore, these aspects have been investigated through the university-business collaboration and the community-academic-collaboration frameworks. More specifically, the paper focussed on UNIMC’s commitment at a local level analysing its involvement in local and international projects for place and agri-food product marketing, place branding and rural development, promoted by a research team within the Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism.

‘I’ve changed in every possible way someone could change’ – transformative university transitions

ABSTRACT Drawing on a longitudinal research project that followed the undergraduate entrants of 2013 into, and through their university time, this paper provides a novel conceptualisation of transformative transitions via looking at the four dimensions of non-linearity, multiplicity, diversity and structure. To do so, it builds on Archer’s (2000, 2003, 2012) relational realist approach and work on reflexivity to show how students select and merge a diverse set of personal concerns to arrive at a modus vivendi. This capstone paper closes a series of publications from a four-year tracking study that collected interview data from a diverse group of 40 students on a yearly basis (n1=40, n2=40, n3=38, n4=33) at an English northern red brick university. The paper explores the changing focus of student experiences, from the social aspects of acclimatisation, to learning to be academic, and finally, becoming a graduate. The results presented here also point to the structural enablements and constraints that higher education institutions and policymakers should mitigate in responding to the inequalities of access and experience. In the context of a large-scale societal crisis, such as the ongoing pandemic, it is key that we understand how university can remain a transformative experience for all students.

Over 30% efficiency bifacial 4-terminal perovskite-heterojunction silicon tandem solar cells with spectral albedo

We developed and designed a bifacial four-terminal perovskite (PVK)/crystalline silicon (c-Si) heterojunction (HJ) tandem solar cell configuration albedo reflection in which the c-Si HJ bottom sub-cell absorbs the solar spectrum from both the front and rear sides (reflected light from the background such as green grass, white sand, red brick, roofing shingle, snow, etc.). Using the albedo reflection and the subsequent short-circuit current density, the conversion efficiency of the PVK-filtered c-Si HJ bottom sub-cell was improved regardless of the PVK top sub-cell properties. This approach achieved a conversion efficiency exceeding 30%, which is higher than those of both the top and bottom sub-cells. Notably, this efficiency is also greater than the Schockley–Quiesser limit of the c-Si solar cell (approximately 29.43%). The proposed approach has the potential to lower industrial solar cell production costs in the near future.

Petrographic-Mineralogical Characterization of Archaeological Materials from “Casa di Diana” Mithraeum Sited in the Open Museum of Ostia Antica

Mithraea, religious Roman buildings, are very common in Italian archeological sites. There are sixteen in Ostia Antica (Rome, Italy)The poor state of conservation, due to the intrinsic environmental conditions, characterized them: they consist of open-air museums and caves simultaneously. These places of worship are characterized by the presence of heterogeneous materials, such as wall building materials (bricks and mortars) and others used for furnishings and fittings. This increases the risk of accelerated damage because the materials ‘rheology is different. Here, a full petrographic-mineralogical characterization with polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDS) and isotopic analysis (δ13C, δ18O) is carried out on materials like travertine, marble, pumice, ceramic, and wall-building materials in “Casa di Diana” Mithraeum (Ostia Antica). Their characterization gives provenance information as well as conservation and restoration purposes. The prevalence of siliciclastic or carbonate components discriminates between red and yellow bricks, as well as different textures and minerals in the aggregate of the red ones. The mortars are typically pozzolanic, and the aggregate is mostly made up of black and red pozzolanic clasts. In the altar, apse, and aedicule, which constitute the principal place of the Mithraeum, a variety of materials used for the ornamental purpose are represented by pumices, travertine, marble, and limestone. The altar material, catalogued as marble, resulted in being a limestone coated with a white pigment.

Evaluation of cost Effectiveness of using autoclave aerated concrete (ACC) blocks in building construction

In this article, an attempt has been made to compare AAC blocks as a replacement material to red bricks. Different forms of experiments have been used to equate the properties of AAC blocks to those of other blocks. AAC blocks have a lower density than standard bricks for experimental verification, but they have a higher compressive strength than traditional bricks, which tends to reduce the structure's dead load. It has been found that the expense of construction is lowered by 15% to 20% when AAC blocks are used instead of other construction materials.

Potential re-use of sewage sludge as a raw material in the production of eco-friendly bricks

Wastewater (sewage) treatment plants generate a high volume of sludge that, although it is classified as class II-A (not inert) non-hazardous waste, is commonly disposed of in sanitary landfills. Hence the environmental urge to assess its valorization possibilities. The present study describes the use of a sewage sludge as raw material in the production of red ceramic bricks by extrusion, focusing on the technological changes brought about by the presence of the sludge during the plastic forming process, in terms of the plasticity of the mixture and its subsequent extrudability. To quantitatively identify the best moisture conditions for the extrusion of high-quality products, shear strain amplitude sweep (torsional) tests were conducted on green (moist) prismatic samples produced with different moisture and sludge contents. For sewage sludge contents up to 10 wt%, the optimal moisture content was identified at 31-33 wt%. Higher water demand was identified for 15 wt% of sludge, for which optimal extrusion results required 35 wt% moisture. The total linear shrinkage after drying and firing, as well as the water absorption, were within the limits required for ceramic bricks for all the sludge contents. The results for compressive strength of the fired bricks also demonstrate that the incorporation of up to 15 wt% sewage sludge into the clay mixture is highly feasible for the production of extruded ceramic bricks.