Comparative Study of Earthen Bricks and Mechanically Compressed Fly Ash Bricks

Abstract

In Pakistan, coal share in power generation has risen to 25% but lack of disposal arrangements of it’s waste byproduct remains a serious concern. Fly Ash is a waste byproduct when coal is burnt which, if not disposed of correctly, is a serious environmental hazard. With the use of fly ash as a construction material, the natural environment angle has been sufficiently dealt with. Although fly ash bricks display better material and mechanical properties than conventional clay bricks, yet there remains room for improvement. The purpose of this research is to assess the feasibility of fly ash bricks vis-a-vis conventional kiln bricks. Additionally, it also focuses on proposing a fly ash brick variant as an improved version of the commercially available fly ash bricks in Pakistan across the domains of cost, mechanical and material properties.