Evaluation of engineering properties and durability of unfired-bottom ash bricks using modern techniques

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to produce the unfired bricks incorporating high bottom ash content and evaluate their quality through modern techniques. Four brick mixtures were designed with a constant water-to-cement ratio of 0.40 and using bottom ash as one aggregate to replace stone powder at different replacement levels of 50, 70, 85, and 100%. Besides the basic engineering properties, the relative quality, chemical attack resistance, and heat isolation of bottom ash bricks were tested through using modern testing equipment. The microstructure of bricks was also assessed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Test results indicated that although the properties of bricks decreased with increasing bottom ash content, all bottom ash bricks in this study showed a good quality compared to the specification of TCVN 6477-2016.