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Assessment of Artisan Clay Bricks for Structural Strength, Chemical Stability and Durability

Received: 28 November 2020     Accepted: 17 December 2020     Published: 31 December 2020
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Abstract

The artisan clay bricks in Uganda are characterised with low strength, erosion, tiny cracks, lime pop out, warping, efflorescence occurrence and high-water absorption. The raw clay and artisan burnt clay brick samples were collected from artisan brick making places (sites) from Eastern, Central and Northern Uganda. The sampling was done using IS-5454 procedures. Testing was carried out for; water absorption, mineral percentage investigation in natural and purified clay in terms of SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3 & CaO, compressive strength of the artisan clay unit, improved chemical composition artisan clay units from purified clay and improved molded bricks from raw clay. Results indicated mineral requirements for manufacturing bricks was not satisfactory, for artisan bricks, they had very low characteristic strengths of 0.63N/mm2 for Lira and 0.38N/mm2 for Mukono. Refining and change on molding process was done and the raw clay structure shifted to the positive side of the required mineralogy. Fired bricks on testing gave higher characteristic strengths of 2.2 (improved chemical composition bricks) and 3.3 (improved molded bricks) for Lira, 5.12 (improved chemical composition bricks) and 2.62N/mm2 (improved molded bricks) for Mukono, slight efflorescence and low water absorption. Studies therefore recommend that the artisan do include both refining processing and constant force kneaded clay pressing in the manufacturing process.

Published in Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15
Page(s) 178-190
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Brick for Structural Strength, Chemical Stability, Durability

References
[1] Abbas, S., Saleem, M. A., Kazmi, S. M. and Munir, M. J., 2017. Production of sustainable clay bricks using waste fly ash: mechanical and durability properties. Journal of Building Engineering, 14, pp. 7-14.
[2] Adnan, M., Sazzad, H. M. and Fakhrul, I. M., 2011. Potential of locally available clay as raw material for traditional-ceramic. Journal of Chemical Engineering, The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, 26 (1), pp. 34-37.
[3] Ara, H., Zaman, T. and Kurny, A. S. W., Separation of Silica from Local Clay.
[4] Bain, J. A., 1971. A plasticity chart as an aid to the identification and assessment of industrial clays. Clay Minerals, 9 (1), pp. 1-17.
[5] Brick Industry Association, 2006. Technical notes on brick construction. Manufacturing of brick. The Brick Industry Association, Reston, VA.
[6] Chidiac, S. E. and Federico, L. M., 2007. Effects of waste glass additions on the properties and durability of fired clay brick. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 34 (11), pp. 1458-1466.
[7] Dalkılıç, N. and Nabikoğlu, A., 2017. Traditional manufacturing of clay brick used in the historical buildings of Diyarbakir (Turkey). Frontiers of Architectural Research, 6(3), pp. 346-359.
[8] Dang, L. C., Khabbaz, H. and Fatahi, B., 2017, January. An experimental study on engineering behavior of lime and bagasse fibre reinforced expansive soils. In ICSMGE 2017-19th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.
[9] Dhir, R. K. and Jackson, N. eds., 1996. Civil engineering materials. Macmillan.
[10] Federico, L. M., Chidiac, S. E., & Drysdale, R. G. (2005, June). The use of waste material in the manufacturing of clay brick. In Proceedings of the 10th Canadian Masonry Symposium, Banff, Alta (pp. 8-12).
[11] Hashemi, A., Cruickshank, H. and Cheshmehzangi, A., 2015. Environmental impacts and embodied energy of construction methods and materials in low-income tropical housing. Sustainability, 7 (6), pp. 7866-7883.
[12] https://civilconstructionresourcez.wordpress.com/
[13] https://civilseek.com/manufacturing-of-bricks/
[14] Johari, I., Said, S., Hisham, B., Bakar, A. and Ahmad, Z. A., 2010. Effect of the change of firing temperature on microstructure and physical properties of clay bricks from Beruas (Malaysia). Science of Sintering, 42 (2), pp. 245-254.
[15] Karaman, S., Ersahin, S. and Gunal, H., 2006. Firing temperature and firing time influence on mechanical and physical properties of clay bricks.
[16] Khanna, P. N., 2008. Civil Engineering Handbook. New Delhi, Engineers’ publisher, pp. 2-37.
[17] Musharraf, A., Hossain, M. S. and Islam, M. F., 2011. Potential of locally available clay as raw material for traditional-ceramic manufacturing industries. Journal of Chemical Engineering, 26, pp. 34-37.
[18] Nyakairu, G. W. and Koeberl, C., 2001. Mineralogical and chemical composition and distribution of rare earth elements in clay-rich sediments from central Uganda. Geochemical Journal, 35 (1), pp. 13-28.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Nabbala Moses Mumpembe, Muhwezi Lawrence, Kyakula Michael. (2020). Assessment of Artisan Clay Bricks for Structural Strength, Chemical Stability and Durability. Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, 5(6), 178-190. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15

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    ACS Style

    Nabbala Moses Mumpembe; Muhwezi Lawrence; Kyakula Michael. Assessment of Artisan Clay Bricks for Structural Strength, Chemical Stability and Durability. J. Civ. Constr. Environ. Eng. 2020, 5(6), 178-190. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15

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    AMA Style

    Nabbala Moses Mumpembe, Muhwezi Lawrence, Kyakula Michael. Assessment of Artisan Clay Bricks for Structural Strength, Chemical Stability and Durability. J Civ Constr Environ Eng. 2020;5(6):178-190. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15,
      author = {Nabbala Moses Mumpembe and Muhwezi Lawrence and Kyakula Michael},
      title = {Assessment of Artisan Clay Bricks for Structural Strength, Chemical Stability and Durability},
      journal = {Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering},
      volume = {5},
      number = {6},
      pages = {178-190},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jccee.20200506.15},
      abstract = {The artisan clay bricks in Uganda are characterised with low strength, erosion, tiny cracks, lime pop out, warping, efflorescence occurrence and high-water absorption. The raw clay and artisan burnt clay brick samples were collected from artisan brick making places (sites) from Eastern, Central and Northern Uganda. The sampling was done using IS-5454 procedures. Testing was carried out for; water absorption, mineral percentage investigation in natural and purified clay in terms of SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3 & CaO, compressive strength of the artisan clay unit, improved chemical composition artisan clay units from purified clay and improved molded bricks from raw clay. Results indicated mineral requirements for manufacturing bricks was not satisfactory, for artisan bricks, they had very low characteristic strengths of 0.63N/mm2 for Lira and 0.38N/mm2 for Mukono. Refining and change on molding process was done and the raw clay structure shifted to the positive side of the required mineralogy. Fired bricks on testing gave higher characteristic strengths of 2.2 (improved chemical composition bricks) and 3.3 (improved molded bricks) for Lira, 5.12 (improved chemical composition bricks) and 2.62N/mm2 (improved molded bricks) for Mukono, slight efflorescence and low water absorption. Studies therefore recommend that the artisan do include both refining processing and constant force kneaded clay pressing in the manufacturing process.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Assessment of Artisan Clay Bricks for Structural Strength, Chemical Stability and Durability
    AU  - Nabbala Moses Mumpembe
    AU  - Muhwezi Lawrence
    AU  - Kyakula Michael
    Y1  - 2020/12/31
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15
    T2  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    JF  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    JO  - Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
    SP  - 178
    EP  - 190
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2637-3890
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20200506.15
    AB  - The artisan clay bricks in Uganda are characterised with low strength, erosion, tiny cracks, lime pop out, warping, efflorescence occurrence and high-water absorption. The raw clay and artisan burnt clay brick samples were collected from artisan brick making places (sites) from Eastern, Central and Northern Uganda. The sampling was done using IS-5454 procedures. Testing was carried out for; water absorption, mineral percentage investigation in natural and purified clay in terms of SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3 & CaO, compressive strength of the artisan clay unit, improved chemical composition artisan clay units from purified clay and improved molded bricks from raw clay. Results indicated mineral requirements for manufacturing bricks was not satisfactory, for artisan bricks, they had very low characteristic strengths of 0.63N/mm2 for Lira and 0.38N/mm2 for Mukono. Refining and change on molding process was done and the raw clay structure shifted to the positive side of the required mineralogy. Fired bricks on testing gave higher characteristic strengths of 2.2 (improved chemical composition bricks) and 3.3 (improved molded bricks) for Lira, 5.12 (improved chemical composition bricks) and 2.62N/mm2 (improved molded bricks) for Mukono, slight efflorescence and low water absorption. Studies therefore recommend that the artisan do include both refining processing and constant force kneaded clay pressing in the manufacturing process.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Civil and Building Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda

  • Civil and Building Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda

  • Civil and Building Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda

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