BriCan:  weighing scale

BRICKS REINFORCED WITH

ALUMINUM CANS
Procedure
First, Aluminum cans were obtained and cut
Background of the Study
into pieces. A weighing scale was used to measure
An aluminum can, sometimes erroneously
masses of aluminum can pieces, mud and straw in
referred to as a "tin can", is a container
different proportions as shown below:
for packaging made primarily of aluminum. It is
commonly used for foods and beverages but also for
products such as oil, chemicals, and other liquids.
Aluminum is also of good strength that’s why the
researchers thought of using it as reinforcement
materials in making bricks.
A brick is a building material used to make
walls, pavements and other elements
All the measured ingredients were combined
in masonry construction. Traditionally, the term
and put into molds and left for drying for 2 days.
brick referred to a unit composed of clay, but it is
After drying, the products were removed from the
now used to denote any rectangular units laid in
mold and were tested.
mortar.
This study aims to reinforced bricks with
Product Testing
aluminum can with the goal of strengthening its
Materials
capacity while achieving the objective of
 BriCan
contributing to the lessening of environmental
 container
waste.
 stop watch/timer
 water
Making the BriCan
Materials and Equipment:
Procedure
 Aluminum can
The product testing was composed of two
 mud
parts: (a) Water Absorption Test and (b) Drop Test.
 straw
For the Water Absorption Test, the bricks
 big container were weighed before being submerged into water
 blower for 24 hours. Afterwards, the bricks’ masses were
 blender again measured to compare which brick partially
 molder dissolved and mixed with water.
 For the Drop Test, the bricks were drop
from a height of 1meter. Afterwards, the bricks
were observed and results were noted.

Data and Results

A. Physical Property of the Bricks

Table 3 shows the results of the Water

Absorption done on the bricks. It showed that Set 3
lost the most amount (14g) that may be dissolved or
Figure 1. Physical appearance of the bricks
mixed with water during the 24 hour submerging
process. As a result, the brick was broken. Set 4, on
the other hand, lost the least amount (5g) and the
brick did not break.

C. Drop Test

Table 2 shows that Set 1 (control) is slightly

smooth in texture because it has no aluminum cans
in it. Whereas among Sets 2-4, aluminum can
particles are most visible in Set 4 because it has the
most amount of aluminum cans in it. All sets 2-4
are slightly rough in texture.

B. Water Absorption Test

Figure 3 shows that all the bricks were not

broken even after being dropped from a height of 1
meter.
Conclusions Pictures of Experiment

Based on the results of the experiments 1 2 9

conducted, the researchers came up with the
following conclusions: (1) Aluminum cans can be
used to reinforce bricks; and (2) BriCans (Sets 2-4)
passed the 1 meter drop test but Set 4 (the one with
the most amount of aluminum cans) did not dissolve
that much during water submerging test and thus, is
3 4
the best proportion.

Recommendations

Recognizing the limits of this study, the

future researchers are recommended to:
(1) Determine the best proportion that will work
5 6
better than the results obtained by the researchers of
this study; and
(2) Achieve a finer aluminum can particles to be
mixed with other components to make a product
more appealing in terms of appearance.

References

Brick Industry Association. Technial Note 9A,

Specifications for and Classification of Brick.

“History of Brickmaking”. Encyclopedia Britannica

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aluminumcans

http://www. google.com.ph/sodacans