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Brick June 2022
Brick June 2022
Cleaner Materials
journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/cleaner-materials
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Brick is a primary building material that is often utilized in the construction of masonry. Conventionally, brick is
Plastic brick made up of dried clay and recently many studies have focused on the use of waste materials as an alternate
Thermoplastic material to a conventional brick. In the present study thermoplastics like High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and
Physical recycling
Polypropylene (PP) are used to manufacture the plastic brick using the physical recycling method. Here, waste
HDPE and PP
Plastic brick wall
plastic from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is collected, segregated, cleaned, and
melted to manufacture a 190 × 90 × 90 mm modular sized HDPE and PP brick according to IS 1077:1992. In the
first phase of work, standard tests are performed to study the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the
plastic brick. In the next phase, a 500 × 110 × 500 mm wall is constructed and the results of the plastic brick wall
are compared with a conventional brick wall. The wall was tested using a universal testing machine (UTM) as per
IS 1905:1987. It was interesting to observe that the HDPE and PP brick gave a compressive strength of 11.19 N/
mm2 and 10.02 N/mm2 which were in good agreement with first-class conventional brick which gave a
compressive strength of 10.5 N/mm2. While it is also worth noting that HDPE brick had the highest compressive
strength. The ultimate load for the plastic brick wall was 197.50 KN with a shear failure at a 45◦ , while the
conventional brick wall experienced a vertical failure at 153.95 KN load. A fire-resistance test on a plastic brick
wall and a conventional brick wall was performed to evaluate if the specifications of Nation Building Code
(2005): Part 4: Table 1 were met. It was observed that the plastic brick wall even after 30 min of heating at 4
corners and centre, showed a better temperature difference as compared to the conventional brick wall. The
study initiates a new line of research in sustainable plastic waste management.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: prathik.kulkarni@bitwardha.ac.in (P. Kulkarni).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clema.2022.100113
Received 29 April 2022; Received in revised form 23 June 2022; Accepted 29 June 2022
Available online 2 July 2022
2772-3976/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
P. Kulkarni et al. Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
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P. Kulkarni et al. Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
Fig. 1. The manufacturing process of Plastic brick. (a) Chopped plastic, (b) Melting, (c) Designed mold, (d) Plastic brick.
Fig. 3. (a) Plastic brick wall (b) Painting on plastic brick wall.
which is above the melting point of HDPE and PP individually. Once the properties were conducted on plastic and conventional bricks, Plastic
plastic has been converted into paste form, it is poured into molds of the and conventional brick wall was constructed according to IS 1905: 1987
standard-modular brick size of dimension 190 × 90 × 90 mm in to determine the crack pattern and load-carrying capacity of the plastic
accordance with IS 1077:1992, as shown in Fig. 1(c). Then the molten brick wall (HDPE) (500 × 110 × 500 mm) with a conventional wall
plastic paste is properly compacted in the mold during filling to avoid (500 × 110 × 500 mm) as HDPE brick carries more compressive strength
any pores in the brick. After 24 h, the plastic brick is removed from the than PP brick, fire resistance test of plastic brick wall and a conventional
mold as shown in Fig. 1(d) and tested afterward. brick wall was carried out according to Table 1 in Part 4 of SP 7: Group 1
(2005): National Building Code. The soundness test and hardness test
2.3. Experimental program are as shown in Fig. 2a and 2b. The plastering was a quite challenging
job on a plastic brick wall, so grooves were made on all the surfaces of
In the present study, Physical (Soundness, Efflorescence, Hardness, the plastic brick to have a good bond between cement mortar (1:3 (IS
Impact, and Structure) and mechanical (Compression strength) 1661 (1972)) and brick as shown in Fig. 3a and b.
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P. Kulkarni et al. Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
Table 2 includes certain physical and durability properties of HDPE, PP, and
Properties of HDPE and PP brick. conventional brick.
Parameters HDPE brick PP brick Conventional brick
3.2. Compressive strength test on plastic brick and conventional brick
Weight (kg) 1.330 1.350 2.920
Dry density (kg/m3) 864.197 877.192 1897.335
Specific gravity 0.866 0.879 1.903 HDPE, PP, and conventional brick specimens were tested under the
Water absorption (%) 0.752 0.370 12 universal testing (AIMIL) machine of capacity 1000 kN. The ultimate
Efflorescence Nil Nil Slight load carried by HDPE brick is 191.35 kN at a displacement of 18.40 mm,
whereas PP brick carries 171.35 kN at a displacement of 15.30 mm. In
3. Results and discussion addition, the conventional brick carries an ultimate load of 178.95 kN at
a displacement of 13.50 mm. The Load vs Displacement graph of brick
3.1. Physical properties of plastic brick specimens is obtained through computerized UTM and illustrated in
Fig. 4(a). The failure pattern of plastic brick was observed, with bricks
Plastic brick appears to be greyish-black in color and free of cracks. forming vertical cracks in the tension zone and splitting the edges.
The edges of plastic bricks are not precisely sharp. The weights of HDPE Similarly, conventional brick is crushed completely. However, HDPE
and PP bricks were found to be 1.33 kg and 1.35 kg, respectively. The brick has better compressive strength than PP brick and is significantly
brick’s density is calculated as a ratio of dry weight to volume (Ornam greater than conventional brick (First class) it was used in the prepa
et al., 2017). ration of plastic brick walls. HDPE brick and PP brick have 11.19 N/mm2
A water absorption test had carried out on HDPE and PP plastic and 10.02 N/mm2 compressive strength respectively. Similarly con
bricks according to IS 3495 (Part 2): 2019. We observed that the water ventional brick has 10.50 N/mm2 compressive strength as shown in
absorption capacity of plastic brick is drastically lower than that of Fig. 4(b).
conventional brick. After the water absorption test, an efflorescence test
is performed on both types of plastic bricks, to find the salt contents 3.3. Compressive strength test on plastic brick and conventional brick wall
available in the HDPE and PP plastic in accordance with IS 3495 (Part
3): 2019. We investigated the surfaces of brick for two evaporation cy A plastic brick wall is tested on a computerized Universal testing
cles and discovered that there are no perceptible changes on the satu machine (UTM) with a capability of 1000 kN, and a load is applied to the
rated surface of the brick. The results are tabulated in Table 2, which wall. The results revealed that loading up to 16 kN caused no
displacement on the specimen. However, the plastic brick wall bears an
Fig. 4. (a) Load vs Displacement graph of brick specimens (b) Compressive strength of brick specimens.
Fig. 5. (a) Load vs Displacement graph of brick wall specimens and (b) Cracking pattern on the plastic brick wall.
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P. Kulkarni et al. Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
Table 3 masonry is affected by the strength of the brick and mortar used in the
Properties of the brick wall. brickwork (Venkatesh, 2010). Furthermore, the compressive strength of
Parameters Plastic brick Conventional brick masonry (8.5 MPa) is less than the masonry unit strength (10.5
wall brick wall MPa) (Ludovikus Sugeng Wijanto, 2007). The same graph pattern was
Dimensions: b × t × h (mm) 500 × 110 × 500 × 110 × 500 even observed in our study, individual bricks carry higher strength than
500 mm mm the brick masonry.
Weight (kg/m) 47.530 104.353
Density (kg/m3) 1728.363 3794.654
Compressive strength (N/mm2) 3.59 2.79
3.4. Fire resistance test on plastic brick and conventional brick wall
Corrected Compressive strength: after 3.48 2.70
applying a correction factor of 0.97 (N/
mm2) The plastic itself is combustible at high temperatures. In the event of
Masonry efficiency (%) 28.95 25.71 a fire, the cement sand mortar with burnt clay bricks may be able to
resist the temperature that the plastic brick could not. So, in order to
determine the fire resistance of plastic brick and conventional brick
ultimate load of 197.5 kN at a displacement of 27.50 mm on the wall, as
walls, we applied continuous heat to the plastered walls’ faces according
shown in Fig. 5(a). However, according to IS 1905:1987, the correction
to Nation Building Code (2005): Part 4: Table 1.
factor for the height to thickness (h/t) ratio is multiplied by the exper
The face of the walls has been continuously heated by a torch of gas
imental compressive strength value obtained. The height to thickness
wielding at a temperature of around 1000–1200 ◦ C and the temperature
(h/t) ratio is 4.54, and the correction factor for the brickwork specimen
on both sides of the wall was measured using a digital thermometer (TP-
according to interpolation is 0.97 and the corrected or normalized
101). The test result reveals that after 30 min, the structural integrity of
compressive strength of the wall is then calculated. The normalized
plastic brick increased burning as illustrated in Fig. 6(a). The exact rear
masonry efficiency is also calculated as the ratio of normalized or cor
unexposed area of the plastic brick wall was at a normal temperature of
rected compressive strength to brick strength (Gumaste et al., 2007).
about 32 ◦ C, which the bare hand could touch, while the edge of this
The plastic brick wall fails due to the crushing of bricks and spalling of
brick wall has a temperature of 78 ◦ C. Cracks form on the face of heat-
mortar cover and de-bonding between the bricks. Shear failure was
affected surfaces as shown in Fig. 6(b).
observed in the wall at 45◦ angle as shown in Fig. 5(b).
The conventional brick wall is tested in the same way as the plastic
The conventional brick wall took a deflection from 21.80 kN, and the
brick wall, with a constant rate of temperature and time as shown in
first crack was observed at 98.25 kN loading. The maximum load carried
Fig. 7(a). After 30 min of constant heating, the structural integrity of the
by the wall is 153.95 kN, as shown in Fig. 5(a). The compressive strength
conventional brick is nearly identical, with a tiny cracks pattern and
of a conventional brick wall was calculated, and the correction factor of
some roughness in the texture of that exposed surface as shown in Fig. 7
0.97 was multiplied by the experimental compressive strength according
(b). In this case, heat transfers well to the rear side of the wall having a
to IS 1905:1987. Hence the experimental compressive strength data for
temperature of 113 ◦ C after 30 min. The temperature at the edges of
the plastic brick wall and the conventional brick wall is given in Table. 3.
conventional brick was 173 ◦ C. As a result, we observed that using a
The wall was deflected by an amount of 18.70 mm with vertical cracks
digital thermometer (TP-101), in the case of a plastic brick wall, bricks
along with their height.
burned while heat did not transmit very well through the wall. However,
Previous research has shown that the compressive strength of brick
in a conventional brick wall, heat is transferred more evenly throughout
Fig. 6. Heat on Plastic brick wall. (a) Burning of brick and (b) Crack on the face of a wall.
Fig. 7. Heat on Red clay brick wall. (a) Applied heat and (b) Crack and Roughness on the face of a wall.
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P. Kulkarni et al. Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
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