Semambya and Kyakula

Recycling of Burnt Clay Rubble as Structural Concrete

Ibrahim Semambya1 and Michael Kyakula2
1
Design Assistant, MBW Consulting Engineers Ltd, Kanjokya Street, Kampala, Uganda
Corresponding author email: mkyakula@gmail.com
2
Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Kyambogo University, P. O.
Box 1 Kyambogo, Uganda

ABSTRACT
A base line survey of manufacturers of clay products revealed that up to 20% of the total
burnt clay products may turn out as waste. A small percentage of this waste is used in stabiliz-
ing raw clay of relatively low plasticity, swamp reclamation and pothole filling. An investiga-
tion was therefore conducted to establish and compare the water absorption and compressive
strength of concrete cubes from crushed burnt clay rubble with that from the normal weight
coarse aggregates from igneous rock. For target design strength of 20Mpa, characteristic cube
compressive strength for burnt clay rubble and igneous rock aggregate was found to be
21.60Mpa and 23.40Mpa respectively. It can therefore be concluded that aggregates made
from burnt clay rubble can be used to make structural concrete with the benefit of a slight re-
duction in weight and better environment preservation. Also from the beautiful appearance of
the crushed cubes it was concluded that burnt clay rubble can be used to make decorative
blocks for load and non-load bearing walls respectively.

Keywords: Burnt clay rubble, recycling, structural concrete

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Concrete is a synthetic building material, made by mixing cement (or any other binder), fine
aggregates (usually sand) Coarse aggregates (usually gravel or crushed stone) and water in
properly predetermined proportions. Concrete has been classified into four distinct type
namely heavy weight concrete, normal weight, light weight and ultra light weight concrete.
Since aggregates occupy up to three quarters of the total volume of concrete, its quality is of
considerable importance for good. Aggregates cab be classified by size, for example coarse
and fine aggregates, by origin for example metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous rock ag-
gregates, by weight for example dense and light weight types, The dense class includes all the
aggregates normally used in plain and reinforced concrete, such as sand, gravel, crushed rock
and slag, while the light weight class includes both natural light weight aggregates such as
pumice, scoria, volcanic cinders, tuff, and diatomite, and artificial light weight aggregate such
as expanded clay, shale, slate. The aggregate materials available for making light weight con-
crete in Uganda are Scoria from Kisoro and burnt clay rubble.

For structural lightweight concrete (air-dried unit weight of 1,440 to 1,850 kg/m3), any light-
weight aggregate is suitable that has a crushing strength sufficient to have reasonable resis-
tance to fragmentation, while enabling concrete strength in excess of 20N/mm2 to be devel-
oped and to produce a finished concrete in the dry density range of 1500 – 2000 kg/m3. This
means that where the concrete uses fine aggregates from natural sources (sand), the particle
density of the coarse aggregate should vary between 650 kg/m3 and 1850 kg/m3, Clarke
(1993). On the other hand, normal-weight concretes have a typical dry unit weight of 2,300 to
2,400 kg/m3. The advantages of using lightweight aggregates include the reduction of product
weight. Reduction in weight means less need for structural steel reinforcement, smaller foun-
dation requirements all of which lead to improved economy of structural components be-
cause there will be less dead load for the structure to support. In addition, lightweight con-
crete is thermally efficient, has good fire-resistance properties, especially when artificial
aggregates like burnt clay rubble is used. This is because these aggregates have already been
pre-fired and is stable; therefore they do not easily decompose when subjected to high tem-
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peratures. Lightweight concrete absorbs energy well in that sense it serve as an insulation ma-
terial. Its major disadvantages include; high drying shrinkage, low resistance to abrasive
forces, mixing, handling and placing require considerably more care and attention than ordi-
nary concrete.

Figure 1: Heaps of burnt clay rubble

Research has shown that lightweight concrete is such a multipurpose building material. This
investigation therefore was intended to look into the possibility of using natural lightweight
aggregates in form of broken burnt clay rubbles, and comparing the results with concrete
made with normal weight aggregates. Information from one of the leading producers and sup-
pliers of burnt clay products indicate that these factories produce up to 20% waste in form of
damaged bunt clay products, for which a small percentage is used in stabilizing raw clay of
relatively low quality. Other uses included in filling potholes and swamp reclamation, recy-
cling of construction and industrial waste material is very important for both environmental
protection and economical production. These broken burnt clay products could possibly be
put to a more economic use by making light weight concrete out of them since they seem
lighter. An investigation was therefore conducted to establish and compare the water absorp-
tion and compressive strength of concrete cubes from crushed burnt clay rubble with that
from the normal weight coarse aggregates from igneous rock.

2.0 PRODUCTION OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE

There are three methods of producing lightweight concrete. First, porous lightweight aggre-
gate of low apparent specific gravity is used instead of ordinary aggregates whose specific
gravity is approximately 2.6.The resultant concrete is generally known by the name of the
light weight aggregate used. The second method relies on introduction of large voids into the
concrete mass. This type of concrete is variously known as aerated, cellular, foamed, or gas
concrete. The third method is by simply omitting the fine aggregates from the mix so that a
large number of interstitial voids are present. A coarse aggregate of ordinary weight is gener-
ally used. This concrete is described as no-fines concrete. The decrease in density is obtained
in each case by the presence of voids, either in the aggregates, or in the mortar, or in the inter-
stices between the coarse particles (Neville and Brooks, 1987).

3.0 RELEVANT PROPERTIES OF AGGREGATES

The following properties of aggregates are relevant to the light weight concrete produced in
this research.

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3.1 Soundness of aggregates

Neville and Brooks (1987) defined soundness as the ability of aggregate to resist excessive
changes in volume as a result of changes in physical conditions. Such physical changes in-
clude; alternate wetting and drying, Thermal changes at temperatures above freezing, and
freezing and thawing. When the volume changes induced by the above factors result in dete-
rioration of concrete; such aggregate is said to be unsound.

3.2 Shape and surface texture classification

The particle shape and surface texture are of importance with regard to properties of both
fresh and hardened concrete. Workability increases as aggregate particles become smoother
and when the mix proportions and water/cement ratio is changed (Shetty, 2002).

3.3 Porosity and absorption

The porosity, permeability and absorption power of an aggregate influence such properties as
bond between it and the cement paste, the resistance of concrete to freezing and thawing, as
well as its chemical stability and resistance to abrasion (Neville and Brooks, 1987). Water ab-
sorption (WA) can be defined as the amount of water absorbed by a material when immersed
in water for a stipulated period of time usually 24 hours, or the ratio of the weight of water
absorbed by a material, to the weight of the dry materials.

3.4 Specific gravity/relative density

Specific gravity (SG) in its broadest sense is defined as the ratio of density of a substance
compared to the density of fresh water at 4°C (39° F). The apparent specific gravity is the ra-
tio of weight of 24 hour oven dry aggregates at a temperature of 100 to 110°C, to that of wa-
ter occupying a volume equal to the same solid including impermeable pores.

3.5 Mechanical properties

Most of the mechanical properties of aggregates for example strength, abrasion, impact resis-
tance and toughness are of crucial interest especially when the aggregate is to be used for
such works as road/railway construction. It is proposed that concrete from burnt clay rubble
be used to build lightly loaded structures.

3.6 Chemical properties

Aggregate must be chemically stable in presence of cement and must resist the action of
weather particularly frost. Aggregates containing salts are not suitable for reinforced concrete
because salts will corrode the steel, rendering the whole structure weak. Also salts may ab-
sorb moisture from air and cause efflorescence. Other chemicals also tend to reduce con-
crete’s durability (Neville and Brooks, 1987). Burnt clay rubble aggregates are chemically
stable.

4.0 METHODOLOGY
This research was carried out on two different types of aggregates, one of which were light
weight hand crushed Burnt clay rubble aggregates (BCA) from Uganda clays Kajjansi, while
the other was crushed normal weight aggregates from Muyenga igneous rocks . Burnt clay
rubbles collected for this study included both broken max-spans and broken roofing tiles, with
the latter constituting up 75% by volume. Rubble was crushed by hand in the laboratory to a
maximum size of 19mm. Material finer than 5mm was discarded because the study opted to
limit its investigations to only replacing normal weight coarse aggregates used in most normal
weight structural concrete works, with light weight coarse aggregates. Normal weight coarse
aggregates used were from Muyenga igneous rock quarry, and were of nominal sizes 10 mm
and 20 mm. Lake Sand was used as fine aggregates. Stand pipe flowing water supplied by
National Water and Sewerage Corporation was used throughout the study.

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4.1 Laboratory tests

The two types of coarse aggregates used in this study were subjected to particle size distribu-
tion (grading), water absorption and flakiness index, burnt clay aggregates were further sub-
jected to specific gravity laboratory tests. Fine aggregate; were subjected to silt/clay/dust con-
tent, particle size distribution (grading) laboratory tests.

4.2 Particle size distribution (grading)

This was determined in accordance with BS 812.1:1985, The method involved passing the
aggregate sample through standard sieves arranged in a descending order of their apertures,
with the largest on top as the first aggregate receiver. The weight retained on each sieve were
then determined and recorded .From these weights, cumulative percentages of material pass-
ing each were calculated and used to plot a grading curve.

4.3 Water absorption

This is represented by the weight of water that can be absorbed, expressed as a percentage of
the dry weight of the sample. Sample of nominal size 6mm-19mm was thoroughly washed to
remove finer particles and drained The samples were then placed in an oven at a temperature
of 100 ± 5ºc for 24 hour. Oven dry samples were allowed to cool to room temperature, and
then weighed to get A. About 1200 g of oven dry weight from each of these was then fully
immersed in a metallic container with clean water at a room temperature for a period of 24
hours. The samples were then removed, wiped with a clean dry cloth to remove surface water,
and weighed to get B. The water absorption (WA) is given by;

B A
WA x100
A

Tests to determine the specific gravity were carried out at the ministry of works central mate-
rials laboratory using a pycnometer or specific gravity bottle.

4.4 Concrete mix design

For normal weight concrete “Design of Normal Concrete Mixes”, published by the British
Department of the Environment (DOE) was followed. Light weight design procedure was
based on the equations for mix design of structural lightweight concrete in ACI 211.2-98. The
parameters to be considered before using or applying a given equation include whether the
concrete is to be air entrained or non -air entrained. The concrete used in this study was non
air entrained, and the appropriate equations where were selected and used following the steps
below;
The nominal maximum aggregate size (mm) to be used; 19mm were used
The slump range (mm)
The compressive strength to be attained was 20N/mm 2
The oven dry lose weight of coarse aggregates (Kg/m³)
Water absorption (%)

Nine Concrete cubes were made from burnt clay rubble aggregates and from normal weight
aggregates, 3 from each set were crushed at 7, 14 and 28 days.

5.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results obtained were tabulated as shown below. From Table 1, The water absorption for
the aggregates made from burnt clay rubble is found to be very high compared to the accept-
able value of 2% for normal weight aggregates. From Table 2 the flakiness index for both ag-
gregates was found to be less that 40%; the maximum acceptable value. From Table 3, the
specific gravity for the burnt clay rubble aggregates is reasonably high. From Table 4, the
compressive strength of both aggregates was found to be acceptable.
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Table 1: Aggregate water absorption results comparison

Aggregate Type Burnt Clay Igneous Rock

Water absorption(Average percentage) 13.1% 0.856%
Comment High Low

Table 2: Aggregate flakiness index results comparison

Aggregate Type Burnt Clay Igneous Rock

Flakiness Index (percentage) 15.77% 14.73%
Comment < 40% (Acceptable) < 40% (Acceptable)

Table 3: Specific gravity

Aggregate Type Specific gravity

Burnt clay aggregates 2.41
Normal weight fine aggregates (Clarke, 1993) 2.4-2.6
Normal weight coarse aggregates (Clarke, 1993) 2.6-3.0

Table 4: Compressive strength of aggregates

7 days 14 days 28 days

Burnt Clay Aggregates 14 18.5 21.6
Igneous Rock Aggregates 15.2 19.7 23.4

6.0 CONCLUSIONS
The compressive strength of burnt clay rubble is high at 21.60 N/mm 2 while that made from
igneous rocks from Muyenga was 23.40 N/mm 2 for a design concrete strength
of 20N/mm 2 . The water absorption for the aggregates made from burnt clay rubble is found
to be high at 13.1% compared to the acceptable value of 2% for normal weight aggregates.
This implies that these aggregates have to be soaked for 24 hours before casting concrete to
permit full hydration to take place. And the concrete from burnt clay rubble aggregates should
not be used under water.

7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that Burnt clay rubbles be economically put to use by making structural
concrete out of them ,moreover it is lighter than normal weight aggregate concrete hence a
dead load reduction of suspended slabs. More research should be conducted to establish the
suitability of using both burnt clay in the manufacture of decorative bricks or blocks.

8.0 REFERENCES
American Concrete Institute [ACI] (1998), Equation for Mix Design of Light weight Con-
crete, ACI 211.2-98
Clarke, J. (1993), Structural Lightweight Aggregate Concrete, Third edition, Blackie Aca-
demic and Professional, Glasgow.
Neville .A. M. & Brooks. K. M. (1987), Concrete Technology, Concrete association, London.
Shetty M.S, (2002), Concrete Theory and Practice, New Delhi.

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