The engineering properties of fired brickincorporating textile waste ash and basaltic pumice [Tekstil fabrikasi atik külü ve bazaltik pomza katkili tuglalarin mühendislik özellikleri]

Main objective of this study is to use side product of waste ash of textile factory, which also causes environmental pollution, in the production of high strength clay bricks. Beside waste ash, basaltic pumice, which includes high amount of silica and are readily available in our country, used as an additive material in the production of high-strength clay bricks. Turkey has very rich basaltic pumice reserve in various regions and most of them have not been used efficiently. One of the reasons of this is that domestic consumption areas of the basaltic pumice and the amount of usage in these areas have been very low. With this study, consumption of the basaltic pumice in Turkey will be increased by its use inthe production of construction materials. So, waste ash and basaltic pumice will have economical value due to their use in construction materials. Basaltic pumice and clay are also readily available in the same region. Chemical and mechanical characteristics of the obtained materials were determined, Clay bricks with/without waste ash and basaltic pumice were produced. Moreover, behavior of clay bricks in different environments were also determined experimentally. Each sample was fired at 700, 900 and 1050°C for 8 h. The bulk density, harmful magnesia and lime, shrinkage, water absorption, compressive and flexural strength, ultrasonic sound velocity and Scanning Electron Microscopy tests were carried out. The test results were compared with the standard values and they were found to be satisfactory. Finally, it was concluded that both waste ash and basaltic pumice were suitable additions and could be used efficiently in fired brick production at 900°C