Physical property and compressive strength of fired clay bricks incorporated with paper waste

This research is intended to evaluate the effects of paper waste addition on the physical properties and strength of fired clay bricks. Paper waste was mixed with clay in the ratios of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10 wt%. Green bricks were fired with different variations of temperature from 900-1100 degrees C for 1 h in air. Fired bricks were then analyzed for physical and mechanical properties. Porosity was increased with higher paper waste content. An increase in porosity relatedly created lower density and higher shrinkage values. Additionally, porous content in fired clay bricks correlated to the deterioration of the compressive strength, due to the weakness area of defect. However, the highly porous brick presented low thermal conductivity. Therefore, the porous brick from paper residue inclusion presented excellent insulating behavior, while adequate compressive strength could be still be maintained.