Investigating the Utility of Iron Ore Waste in Preparing Non-fired Bricks

Abstract

Iron ore waste is a major problem for mine owners due to the difficulty involved in its storage, handling and other environmental related issues. An alternative solution to this is utilisation of iron ore waste (IOW) as some value added product in construction industry. An attempt has been made in this paper in examining the possibility of making non-fired bricks from iron ore waste with some additives like cement and fly-ash. Each of the additives were mixed with IOW in different ratios and different sets of bricks were prepared. The prepared IOW bricks were cured for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days and their respective compressive strength and percentage of water absorption were determined. The results show that IOW bricks prepared with 9% and above cement and with 28 days of curing are suitable for brick making and meet the IS specifications. It was also observed that the weight of the prepared bricks with 9% cement with 28 days of curing varies between 2.35 and 2.45 kg whereas the weight of compressed fire clay bricks varies from 2.80 to 2.89 kg. Results also show that the cost of bricks prepared with cement ranging from 9 to 20% is comparable to that of commercially available compressed bricks. 2016, The Institution of Engineers (India).