USAGE OF PAPERCRETE BRICK AS BUILDING ITEM TO RESTRICT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPURITIES

Utilization of concrete in the construction industry is increasing day by day. Several research studies are in progress to find an alternate solution to the problem of meeting the increasing demands for concrete in the future in a sustainable manner at a reduced or no additional cost and at the same time reducing the environmental impact due to increase of cement industries that are vital to economic development. As natural sources of aggregates are becoming exhausted, it turns out urgent to find out alternate for the partial replacement of concrete and cement. In this present study abandoned paper waste was used as a partial replacement material in concrete, as large quantity of paper waste generated from different countries all over the world causes certain serious environmental problems. Study indicates that 80% of the construction cost of a building was contributed by building material and still millions of people in developing countries like India are not able to afford the cost of construction of house. This study is based on the potential use of paper waste for producing a low-cost and lightweight composite brick as a building material. Experimental investigation was carried out to analyze optimization of mix for papercrete bricks depending upon the compressive strength, unit weight, and water absorption. Papercrete bricks were prepared out of waste paper, and quarry dust with partial replacement of cement by another industrial by-product Fly Ash in varying proportions of 25%, 40% and 55%. The properties like mechanical strength, standard quality comparisons with the conventional bricks through standard tests like hardness, soundness, fire resistance and Cost-Benefit Analysis were performed and studied. The specimens of dimension 230mm x 110mm x 80mm were subjected to 7 Days and 28 days air curing and sun drying before tests were performed on them. Based on the study it was found that Papercrete bricks are best suited for non-load bearing walls.