Adding brick powder to cement can have a number of benefits, including:

• Reduced cost: Brick powder is a waste product, so it is relatively inexpensive to obtain. This can help to reduce the cost of concrete.
• Improved strength: Brick powder can help to improve the strength of concrete. This is because brick powder contains silica, which is a strong mineral.
• Increased durability: Brick powder can help to increase the durability of concrete. This is because brick powder helps to protect the concrete from the elements.
• Reduced shrinkage: Brick powder can help to reduce the shrinkage of concrete. This is because brick powder helps to fill in the voids in the concrete.

The optimal addition percentage of brick powder depends on the type of concrete being used and the desired properties of the concrete. However, a typical addition percentage is 10-20%.

Here are some additional benefits of adding brick powder to cement:

• Improved workability: Brick powder can help to improve the workability of concrete. This means that the concrete will be easier to mix and place.
• Reduced water demand: Brick powder can help to reduce the water demand of concrete. This means that less water will be needed to mix the concrete, which can improve the strength and durability of the concrete.
• Increased fire resistance: Brick powder can help to increase the fire resistance of concrete. This is because brick powder is a non-combustible material.

Overall, adding brick powder to cement can have a number of benefits. It can help to reduce the cost, improve the strength, durability, workability, and fire resistance of concrete. The optimal addition percentage of brick powder depends on the type of concrete being used and the desired properties of the concrete. However, a typical addition percentage is 10-20%.

Hi Rachid,

my experience is little different from the first comment because these reasons:

1. cocciopesto, that is the word coined from Romans that for first started to use these recycled material more than 2000 years ago, isn’t the same worldwide

2. connected to point one, the cost can change a lot depending on the amount and depending on the type of recycled source. In fact usually for brick powder is considered the whole from bricks and roof tiles. Roof tiles are calcined at higher temperature than bricks so their cost is little higher and their properties are quite better. I’m referring at water absorption, hardness and mechanical strength. Finally to micronize bricks or roof tiles the energy costs and time are higher.

3. If you use low calcined bricks powder the water demand of the concrete will increase so you must adjust the superplasticizer amount to manage. This because bricks are mainly clay minerals partially stable, but very absorbing.

But if you use roof tiles powder I’m agree with Masud Ur Rachid you will have lower water demand and higher workability.

Also mechanical strength can be better, in my experience not for the silica content that isn’t free Quartz, but because pozzolanic reaction of the alumina-silicate still amorphous inside the fines of that recycled powder, with Ca(OH)2 from the clinker hydrolysis.

4. Workability generally follows what said for the water demand. Using bricks low calcined you can lose flow ability increasing the thixotropy, on the contrary using roof tiles powder the flow will be better because its higher hydrophobicity.

5. Fire resistance can be better or not at all. This will depend on the porosity that using bricks powder will be higher while using roof tiles powder will be very lower. In this case testing must be done to understand which will be the best solution. Roof tiles are more close to ceramic than bricks just being calcined at only 100-200°C more. But for fireproofing the key point are the amount of Portland clinker and the porosity of the concrete.

6. About dosing it is fundamental to know well the mineralogy and chemistry of the system and also particles size is key factor (to have pozzolanic effect only powders under 63 micron can work). So without these informations there isn’t a general rule. You must find your recipe.

7. last but not least check about the age of the micronized bricks you want to use. The old bricks like the ancient ones (from 40 to 1000 and more years ago) are more dense than the new ones. So their properties are better than new bricks and their porosity is much lower.

There isn’t problems to add bricks powder inside concrete recipes in general but from my experience some trials must be done to find the best balances.

Best regards

Alex Reggiani

You can benefit from this research.

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Instead of adding brick powder to Portland Cement, I would add it to Lime (Calcium Carbonate) which will bring hydraulic qualities to the lime. Try that instead. Gracias. Francisco

Dear Francisco,

brick powder, only the fine particles, can react with hydrate lime Ca(OH)2 to have pozzolanic reaction. Lime is crystalline and already stable mineral it doesn’t react with pozzolanic matters.

Portland clinker produces hydrolysis lime during its hydration process this is the reason to use with clinker.

Think about Roman cement, could be useful to understand how wide can be the range of raw materials useful for that process.

Best regards

Alex Reggiani

That is true, hope we can continue to converse. Francisco

Hi Francisco,

no problems at all.

Geopolymer technology apart where I have NDA I can talk about lime based and Portland based materials when you want.

Best regards

Alex Reggiani

Rachid Rabehi

Adding brick powder to cement in concrete can have several potential benefits, but it also depends on various factors, including the type of brick powder used, the specific application of the concrete, and local conditions. Here are some potential benefits and considerations:

However, the optimal addition percentage of brick powder to cement can vary widely and is influenced by several factors, including the following:

In general, the percentage of brick powder added to cement in concrete mixes can range from 5% to 20% or even higher in some cases.