Unfired Clay Bricks with Additives and Mechanical Simulation of Perforated Bricks

Construction industry is and has always been a flourishing industry in the whole world. Today, with the global development especially in technology, real estate construction is growing more than ever and is continuously using new techniques and methods. However, cost remains a big challenge specially to developing and under developed countries where people in urban as in rural areas can't afford expensive materials and construction methods to build their own houses with. As a result, companies in the construction industry are highly competing, and several researches are being held in this field in order to find the best and most cost and energy efficient building materials and techniques. In the first part of this paper, unfired clay bricks samples were prepared using three type of additives: Palm fronds, date pits and limestone, with different percentages. The mechanical properties, illustrated in compressive and flexural strength, were reviewed, to then suggest recommendations as the outcome of the study. It was found that date pits are the most preferable additive to strengthen unfired clay bricks. In the second part, a mechanical simulation for perforated bricks was done in SolidWorks software to analyze the effect of the number of holes and their distribution on the mechanical properties of the brick.