Assessing the Strength Variability of Nontraditional Bricks Incorporating Industrial By-Products

This present study investigates the potential of utilizing industrial by-products, specifically marble dust, fly ash, and crusher dust, to develop a nonconventional fly ash brick (DFB), offering a sustainable alternative to traditional fly ash bricks. The innovative aspect of this work lies in the combined use of marble and crusher dust, an approach that has been rarely explored in the brick manufacturing industry. Despite several studies exploring individual usage of marble or crusher dust in concrete and masonry, the synergistic effect of combining both in fly ash brick production has received minimal attention. Additionally, limited literature is available that statistically validates the strength behavior of such composite bricks. Marble dust, a by-product of the stone processing industry, is used as a partial replacement for cement, while crusher dust completely replaces natural river sand. This dual substitution not only mitigates the environmental hazards associated but also significantly reduces the consumption of natural resources. Comprehensive experimental analysis was performed to evaluate the various mechanical properties of the developed bricks. From this, the optimal proportion was found as 20% of marble dust in addition to 30% crusher dust, which achieved a compressive strength of 4.3 MPa. Further, statistical modeling using Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the compressive strength data closely followed the normal distribution, as validated by goodness-of-fit tests with a high regression coefficient of 0.98. Overall, the study concludes that the combined use of marble and crusher dust in DFBs offers a promising pathway toward sustainable masonry construction.