Strength comparison of concrete: Coarse aggregate replaced by jhama brick ballast and fine aggregate replaced by surkhi

Department of Civil Engineering, Barpeta Polytechnic, Ganakkuchi, Assam, India

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Published online: 3 August 2026

Abstract

Concrete is a very common material used in construction, but the high cost and reducing availability of traditional aggregates require sustainable substitutes. This research assesses the application of Surkhi (Jhama Brick dust) as fine aggregate and Jhama Brick (JB) ballast as coarse aggregate in M20 grade concrete. Four blends were tried: (i) Cement + Sand + Stone (control), (ii) Cement + Sand + JB Ballast, (iii) Cement + Surkhi + Stone, and (iv) Cement + Surkhi + JB Ballast. The compressive strength was tested at 3, 7, and 28 days. It was observed that the greatest 28-day strength (17.77 N/mm²) occurred for sand-JB ballast mix, which was superior to the control mix (13.95 N/mm²). The mixes with Surkhi had much lower strength, with the minimum being 5.76 N/mm² for Surkhi + JB Ballast. While none of the mixes attained the desired M20 concrete strength of ≈20 N/mm², the addition of JB ballast improved strength over the usual stone aggregate, revealing its possibility as a budget-friendly and eco-friendly substitute for non-structural and temporary usage.