The study focused on the physical and mechanical properties of laterite bricks with nylon fiber.

1. UTILIZATION OF RECYCLED FISH NET WASTE NYLON FIBRES
ON LATERITE BRICK MIXES

2. Objective Research
The main objective of this research is to study the
effect of nylon fibre on cement and sand brick
physical and mechanical properties. By referring
to the main objective, other objectives are as
follows;
a. To investigate properties of nylon fishnet
such dimension, weight and density.
b. To determine the compressive strength.
c. To determine water absorption.
d. To study the effects of various fibre
contents on the properties of bricks.

3. Methodology
METHOD OF PRESSING BRICK
FIRST STEP:
Recycled Laterite Soil Pile in the Brick Factory.

4. SECOND STEP:
Part of the Batch Factory Plant.
THIRD STEP:
Part of the Factory Plant.

5. FOURTH STEP:
Weighing Scale at the Brick Factory.
FIFTH STEP:
Nylon Fibre Mixed with Portland cement.

6. SIXTH STEP:
Workers Were Carrying Out The Pressure Adjustment at the
Pressing Machine.
SEVENTH STEP:
Mixture of All Constituent Materials to be Manually Mixed.

7. EIGHT STEP:
Mixing of Constituent Materials.
NINTH STEP:
Constituent Materials to be transferred to the Pressing
Machine.

8. TENTH STEP:
Mixed at the Pressing Machine.
ELEVENTH STEP:
Control Panel of Pressing Machine.

9. TWELVE STEP:
Pressed Brick Pushed Out to be transferred to Conveyor Belt.
THIRTEEN STEP:
Pallets of Brick Samples Which Have Been Labelled.

10. Bricks Description
Sample Fibre (%) Quantity Description
Type (Unit)
1 0 25 No added nylon fiber into laterite bricks
mixed.
2 1 25 Added one percent nylon fibre into laterite
bricks mixed.
3 2 25 Added two percent nylon fibre into laterite
bricks mixed.
4 3 25 Added three percent nylon fibre into laterite
bricks mixed.
5 4 25 Added four percent nylon fibre into laterite
bricks mixed.
6 5 25 Added five percent nylon fibre into laterite
bricks mixed.
Table 1.0: Description of Bricks.

11. Analysis and Result
SUMMARY DENSITY OF BRICK FOR COMPRESSIVE
STRENGTH NYLON FIBRE LATERITE BRICK (TESTED IN
WET CONDITION)
Based on the observation Table 1.1 and Figure 1.0, the higher the nylon
fibre content is added to a mixture of laterite bricks will make
decreases the density of laterite bricks. This is because the graph
shown in Figure 1.0 declining from 2121.70 kg/m3 to 1920.08 kg/m3.
The decrease of the density was due to the replacement of heavy
constituent material in the bricks, which were cement and laterite soil
by nylon fibre, which consequently reduced the weight and also the
density of the brick. More nylon fibre, resulted in lower density of
bricks.

12. Fibre Content (%) in Laterite Bricks Average Density (kg/m3)
Sample
0 2046.42
1 2121.70
2 2106.83
3 2063.74
4 2039.36
5 1920.08
Table 1.1: The Average Density and Standard Deviation for
the Whole of Laterite Bricks with Nylon Fibre (Tested in Wet
Condition).

13. Figure 1.0: Graph Shows the Amount of Nylon Fibre in the
Laterite Bricks Against Average Density of Each Type of
Laterite Bricks.

14. SUMMARY DENSITY OF BRICK FOR COMPRESSIVE
STRENGTH AND WATER ABSORPTION NYLON FIBRE
LATERITE BRICK (TESTED IN DRY CONDITION)
Based on the observation Table 1.2 and Figure 1.1, the higher the nylon
fibre content is added to a mixture of laterite bricks will make
decreases the density of laterite bricks. This is because the graph
shown in Figure 1.1 declining from 2088.67 kg/m3 to 1867.00 kg/m3.
Fibre Content (%) in Laterite Average Density (kg/m3)
Bricks Sample
0 2055.31
1 2088.67
2 2012.76
3 2013.25
4 1955.27
5 1867.00
Table 1.2: The Average Density and Standard Deviation for
the Whole of Laterite Bricks with Nylon Fibre (Tested in Dry
Condition).

15. Figure 1.1: Graph Shows the Amount of Nylon Fibre in the
Laterite Bricks Against Average Density of Each Type of
Laterite Bricks.

16. Based on the observation Figure 1.2, both wet and dry bricks shows
that the higher the nylon fibre content is added to a mixture of
laterite bricks will make decreases the density of laterite bricks. The
brick type sample B (1 % of nylon fiber) for dry bricks condition and
sample B (1 % of nylon fibre) for wet bricks condition gave the
highest density among other type of bricks.
Other than that, the decrease of the density was due to the
replacement of heavy constituent material in the bricks, which were
cement and laterite soil by nylon fibre, which consequently reduced
the weight and also the density of the brick. More nylon fibre
resulted in lower density of bricks.

17. Figure 1.2: Graph Shows the Amount of Nylon Fibre in the
Laterite Bricks Against Average Density of Each Type of Laterite
Bricks (Tested in Wet Condition and Dry Condition).

18. SUMMARY OF COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH NYLON
FIBRE LATERITE BRICK (TESTED IN WET CONDITION)
Based on the observation Table 1.3 and Figure 1.3, the higher the nylon
fibre content is added to a mixture of laterite bricks will make
decreases the strength of laterite bricks. This is because the graph
shown in Figure 1.3 declining from 3.738 kN/m 2 to 3.064 kN/m 2.
Fibre Content (%) in Laterite Average Strength (kN/m2)
Bricks Sample
0 3.630
1 3.738
2 3.419
3 2.989
4 3.922
5 3.064
Table 1.3: The Average Strength and Standard Deviation for
the Whole of Laterite Bricks with Nylon Fibre (Tested in Wet
Condition).

19. Figure 1.3: Graph Shows the Amount of Nylon Fibre in the Laterite
Bricks Against Average Strength of Each Type of Laterite Bricks.

20. SUMMARY OF COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH NYLON
FIBRE LATERITE BRICK (TESTED IN DRY CONDITION)
Based on the observation Table 1.4 and Figure 1.4, the higher the nylon
fibre content is added to a mixture of laterite bricks will make
decreases the strength of laterite bricks. This is because the graph
shown in Figure 1.4 declining from 7.320 kN/m 2 to 5.786 kN/m 2.
Fibre Content (%) in Laterite Average Strength (kN/m2)
Bricks Sample
0 5.514
1 7.320
2 5.711
3 5.125
4 5.981
5 5.786
Table 1.4: The Average Strength and Standard Deviation for
the Whole of Laterite Bricks with Nylon Fibre (Tested in Dry
Condition).

21. Figure 1.4: Graph Shows the Amount of Nylon Fibre in the Laterite
Bricks Against Average Strength of Each Type of Laterite Bricks.

22. Based on the observation Figure 1.5, both compressive strength
tests shows that the higher the nylon fibre content is added to a
mixture of laterite bricks will make decreases the strength of laterite
bricks. The brick type sample B (1 % of nylon fibre) for dry bricks
condition and sample E (4 % of nylon fibre) for wet bricks condition
gave the highest compressive strength among other type of bricks.
The boiling up of fibres was observed on the samples with high fibre
contents (2 – 5 %) which may contribute to the reduction of the
compressive strength. This may be due to discontinuity of the brick
material.

23. Figure 1.5: Graph Shows the Amount of Nylon Fibre in the Laterite
Bricks Against Average Strength of Each Type of Laterite Bricks
(Tested in Wet Condition and Dry Condition).

24. SUMMARY OF WATER ABSORPTION LATERITE BRICK
WITH FIBRE NYLON
Based on Table 1.5, the average water absorption of laterite bricks
sample with nylon fibre content is 5.255 % while its standard deviation
is 1.65 %. It was observed that laterite bricks control has the ability can
absorb water at a moderate rate amongst of laterite bricks with nylon
fibre.
Based on the observation Figure 1.6, water absorption test shows that
the higher the nylon fibre content is added to a mixture of laterite
bricks will make increases the water absorption of laterite bricks. From
the graph shown in Figure 1.6, water absorption for sample (B to F)
rising from 3.491% to 8.239%.
The water absorption increased with further additional of fibres, may
be due to the discontinuity of the brick material, which induced more
water to be absorbed. Other reason may be due to the boiling up of
the fibre which also resulted in case discontinuity of the material,
hence more water can be absorbed.

25. Fibre Content (%) in Laterite Average Water Absorption (%)
Bricks Sample
0 4.416
1 3.491
2 4.439
3 5.237
4 5.706
5 8.239
Table 1.5: The Average Water Absorption and Standard
Deviation for the Whole of Laterite Bricks with Nylon Fibre.

26. Figure 1.6: Graph Shows the Amount of Nylon Fibre in the
Laterite Bricks Against Average Water Absorption of Each
Type of Laterite Bricks.

27. Conclusion
The major point of this research was to study the effect of addition of nylon
fibres into the laterite bricks. The study focused on the physical and mechanical
properties of laterite bricks with nylon fibre. The physical properties studied
were dimensions, density, water absorption and the mechanical property was
the compressive strength. The following findings have been established from
the research;
1) The density of laterite bricks with nylon fiber decreased with the increased in
fiber content added to the bricks where the value decreased from 2088.67
kg/m3 to 1867.00 kg/m3.
2) The an increased in nylon fibers content has resulted in the increase of
compressive strength of laterite bricks with nylon fiber which the highest was
7.320 kN/m2 compared to 5.514 kN/m2 brick control. This might be due fibres
had successfully reinforced other constituent material of laterite bricks with
nylon therefore increase the compressive strength.

28. 3) It was found that addition of fibre nylon did improve the compressive
strength which range from 7.320 kN/m2 to 5.711 kN/m2. The balling up
of fibres was observed on the samples with high fibre contents (2% to
5%) which may contribute to the reduction of the compressive strength.
4) Water absorption of low fibre content laterite bricks with nylon (1%)
was lower than the water absorption of control brick. It is believed the
fibres had effectively reinforced other constituent material of laterite
bricks with nylon thus minimize the porosity of the bricks and lower the
water absorption.
5) The water absorption of bricks in laterite bricks with nylon fiber
increased with the increased in the addition of fiber contents.
6) The water absorption increased with further addition of fibres (1% to
5%), may be due to the discontinuity of the brick material which induced
more water to be absorbed.

29. 7) Overall, it can be concluded the addition of nylon fibre had improved
the density and compressive strength of laterite brick, however
contributed to high water absorption of the brick.