Engineering, 2016, 8, 301-307 Published Online June 2016 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/eng http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/eng.2016.86027 How to cite this paper: Lakho, N.A. and Zardari, M.A. (2016) Comparison of Compressive and Tensile Strength of Baked Clay with Those of Normal Concrete. Engineering, 8, 301-307. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/eng.2016.86027 Comparison of Compressive and Tensile Strength of Baked Clay with Those of Normal Concrete Nawab Ali Lakho, Muhammad Auchar Zardari * Department of Civil Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering Science and Technology, Nawabshah, Pakistan Received 23 April 2016; accepted 3 June 2016; published 6 June 2016 Copyright © 2016 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract Due to high cost of aggregates, cement and steel in plain regions of Pakistan, low income people are unable to get their houses constructed using Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC). In this study, potential of baked clay as an economical material of building construction is investigated in order to replace normal concrete. For this purpose, compressive strength and tensile strength of baked clay fired at 1000˚C were determined. The results show that the compressive strength and tensile strength of baked clay are about 65%, and 80% more than those of corresponding values of nor- mal concrete, respectively. This implies that by utilizing reinforced baked clay instead of RCC, saving of cement aggregates and reinforcing steel could be achieved. Keywords Baked Clay, Tensile Strength, Compressive Strength, Modulus of Rupture, Normal Concrete, Compaction 1. Introduction Provision of houses to low income people is a challenging task in Pakistan since its independence in 1947. This is due to increase in cost of traditional materials of building construction such as cement, aggregates and steel. It is, therefore, responsibility of engineering community to investigate possible use of local and low cost materials of building construction so that the people could be able to get their houses constructed at an affordable cost. The indigenous and low cost materials of construction include wood, clay and stone. Among these materials, * Corresponding author.