MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FIBRE-REINFORCED MUD BRICKS

Adelaja I. Osofero, Mohammed S. Imbabi, Mahgoub M. Salih

Abstract


Earth construction has been successfully practiced for millennia in many parts of the world, including Sudan. The authors believe that this form of construction can be readily upgraded, and that it represents a sustainable, viable alternative that avoids the use of energy intensive, high carbon content materials. This study investigates the response of fibre-reinforced mud bricks under loading. The fibre sources investigated include chicken feathers and sugarcane bagasse. Extensive compression tests were carried out on representative brick samples incorporating these materials
for the purpose of understanding the effect of fibre content on the properties of modified mud bricks. Three empiricallyderived relations for different fibre types are proposed. These relations include stress-strain curves that take into account limit state and compressive strengths for fibre-reinforced mud bricks, plus empirical correlation between the brick strength, brick density and fibre content, to be used in future design procedures. The developed relations are suitable for use in commercially available finite element software packages such as ABAQUS. The findings presented demonstrate that sugarcane bagasse and chicken feathers fibres are feasible options for mud brick reinforcement.

Keywords


Sustainable earth construction; Fibre-reinforced mud bricks; Compressive strength; Mechanical properties; Chicken feathers; Sugarcane bagasse

Full Text:

PDF

References


Oti, E., M., Kinuthia, J. Bai, Engineering properties

of unfired clay masonry bricks, Journal of Eng.

Geology, 107, 130–139, 2009.

Bories, C., M., Borredon, E., Vedrenne, G. Vilarem,

Development of eco-friendly porous fired clay bricks

using pore-forming agents: A review, Envir. Manag.,

, 186-196, 2014.

Taha, Y., M., Benzaazoua, R., Hakkou, M. Mansori,

Coal mine wastes recycling for coal recovery and

eco-friendly bricks production, Minerals

Engineering, 107, 123-138, 2016.

Carter, W., M., Cannor, and S. Mansell, Properties of

bricks incorporating unground rice husks, Build. and

E., 17, 285-291, 1982.

Görhan, G., O. Şimşek, Porous clay bricks

manufactured with rice husks, Construction and

Building Materials, 40, 390-396, 2013.

Eliche-Quesada, D., A., Felipe, A., López, A.

Infantes, Characterization and evaluation of rice husk

ash and wood ash in sustainable clay matrix bricks,

Cer. Intern., 43, 463-475, 2016.

Tonnayopas, D., P., Tekasakul, S. Jaritgnam, Effects

of rice husk ash on characteristics of lightweight clay

brick, Proceeding of Technology and Innovation for

Sustainable Development Conference, 28-29

January, Thailand: research gate, 36 -39, 2008.

Chan, C., Effect of natural fibers Inclusion in clay

bricks: Physico-mechanical properties, International

Journal of Civil, Envir., Strucct., Const. and

Architectural Eng., 5, 7-13, 2011.

De La Casa, A., I., Romero, J., Jiménez, E. Castro,

Fired clay masonry units production incorporating

two-phase olive mill waste, Ceramics Intern., 38,

-5037, 2012.

Millogo, Y., J., Morel, J. Aubert, K. Ghavami,

Experimental analysis of pressed adobe blocks

reinforced with hibiscus cannabinus fibers,

Construction and Building Materials, 52, 71-78,

Velasco, M., M., Ortiz, M., Giró, M., Melia, H.

Rehbein, Development of sustainable fired clay

bricks by adding kindling from Vine Shoot: Study of

thermal and mechanical properties, Applied Clay

Science, 107, 156-164, 2015.

La Rubia-García, D., Á., Yebra, D., Eliche-Quesada,

A., Corpas, A. López, Assessment of olive mill solid

residue (Pomace) as an additive in lightweight brick

production, Construction and Building Materials, 36,

-500, 2012.

Aouba, L., C., Bories, M., Coutand, B., Perrin, H.

Lemercier, Properties of fired clay bricks with

incorporated biomasses: Cases of olive stone flour

and wheat straw residues, Construc. and Build.

Mater, 102, 7-13, 2016.

Sharma, V., M., Marwaha, K. Vinayak, Enhancing

durability of adobe by natural reinforcement for

propagating sustainable mud housing, Intern. Journal

of Sustainable Built Environment, 5, 141-155, 2016.

Sutcu, M., S., Ozturk, O. Gencel, Effect of olive mill

waste addition on the properties of porous fired clay

bricks using Taguchi method, Jour. of E. Man., 181,

-192, 2016.

Abdul Kadir, A., N. Maasom, Recycling sugarcane

bagasse waste into fired clay brick, Intern. Jour. of

Ze. Was. Gen., 1, 21-26, 2013.

Bock-Hyeng, C., A., Ofori, E., Yamb, M. Shofoluwe,

Sugarcane fiber-reinforced bricks as a sustainable

construction material, Proc. of the IAJC-ISAM Joint

Int. Conf., California, 6-8 November, 2016.

Souza, E., R., Teixeira, A., Santos, B., Costa, E.

Longo, Reuse of sugarcane bagasse ash to produce

ceramic materials, Envir. Manag., 92, 2774-2780,

Faria K., R., Gurgel, J. Holanda, Recycling of

sugarcane bagasse ash waste in the production of clay

bricks, Jour. of Envir. Manag., 101, 7-12, 2012.

Calatan, G., A., Hegyi, C., Dico, C. Mircea,

Determining the optimum addition of vegetable

materials in adobe bricks, Proc. Tec., 22, 259-265,

Demir, I., M., Serhat, M. Orhan, Utilization of Kraft

Pulp production residues in clay brick production,

Build. and E., 40, 1533-1537, 2005.

Galán-Marín, C., C., Rivera-Gómez, J. Petric, Claybased composite stabilized with natural polymer and

fiber, Construction and Building Materials, 24, 1462-

, 2010.

Aymerich, F., L., Fenu, P. Meloni, Effect of

reinforcing wool fibers on fracture and energy

absorption properties of an earthen material,

Construc. and Build. Mater., 27, 66-72, 2012.

Veiseh, S., A. Yousefi, The use of polystyrene in

lightweight brick production, Iranian Polymer

Journal, 12, 323-329, 2003.

Turnsek, V., F. Cacovic, Some experimental results

on the strength of brick masonry walls, The British

Cer. Research, U.K, 149–156, 1970.

Yetgin, S., O., Çavdar, A. Çavdar, The effects of the

fibre contents on the mechanic properties of the

adobes, Construction and Building Materials, 22,

-227, 2008.

Piattoni, Q., E., Quagliarini, S. Lenci, Experimental

analysis and modelling of the mechanical behavior of

earthen bricks, Construc. and Build. Materials, 25,

–2075, 2011.

Villamizar, M., V., Araque, C., Reyes, R. Silva,

Effect of the addition of coal-ash and cassava peels

on the engineering properties of compressed earth

blocks, Construction and Building Materials, 36,

–286, 2012.

Adorni, E., E., Coïsson, D. Ferretti, In situ

characterization of archaeological adobe bricks,

Construc. and Build. Materials, 40, 1-9, 2013.

Parisi, F., D., Asprone, A. Prota, Experimental

characterization of Italian composite adobe bricks

reinforced with straw fibers, Comp. Struct., 122,

–307, 2015.

Caporale, A., F., Parisi, R., Luciano, A. Prota,

Comparative micromechanical assessment of adobe

and clay brick masonry assemblages based on

experimental data sets, Composite Structures, 120,

-220, 2015.

Serrano, S., C., Barren, F. Cabela, Use of by-products

as additives in adobe bricks: Mechanical properties

characterisation, Construction and Building

Materials, 108, 105–111, 2016.

British Standard EN 772-13, Methods of Test for

Masonry Units Part 13: Determination of Net and

Gross Dry Density of Masonry Units (Except for

Natural Stone), BSI, London, 2000.

British Standard EN 1052-2, Methods of Test for

Masonry units. Determination of Compressive

Strength, BSI, London, 2016.

Morel, C., A. Pkla, A model to measure compressive

strength of compressed earth blocks with the ‘3 points

bending test, Construc. and Build. Mater., 16, 303-

, 2002.

Wang, C., T. Huynh, Investigation into the use of

unground rice husk ash to produce eco-friendly

construction bricks, Construction and Building

Materials, 93, 335–341, 2015.

Illampas, R., I., Ioannou, D. Charmpis, Adobe bricks

under compression: Experimental investigation and

derivation of stress–strain equation, Construc. and

Build. Mater., 53, 83-90, 2014


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.