Compressive Strength of Novel Alkali-Activated Stabilized Earth Materials Incorporating Solid Wastes

Abstract

The research presented in this paper is aimed at developing novel alternative sustainable stabilised earth materials for use in loadbearing affordable housing construction. Prototype stabilised earth materials have been produced in the laboratory incorporating a range of solid wastes, including aggregates derived from construction and demolition waste as well as industrial processes. The earth construction materials were stabilised with either Portland cement, Portland cement and lime, or through alkali-activation. Experimental results for compressive strength are reported, together with findings from a comparative Life Cycle Inventory analysis.Construction and demolition waste shows promise as a potential aggregate for stabilised earth construction. The use of processed ground blast furnace slag together with fly ash is also promising for development of alkali-activated stabilisation.

Hydric and Durability Performances of Compressed Earth Blocks Stabilized with Industrial and Agro By-Product Binders: Calcium Carbide Residue and Rice Husk Ash

“…The compressive strength is considered as an indirect indicator of the quality and durability of CEBs (Abhilash et al 2020;AFNor 2001 In the present study, the evolution of the compressive strength (Rc in MPa) was tentatively correlated with the coefficient of abrasion (Ca in cm²/g) of CEB stabilized with CCR (before W-D) and CCR:RHA (Fig. 5a).…”

“…The current popularity of earth is highlighted by the exponential increase of the scientific studies of earth-based construction materials and techniques, and durability testing methods (Beckett et al 2020;Medvey and Dobszay 2020). Among various techniques, the stabilization using chemical binders such as cement, lime, pozzolanic or alkaline-activated binders not only improves the mechanical properties, but also the hydric and durability indicators of earthen material (Abhilash et al 2020;Beckett et al 2020;Bogas et al 2018;Gomes et al 2016;Mango-Itulamya et al 2020;Sore et al 2018).…”

“…Therefore, further investigations have been carried out on alternative stabilization approaches and binders that can allow to improve different durability indicators of earth, with relatively limited environmental impact (Al-Fakih et al 2019;Medvey and Dobszay 2020). These attempts consist of incorporating aggregates or by-product binders from different origins in the earthen materials (Abhilash et al 2020;Arrigoni et al 2017a;Azeko et al 2018;Bogas et al 2018;Latifi et al 2018 ;Mango-Itulamya et al 2020;Masuka et al 2018;Seco et al 2017).…”

“…The incorporation of aggregates (0-50 %) in clay-rich soil materials reduced the drying shrinkage, water absorption and improved the compressive and abrasion resistance of CEBs (Mango-Itulamya et al 2020). Furthermore, Abhilash et al (2020) incorporated wastes from construction-demolition and industries as aggregates and alkaline activated binders in the earthen materials for the production of CEBs. The CEBs stabilized with the pozzolanic materials: 5-15 % GGBS (ground granulated blast furnace slag) or FA (fly ash) activated by NaOH (12 M) recorded comparable water absorption (14-15 %) by total immersion as CEBs stabilized with 7-10 % cement.…”

Life cycle assessment of alkali-activated materials: a systematic literature review

“…or Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) (MJ) method was calculated and applied in 8 cases since the data inventories of energy for raw materials, manufacturing, and transportation is more locally accessible [4,24,67,74,75,129,130]. Nevertheless, considering GWP does not always present the profits of reusing waste materials and resource depletion since it does not consider the broader benefits of reducing materials to landfills or mining new natural aggregates [62,131].…”