Evaluation of Belgian clays for manufacturing compressed earth blocks

Abstract

This study aims to characterize Belgian clays in order to evaluate their use for manufacture of compressed earth blocks (CEB). Nineteen Belgian clay deposits were sampled in 56 sites and 135 samples were collected and analyzed. The analyses focus on the determination of particle size, plasticity, nature and mineralogy as the main characteristics for assessing the suitability of the raw clays to make CEB. These analyses allow for classifying the sampled clay deposits in three categories: clays that can be used unchanged to make CEB (2 clay deposits), clays that are suitable for the manufacture of CEB but require addition of sand and gravel particles (13 clay deposits) and clays that are suitable for the manufacture of CEB if they are mixed with other raw clays (4 clay deposits). In order to verify the use of these clays, five of them served as a model for making CEB. The strength of these bricks was evaluated by testing for compressive strength and abrasion resistance. The results of these tests confirm the suitability or not of the sampled clays for the manufacture of CEB.

Mineralogical, geochemical, and geotechnical features of lateritic soils from termite mounds in two contrasting savannah areas (central Cameroon) as raw materials for brick making

“…The studied materials are very poor in organic matter and can be qualified geotechnically as inorganic soils [ 50 ]. For brick manufacturing, it is typically advised to use raw materials with an organic matter content of less than 2% [ 13 ]. Organic matter is destroyed during firing and can cause cracks when the drying process is made fastly [ 7 ].…”

“…Many authors have studied the characteristics of clay materials for the production of unfired bricks [ [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] ], fired bricks [ [2] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] ] and both types [ 23 ]. The manufacturing of unfired brick most probably requires the use of ordinary Portland cement or chemical reagents such as lime or sodium silicates for its stabilization, while fired bricks are energy-intensive and emit carbon dioxide [ 10 , 11 ].…”

Towards a Sustainable Building Material in Hot Arid Environments: Compressed and Stabilized Earth Brick (CSEB) Prototype

“…As for the granularity, statistical studies were carried out to define the Atterberg limits best suited for the earth blocks and to predict the constructive possibilities of a soil quickly. Mango-Itulamya [20], The defined tests are carried out on the soil mortar (d <0.4 mm) (see Table 2) according to the procedure of standard NF P 94 051.…”

“…• Organic matter Soils can contain organic matter (micro-organism, hummus, etc. ); certain humic acids are harmful in the event of stabilization because they delay or cancel the setting of hydraulic binders.Because organic matter is not compressible, it should not be used in large quantities, as this will limit the soil's compressibility, even if it is unstabilized [20]. As a general rule, until more reliable knowledge has been acquired, it has been accepted not to use soil containing more than 2% organic matter, and soil containing 1% is considered risky.…”

Evaluation of Rice Husk Ash Pozzolan on the Mechanical and Physical Properties of Cement Matrix Composites

“…The ven was set at 5 °C/min to calcined and homogeneous ash, according to the protocol, for 5 h of time. The temperature was kept constant for 2 h the loss on ignition was constant from 600 ° C as show in Itulamya and Arsène [5]…”