Implementation on a Preparation and Controlled Compaction Procedure for Waste-Fiber-Reinforced Raw Earth Samples

Abstract

Earth bricks are a traditional eco-friendly construction material. In this study, harbor-dredged sediments were used along with hemp shiv to develop a brick manufacturing procedure and compaction techniques to produce durable earth bricks for the valorization of waste hemp shiv and dredged sediments. Prismatic specimens of size 4 × 4 × 16 cm3 were manufactured with Dunkirk sediments after analyzing their suitability for earth bricks according to the French standard for flexural strength test to observe the indirect tensile strength and impact of the compaction techniques on the strength of bricks. Crude bricks were manufactured with varying hemp shiv content from 0% to 5% by mass. Compaction techniques such as dynamic compaction, static compaction, and tamping were applied. The effect of hemp shiv content and compaction techniques was evaluated with a flexural strength test and the distribution of fibers in bricks. Grain size analysis of sediments with French and Spanish standards shows that the sediments granulometry is suitable for earth bricks. The flexural strength testing of bricks indicates that bricks with saturated hemp shiv have higher flexural strength. Earth bricks have maximum strength with dynamic compaction with 1% hemp shiv, which satisfies the adobe bricks tensile strength requirements that vary from 0.012 to 0.025 MPa (NZS 4298, 1998; NORMA E.080 (2017).

Influence of Palm Oil Fibers Length Variation on Mechanical Properties of Reinforced Crude Bricks

“…Toughness index increases with increasing fiber content. From literature, crude bricks with Dunkirk port dredged sediments with 1%, 2%,3%,4% and 5% hemp shiv content have toughness values 2.42, 2.78, 2.74, 3.34, and 3.33 respectively (Hussain et al, 2020). Type of fibers and sediments significantly affect the toughness of crude bricks.…”

“…Compaction of crude bricks cane be done by static, vibratory and dynamic loading. Bricks compacted with dynamic loadings have good tensile strength (Hussain et al, 2020). For the compaction of crude bricks with normal Proctor energy, optimum water content of sediments found through Proctor test can be used for preparing sediments mixture (Bruno et al, 2018).…”

Development of Fiber Reinforced Sustainable Dredge Bricks

“…Other studies have identified various types of natural and synthetic fibers that could improve the compressional strength [12][13][14]. Laborel-Preneron et al reported on mixtures of polyester fibers of 12 mm in length with soil at relative amounts of fiber ranging from 0-1% and showed that inclusion of polyester fibers increased the strength of the soil until the ratio of fibers added was at 0.5%.…”