An Experimental Study on Clay and Sand Mixes to Develop a Non-Linear Homogenized Model for Earth Construction Materials

Author(s):  
Elsa Anglade ◽  
Alain Sellier ◽  
Jean-Emmanuel Aubert ◽  
Aurélie Papon

Due to its ecological interest and large availability, a renewed attention is paid to earth as building material. Indeed, raw earth consumes CO2 only during its processing and transportation, and it provides a natural hygrothermal comfort. However, its mechanical properties are highly linked to its composition, which causes an important variability of performances. That is why any soil has to be characterized before being used as a building material. The aim of this study is to propose a model able to predict the hydromechanical behavior of a reconstituted soil according to its composition. As earth is a heterogeneous material, the model is based on homogenization procedures. The sand is considered as spherical inclusions inside a clay matrix. The particularity of the model stands to consider both positive and negative effects of volume variation and mechanical properties of clay under hydric variations. The model parameters are determined according to an original experimental campaign, which is conducted on various mixes of a single type of clay (kaolinite) and of sand, and water. The experimental study provides some mechanical properties of the mixes versus water content and sand content to test the ability of the homogenization model to assess the main properties of this material.

2021 ◽  

Concrete is the most versatile, durable and reliable material and is the most used building material. It requires large amounts of Portland cement which has environmental problems associated with its production. Hence, an alternative concrete – geopolymer concrete is needed. The general aim of this book is to make significant contributions in understanding and deciphering the mechanisms of the realization of the alkali-activated fly ash-based geopolymer concrete and, at the same time, to present the main characteristics of the materials, components, as well as the influence that they have on the performance of the mechanical properties of the concrete. The book deals with in-depth research of the potential recovery of fly ash and using it as a raw material for the development of new construction materials, offering sustainable solutions to the construction industry.


2015 ◽  
Vol 660 ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Mastura Wan Ibrahim ◽  
Kamarudin Hussin ◽  
Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah ◽  
Aeslina Abdul Kadir ◽  
Mohammed Binhussain

Bricks are widely used as a construction and building material due to its properties. Recent years have seen a great development in new types of inorganic cementitious binders called ‘‘geopolymeric cement’’ around the world. This prompted its use in bricks, which improves the greenness of ordinary bricks. The development of fly ash-based geopolymer lightweight bricks is relatively new in the field of construction materials. This paper reviews the uses of fly ash as a raw materials and addition of foaming agent to the geopolymeric mixture to produce lightweight bricks. The effects on their physical and mechanical properties have been discussed. Most manufactured bricks with incorporation of foaming agent have shown positive effects by producing lightweight bricks, increased porosity and improved the thermal conductivities of fly ash-based geopolymer bricks. However, less of performances in number of cases in terms of mechanical properties were also demonstrated.


2014 ◽  
Vol 638-640 ◽  
pp. 1478-1484
Author(s):  
Ze Ping Zhang ◽  
Jia Yu ◽  
Fei Fei Li

Thermal insulation glazed hollow bead concrete is a new building material, which is bearing general physical and mechanical properties of concrete. Experimental study of concrete after high-temperature, it is different from the ordinary concrete, because there is component of glazed hollow bead. In this paper, based on the observations and analysis of thermal insulation glazed hollow bead concrete after high temperature under electron microscope and comparison with ordinary concrete, the failure mechanism of thermal insulation glazed hollow bead concrete after high temperature are obtained.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 286
Author(s):  
Dorina Camelia Ilieș ◽  
Florin Marcu ◽  
Tudor Caciora ◽  
Liliana Indrie ◽  
Alexandru Ilieș ◽  
...  

Poor air quality inside museums is one of the main causes influencing the state of conservation of exhibits. Even if they are mostly placed in a controlled environment because of their construction materials, the exhibits can be very vulnerable to the influence of the internal microclimate. As a consequence, museum exhibits must be protected from potential negative effects. In order to prevent and stop the process of damage of the exhibits, monitoring the main parameters of the microclimate (especially temperature, humidity, and brightness) and keeping them in strict values is extremely important. The present study refers to the investigations and analysis of air quality inside a museum, located in a heritage building, from Romania. The paper focuses on monitoring and analysing temperature of air and walls, relative humidity (RH), CO2, brightness and particulate matters (PM), formaldehyde (HCHO), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC). The monitoring was carried out in the Summer–Autumn 2020 Campaign, in two different exhibition areas (first floor and basement) and the main warehouse where the exhibits are kept and restored. The analyses aimed both at highlighting the hazard induced by the poor air quality inside the museum that the exhibits face. The results show that this environment is potentially harmful to both exposed items and people. Therefore, the number of days in which the ideal conditions in terms of temperature and RH are met are quite few, the concentration of suspended particles, formaldehyde, and total volatile organic compounds often exceed the limit allowed by the international standards in force. The results represent the basis for the development and implementation of strategies for long-term conservation of exhibits and to ensure a clean environment for employees, restorers, and visitors.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Régis Pamponet da Fonseca ◽  
Janaíde Cavalcante Rocha ◽  
Malik Cheriaf

The addition of natural fibers used as reinforcement has great appeal in the construction materials industry since natural fibers are cheaper, biodegradable, and easily available. In this work, we analyzed the feasibility of using the fibers of piassava, tucum palm, razor grass, and jute from the Amazon rainforest as reinforcement in mortars, exploiting the mechanical properties of compressive and flexural strength of samples with 1.5%, 3.0%, and 4.5% mass addition of the composite binder (50% Portland cement + 40% metakaolin + 10% fly ash). The mortars were reinforced with untreated (natural) and treated (hot water treatment, hornification, 8% NaOH solution, and hybridization) fibers, submitted to two types of curing (submerged in water, and inflated with CO2 in a pressurized autoclave) for 28 days. Mortars without fibers were used as a reference. For the durability study, the samples were submitted to 20 drying/wetting cycles. The fibers improved the flexural strength of the mortars and prevented the abrupt rupture of the samples, in contrast to the fragile behavior of the reference samples. The autoclave cure increased the compressive strength of the piassava and tucum palm samples with 4.5% of fibers.


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