Proposed mix design improvements of compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) with particle packing optimization and coir reinforcement

Abstract

The use of the earth as a building material has been practiced since the beginning of human civilization. Unburnt bricks, rammed earth, adobe, and burnt bricks are some of them. As a result of technological development, adobe has developed into a compressed stabilized earth block (CSEB). The clay percentage of the soil significantly affects the strength of the CSEB. This study focused on controlling the clay percentage by adding larger particles externally using building construction waste and reinforcing them with coconut coir. Different coir amounts by weight from 0.1% to 0.5% with different lengths of 2 cm, 4 cm, 6 cm, and 8 cm were considered for block production. For dry compressive strength and wet compressive strength, the combination of 0.3% coir amount with 6 cm coir length gave the maximum strength, and it also satisfied the required water absorption limit as per the Grade 1 category of the SLS 1382, part 1. After that, using the above combination, the industrial scale (350 × 100 ×175) mm size block was prepared, and its strength also satisfied the SLS 1382 Grade 1 requirements. According to the study, the manufacturing cost for the CSEB is lower than that of cement blocks and clay bricks. The cost for a 1 m2 wall panel preparation using CSEB is 41.52% lower than preparing using burnt clay brick and 8.56% lower than preparing using cement blocks. Therefore, the CSEB can be used as a load-bearing walling material at a low cost and with eco-friendliness.