MECHANICAL AND THERMAL BEHAVIORS OF STABILIZED COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCKS

Resumen

The effect of lime and Portland cement associated to sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) on the mechanical and thermal behavior of compressed earth blocks was analyzed. Mini panels were molded and their mechanical and thermal properties were determined in laboratory. For such, sandy and clayey soils were added with Portland cement and lime at 6% and 10% contents, and sodium silicate at dosage of 4%. The compressed earth blocks were cured in a humidity chamber for seven, 28, 56 and 91 days. At the ages of 28, 56 and 91 days the specimens were submitted to the compressive test and water absorption tests at seven days. The thermal conductivity was obtained by the guarded hot plate method and the specific heat value by the calorimeter method. Afterwards, the main thermophysical properties were calculated and analyzed by means of walls thermal behaviors. The best compressive strength and water absorption capacity results were reached by the sandy soil with addition of Portland cement or lime at 10% content, both added of sodium silicate. Regarding to the thermal behavior, the results pointed out that the stabilized compressed earth blocks reached the best thermal behavior when compared to the conventional ones under the same use conditions. Keywords: Stabilized earth, Soil-cement, Mechanical properties, Thermophysical properties.