Mechanical and Thermal Performance Characterisation of Compressed Earth Blocks

Elisabete R. Teixeira, Gilberto Machado, Adilson de P. Junior, Christiane Guarnier, Jorge Fernandes, Sandra M. Silva and Ricardo Mateus
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Elisabete R. Teixeira: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Gilberto Machado: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Adilson de P. Junior: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Christiane Guarnier: Federal Center for Technological Education “Celso Suckow da Fonseca” (CEFET/RJ), Rio de Janeiro-RJ 20271-110, Brazil
Jorge Fernandes: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Sandra M. Silva: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Ricardo Mateus: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: The present research is focused on an experimental investigation to evaluate the mechanical, durability, and thermal performance of compressed earth blocks (CEBs) produced in Portugal. CEBs were analysed in terms of electrical resistivity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, compressive strength, total water absorption, water absorption by capillarity, accelerated erosion test, and thermal transmittance evaluated in a guarded hotbox setup apparatus. Overall, the results showed that compressed earth blocks presented good mechanical and durability properties. Still, they had some issues in terms of porosity due to the particle size distribution of soil used for their production. The compressive strength value obtained was 9 MPa, which is considerably higher than the minimum requirements for compressed earth blocks. Moreover, they presented a heat transfer coefficient of 2.66 W/(m 2 ·K). This heat transfer coefficient means that this type of masonry unit cannot be used in the building envelope without an additional thermal insulation layer but shows that they are suitable to be used in partition walls. Although CEBs have promising characteristics when compared to conventional bricks, results also showed that their proprieties could even be improved if optimisation of the soil mixture is implemented.

Keywords: compressed earth blocks (CEBs); compressive strength; durability; guarded hot box; thermal transmittance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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