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EARTH BUILDING PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION WITH BIOPOLYMERS

University of Minho Author* RUTE EIRES


School of Engineering
Centre of Civil Engineering Supervisor: Aires Camões , Co-Supervisor: Said Jalali
* rute@civil.uminho.pt

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ABSTRACT MAIN RESULTS 18
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One of the main problems of earth building consists of its reduced 2000 1888
e
g
a
14
t
performance when in contact with water. Without an adequate protection, 1800
n
a
c
12
r
the water action can disintegrate the superficial layers, as well as 1627 e10
p
1600 n 8
causing a decrease of the mechanical resistances. On the other hand, 1423 o
it
p
r 6
the water vapor permeability is the most important thing to be preserved 1400 o
s
b 0NaCl 0,1NaCl
a 4
to keep not only a healthy but also quite comfortable space to live in. a
1200 1086 r
e
t 0,25NaCl 0,5NaCl
P a 2
K1000 954 962 W
- 881 904 0
Since early times that different additives are used in earth building, as h
t
g 800 0 120 240 360 480 600 720 840 960 1080 1200 1320 1440
n
well as coverings, mortars and paints based on clay to minimize these e
r
t
s 600 Figure 3: water absorption
tempo(minutos)test at 14 days
problems. Recently researchers have been revising this theme, studying e
v
is
different additions, and sometimes trying to recover ancient knowledge s 400
e •linseed oil had the better drying while the glycerol had the reduced drying;
r comp_S
as the use of biopolymers and adapt it to present know-how. p
m 200 •soil with the agglutinant and with the soil with glycerol and agglutinant
o 23 68 50 50
C 19 13 18 comp_Sat
0 having a similar behaviour with the dry test;
OBJECTIVES REF
Figure 1:
AM AM_Ad.
compressive
OL
strength
OL_Ad. GL
at 14days
GL_Ad. Ad. •sodium chloride (mixtures with 0.1 and 0.5%) obtained a better behaviour
face to the reference soil.
The main purpose of this study is to analyse: Compressive strength tests:
•The effect of diverse biopolymers under water presence; •linseed oil considerably increased;
•The influence of these additives towards water absorption capacity; •glycerol the increase was small;
•Providing a better mechanical behaviour when in water presence. •amide decrease little;
•agglutinant had the best compressive strength results with the simple
MATERIALS AND METHODS reference soil and soil with amide, reducing the resistances in the
mixtures with linseed oil and glycerol.
Biopolymers effect in sandy/clay soil •sodium chloride showed a better behaviour only in the addition of 0.1% Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7: microscopic images mixtures with sodium chloride and
In this research study it was tested the effect of three biopolymers in a in saturated conditions. flocculation effect in clay particles
sandy soil (prepared in the laboratory with 80% of sand and 20% of
kaolin to maintain in all the tests similar and reproducible conditions): • Results in electronic microscopy study:
amide (0.4%), linseed oil (1.0%) and glycerol with vegetable origin • 20 •soil mixtures with sodium chloride (0.1% NaCl) and with amide, agglutinant
(1.0%), (percentages of soil mass). 18 and sodium chloride presented a large flocculation and a face to edge
16 effect in the clay particles. This means that this flocculation effect and the
Was prepared cylindrical samples (30 mm Ø, 40 mm height), made by e
g
a 14 dispersion followed by a reconnection of the clay particles can be the
t
static compaction with a hydraulic press, to the follow tests: simple n
a
c 12 essential cause of the best results in the water absorption.
r
compressive strength, in dry and saturated state; water absorption by e10
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capillarity test and subsequent dry test. n
o
it 8 SUMMARY
p
r6 REF AM This research allowed the analysis of these biopolymers’ effect, as well as
o
s
Complementary effect of an agglutinant additive b
a4 AM_AD. OL the agglutinant effect and the addition of sodium chloride result.
One has also prepared and tested similar samples with the same r
e
ta 2 OL-AD. GL
percentages of soil, amide, linseed oil and glycerol by adding to each W GL_AD. Ad. Based on the obtained results one can see that there is no direct relation
mixture an agglutinant additive of 0.1% of soil mass. 0 Figure 2: water absorption test at 14 days
between the mechanical resistances and the water absorption behaviour or
0 120 240 360 480 600 720 840 960 1080 1200 1320 1440
dry tests. The better resistances were obtained with linseed oil addition but
Complementary effect of sodium chloride Water absorption and dry tests: time(minutes)
•linseed oil had a better performance after six hours; the better performance in water absorption was obtained with the
Samples containing 0.1%, 0.25% and 0.5% of NaCl in relation to the soil agglutinant additive.
mass were prepared and tested. •glycerol had better values in first six hours;
•the amide presented a similar behaviour to the reference soil;
•sodium chloride (mixtures with 0.1 and 0.5%) obtained a reduced The electronic microscopy study allowed an enhanced analysis about the
However, it was performed an electronic microscopy study with the physicochemical phenomenon occurred in soil particles, especially with the
mixtures with the best performance in water absorption. absorption face to the reference soil.
clay.

Engenharia para a Qualidade de Vida: SAÚDE, LAZER E AMBIENTE– Semana da Escola de Engenharia - 11 a 16 de Outubro de 2010

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