ISSUES ON SOIL-CEMENT CONSTRUCTION

HC Uzoegbo Univ of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

The built environment is estimated to contribute approximately 40% of total energy use and associa ted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally the biggest contributors to GHG are found to be concrete and steel. Cement in concrete is main contributor to GHG. Followed by transportation of materials.

Greener Concrete
Reduce the amount of cement without compromising quality. Partial cement replacement (eg pozzolans) Deposits of natural pozzolans in Rift Valley, E. Africa Use soil of soil cement for low-rise housing Reduce distance of material transportation

Why soil-cement blocks

CASE STUDY

Basic Mix Design

Sieve the soil after excavation, use the soil from the construction site.

Load the soil and cement into the mixer

Mix the soil, cement and water

5% Cement (by volume) 4MPa block

8% Cement (by volume) 7MPa block

BLOCK PRODUCTION M7 MOBILE BLOCK MACHINE

Manual Block Machine

After 2-3 minutes mixing move the mix to the compression chamber

Carry and stack the block, cure for 7 days

Hydraform Blocks

Length- 240mm Width Height - 220mm ( or 140mm) - 115mm

Hydraform Blocks
37 blocks / m2 of wall. 1m3 soil for 75 blocks. 1 bag of cement for 100 blocks. Minimal mortar between blocks, dry stacked interlocking speeds up construction, 220mm block.

Cost Comparison

COST COMPARISON

Lessons from Ancient Dry-Stack Construction

Great Zimbabwe Ruins Capital 15th Century Shona Kingdom

FREE-STANDING WALLS
Need to tie top courses to prevent toppling

BULGING OF RETAINING WALL PANELS

SPLITTING IN WALL PANELS

VERY LOW ARCHING MECHANISM

Construction with Interlocking Blocks

House in Johannesburg, SA

House in Malawi

Hydraform House in Malawi

Hydraform House in Malawi

Assessment of Block Unit Strength

A real challenge due to irregular shape Test method must be developed for every interlocking design Three methods of testing for compression strength of Hydraform blocks

1.

Centre Top Loading

P
Top machine steel platen Hard board Hydraform Block Bottom machine steel platen

Failure mode

2.

Shoulder Loading

Top machine steel platen Hard board Aditional Steel bearing platen Hydraform Block Bottom machine steel platen

Failure Mode

3.

Cube Testing

Top machine steel platen Hard board Hydraform Block

Cube - 1

Cube - 2

Top Side (Low Density)

Cube - 3

Cube - 4

Hard board Bottom machine steel platen

Bottom Side (High Density)

Normalised strength factors

Center Vs. Shoulder Testing (15% cement content blocks)

Specimens Strength [ MPa ]

18 15 12 9 6 3 0 Wet Specimens Dry Specimens Shoulder Loading Centre Loading

Dry-Wall Panel Assessment

Lateral Loading on Wall Panel

Test Wall
3 June 2008 The Structural Engineer 25, C. Mundell

Dry-Wall Prior to Failure

3 June 2008 The Structural Engineer 25, C. Mundell

LATERAL LOADING TESTS AT WITS

Experimental set-up for lateral load test

LATERAL LOADING

FAILURE MODE: MEDIUM SPAN

FAILURE MODE: LONGSPAN

FAILURE MODE:PLASTERED DRY-STACK WALL

FAILURE MODE:CONVENTIONAL WALL

Load-Deflection Curves Conventional Masonry

Load-deflection behavior for standard m ansory brick w all 6.00

5.00

4.00

Load (Kn/m 2)

gage1 3.00 gage2 gage3 gage4 2.00

1.00

0.00 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Deflection (m m )

Load-Deflection Curves
Combination plot of middle point (gage1)
7 6

5PB 5RBG

Load capacity (kPA)

PW 2RBG(10mm) 2PB

RPW 2RBG(20mm)

SMW

0 -20 0 20 40 Deflection (m m ) 60 80 100

Conclusions
Cement stabilised soil block is cheaper than conventional concrete block Clay content of soil is necessary for early age handling and stability Approx. 40% loss in strength under sustained wet conditions