Mechanical and Thermal Behavior of Compressed Earth Bricks Reinforced with Lime and Coal Aggregates

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the effect of coal aggregates (CA) in the compressed earth bricks (CEBs) in order to reduce the footprint of the coal industry. For this purpose, three soils of the Marrakesh region were studied in terms of their chemical composition, and their thermal and mechanical behavior. Then, the selected soil was mixed with different amounts of CA (10%, 15%, and 20% by weight) and compressed in a Brava machine to produce (CEBs). A significant drop in the specific weight of our CEBs was registered with the increase of CA percentage. Besides, the compressive strength showed a linear drop with the increase of (CA) percentages. In fact, for bricks with 20% of CA, the decrease in compressive strength reaches 32.95% in respect to the reference bricks. Moreover, CA showed interesting gain in thermal conductivity reaching 60% while the diminution in compressive strength was still acceptable according to norms in the state of the art. Thereby, we can say that using CA in earth bricks can, with the suitable architecture, contribute not only to reduce the building charges, but also to provide a good thermal comfort without increasing the thickness of the walls.