Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6701723 | Case Studies in Construction Materials | 2018 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
The development of low thermal mass cement-sand block by incorporating peat soil and Effective Microorganism (EM) was studied systematically. In total, seven mixtures of cement-sand block targeted at a 28-days compressive strength of 7Â MPa are designed. One control sample is made with a water/cement ratio (w/c) of 0.5, three mixes using 3%, 6% and 10% peat soil replacing sand and three mixes using 10%, 20% and 30% EM replacing water. Modified blocks with 6% of peat soil and 30% of EM are the most optimum blocks to be used in the construction of masonry as they successfully reduced the thermal conductivity of the blocks with the value of 1.275Â W/mK and 1.792Â W/mK respectively when being compared to the thermal conductivity of the control sample which is 2.400Â W/mK. Besides, they are also able to achieve higher strength than the desired compressive strength which is 7Â MPa. The compressive strength of the samples with 6% of peat soil is 16.48Â MPa at 28-days while 30.39Â MPa for samples with 30% of EM. On the other hand, the water absorption rate of samples with 6% of peat soil is 7.6% while 6.1% for samples with 30% EM and both are okay since their rate of water absorption is lower than 20%. In conclusion, the addition of peat soil and EM in the cement-sand mix show promising performance as a low cost material to produce low thermal mass cement-sand block.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Engineering
Civil and Structural Engineering
Authors
Irham Hameeda Mohamad Idris, Nur Zulaikha Yusof,