Effectiveness of fly ash and cement for compressed stabilized earth block construction

Abstract

For saving natural resources, reducing pollution and increasing energy efficiency, Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) can serve as a suitable alternative to conventional Fired Clay Brick (FCB). In this study, suitability of industrial waste, Fly Ash (FA) is assessed along with cement as stabilizers for producing CSEBs with coarse grained soil. Different combination of cement and FA (5–10% cement and 5–25% FA; by weight of dry soil) was considered to prepare CSEBs for finding the optimum mix composition in terms of strength, durability, deformation characteristics and cost effectiveness. Furthermore, strength and durability test results are compared to the design criteria reported in Indian Standard, Sri Lankan Standard, Standard Australia, British Standard and Malaysian Standard for assessing its viability as construction material. With the increase in cement content, strength of the blocks gradually increases; however, at a definite cement content, addition of FA increases strength up to a certain limit and then begins to drop. Inclusion of 7–8% cement and 15–20% FA is found to provide adequate dry compressive strength (>5 MPa), wet-to-dry compressive strength (>0.33) and enough durability in terms of water absorption (<20%) as recommended by British Standard and Standards Australia. The behavior of the CSEBs were also analyzed through microstructural investigation, where SEM images were taken to ascertain the morphologic and anatomic changes that occurred at different fly ash contents. At a definite cement content, with the increase of FA, peak strain and failure strain increase; thereby indicating an improved straining capacity of the blocks due to inclusion of FA. Moreover, modulus of elasticity improves with increasing amount of cement and FA for both dry and wet state. Furthermore, economic analysis of a typical house constructed with CSEBs and FCBs was performed and compared with literature. Considering all the parameters it can be concluded that CSEBs prepared with cement and fly ash as stabilizers can be used as a sustainable construction material.