Mechanical and structural properties of termite soil as a partial replacement to cement for different applications

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the experimental and theoretical study of the mechanical and structural properties of termite soil as a partial replacement to cement for different applications, especially in the building/construction industry. Different volume fractions of termite soil are mixed with Portland cement and their compressive and flexural strengths as well as fracture toughness values are determined. The mechanical properties of the composites are also elucidated after curing the samples for 7 days, 14 days and 28 days. The study shows that the 28 days Compressive strength decreases with increasing volume percentage of termite soil for volume percentages up to 60%. The 28 day strength was also greater than the requirement of (NIS 87: 2000) for non-bearing load walls (δmin=2.8N/mm²› 2.5 N/mm²). The flexural strength for 20% replacement (at all curing days) was greater than 7 N/mm². The fracture toughness was also observed to decrease with increasing volume percentage of termite soil up to 20 vol. %. This resulted in a maximum fracture toughness of 4.24 for the materials with 20 vol. % of termite soil stabilization. The samples are then characterized via X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX). The implications of the results are discussed for the development of sustainable termite-stabilized building materials.