Thermal characteristics of Model houses Manufactured by date palm fiber reinforced earth bricks in desert regions of Ouargla Algeria

Abstract

The big desert of Algeria is characterized by a hot and dry climate in summer, cold and dry in winter. In these reinforced concrete construction parts assuredly there was much disappointment to provide a healthy and comfortable indoor climate in buildings. To improve thermal comfort in a building and save energy, it is necessary to implement special performance materials, providing good thermal insulation. In this study we care to about producing clay bricks with good mechanical and thermal properties to reduce energy consumption and increase thermal comfort in the home. The objective of this research is to prepare clay bricks and examine afterwards with some mechanical and thermal tests. We have made some prototypes tested by these bricks who gave good thermal and mechanical properties in order to try to use them in the field of construction. We made the percentage of sand set at 30% and that of the fiber from 0% to3% by weight. The results of these tests showed that the increase in% of fiber is beneficial to the improvement of the thermal properties with acceptable mechanical strength. At14:00h, a remarkable temperature difference compared to the control performed in industrial prototype brick was obtained.