Abstract
Rapid development has led to increasing demand for sand, which is the main source of sand brick and other construction purposes. High demand and environmental issues contribute to the shortage of resources and continuous increase in the cost of the material. In order to overcome this matter, there is a need for replacement materials as alternative resources for fine aggregate. In Malaysia, a renewable resource from biomass that can easily be converted to aggregate material is the woody part of kenaf. It is commonly called kenaf core and is available in abundance after the processing of kenaf stem for bast fiber production. The investigations cover thermal conductivity, compressive strength, density, and porosity of Kenaf Core Quarry Dust Bricks (KCQB). Nine (9) types of samples of bricks, plates, and brick wall were prepared by varying the kenaf core contents. M1, M2, M3, and M4 were used as control samples while M5, M6, M7, M8, and M9 were variable samples with different percentages of kenaf core from 5% to 25%. Quarry dust was fixed at 75% for every variable mix and the balance of 25% sand was replaced by kenaf core at 5% intervals, respectively, until the portion of sand was zero. Based on all properties studied, it is found that the addition of kenaf core affected the thermal conductivity, density, porosity, and compressive strength value. Based on all the properties studied, the addition of kenaf core affected the compressive strength, density, porosity, and thermal conductivity. The compressive strength and density decreased as the kenaf core increased. However, the inclusion of kenaf core resulted in higher porosity. Meanwhile, the addition of a kenaf core from 5% to 25% as sand replacement improved the thermal conductivity values from 0.63 W/m•K to 0.42 W/m•K.
Highlights
Tropical climate countries like Malaysia are exposed to high temperatures outside the buildings on certain days
The thermal conductivity of earth bricks consists of soil, cement, gypsum, and straw; the results showed that the addition of straw fiber positively improved the thermal properties and the thermal conductivity slightly decreased as compared to bricks without reinforcement fibers [13]
It can be seen that as the percentages of the kenaf core increased from 5% to 25%, the compressive strength decreased exponentially
Summary
Tropical climate countries like Malaysia are exposed to high temperatures outside the buildings on certain days. Due to the high temperature exposure, the use of mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning are common solutions that provide and maintain the comfort-cool environment in a room or building interior [1]. It can be observed that the energy consumption in buildings is extremely high increasing the cost of cooling the spaces in the long run. One of the contributing factors of this matter is the material used in the building of the walls, which does not function well as a thermal insulator [2]. The thermal insulation of a building provides a comfortable environment for residents by blocking direct heat from the sunlight and maintaining internal cooling energy consumption. The continuing need to conserve energy has resulted in mandated requirements for the thermal performance of construction
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