Interlocking Block Research Articles

Effect of corncob ash blended cement on the properties of lateritic interlocking blocks

The increase in carbon dioxide emissions due to cement manufacturing and improper disposal of corncob leads to environmental pollution and agricultural wastage respectively. This study investigates the use of corncob ash (CCA) as cement additive in producing lateritic interlocking blocks (LIB). Portland limestone cement (PLC) was replaced by CCA in varying percentages 5, 10, 15 and 20%. Effect of CCA on compressive strength and water absorption were determined and compared with the Nigerian standard requirements. The experimental findings showed that 3% PLC, 15% CCA with a compressive strength of 4.49 MPa and water absorption of 6% at 28 days curing met the recommendations of both the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute and the Nigerian Industrial Standards. Recycling of CCA as a promising raw material supplement appears to be a viable solution not only to the environmental problem but also to the problem of adopting indigenous waste material in the production of LIB.

Effect of corncob ash blended cement on the properties of lateritic interlocking blocks

Effect of corncob ash blended cement on the properties of lateritic interlocking blocks

Testing and modelling the in-plane seismic response of clay brick masonry walls with boundary columns made of precast concrete interlocking blocks

Post-earthquake evidence indicates that traditional rural masonry structures in China do not perform well when subjected to large intensity ground shaking. Because common cast-in-place (CIP) reinforced concrete (RC) construction is relatively expensive for many rural people the construction technique is currently unpopular in rural areas of China. In comparison, the assembly of precast concrete interlocking blocks to form fabricated columns is cost effective and easy to construct using available resources, and implementation of the technique in rural masonry structures will result in superior seismic behavior. To address these issues a study was undertaken to experimentally establish the performance of masonry walls with traditional concrete columns and with fabricated boundary columns constructed of precast concrete interlocking blocks, and finite element models were generated to extend the range of parameters considered in the study. It was established that the implementation of fabricated concrete boundary columns made of precast concrete interlocking blocks improved seismic response with respect to traditional construction practice and 37 trial buildings were constructed to demonstrate implementation of the technique. It was also established that computational models could be generated to adequately replicate laboratory observations, endorsing use of this method to extend the project scope.

Comparison of properties of prefabricated interlocking pavement blocks cured at different conditions

In this study, influence of curing condition and fly ash content on properties of pre-fabricated concrete interlocking blocks (PCIBs) were investigated. The blocks were produced with crushed sand stone (fine) and crushed stone (coarse) as aggregate. Also, fly ash was added to mixtures in different ratio by replacing the cement from 0 to 30%. PCIBs were cured in three different types as steam cure, water-pool cure and wet cure. Compressive strength, tensile splitting strength, density, apparent porosity, water absorption by weight and abrasion resistance of PCIBs was determined. When comparing the PCIBs, the use of wet cure results in lower physical and mechanical properties after 28 days. By contrast, water-pool and steam cure gives better result on mechanical and physical properties. Also, replacement of cement with fly ash (from 10% to 20%) has a significant effect in increasing important properties of PCIBs.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF INTERLOCKING AND SANDCRETE BLOCKS FOR BUILDING WALLING SYSTEMS

The high cost of building materials, especially sandcrete blocks in Ghana, has made building construction products expensive and created a housing deficit of about 1.6 million. Meanwhile, the interlocking blocks, which are made up of laterite and cement abound could be exploited to help reduce the cost of housing construction. Especially, wall construction which is one of the major components of the entire building process. This paper sought to explore the possibility of adopting the interlocking block wall system as a means of making wall construction of buildings affordable in Ghana. A comparative study using interlocking blocks system and sandcrete blocks was made. An observation of the processes were made to identify the extent to which each system falls in line. A sample size of 45 respondents comprising 20 workers of P-A Capital Estate Housing, 5 personnel from consultancy firms and 20 private individuals were selected for further confirmatory study with the use of convenience and purposive sampling technique. To determine whether there were any statistically significant differences between the mean values, paired-sample t-test at the 0.05 level of significance was done. Results showed that, the use of interlocking blocks do not only lead to elimination of a number of non-value adding activities associated with the use of the sandcrete blocks, but also make the wall construction process cheaper and faster. It was also discovered that the absence of mortar jointing in the interlocking system reduced the quantity of materials, like cement and sand, required in the sandcrete wall construction process. Furthermore, there was no statistically difference between the compressive strength of interlocking blocks and conventional sandcrete blocks. However, there were statistically significant differences between construction cost and speed of construction using the two systems of construction.

Use of coconut fibre reinforced concrete and coconut-fibre ropes for seismic-resistant construction

Earthquake-resistant and economical housing is the most desirable need in rural areas of developing countries. These regions often suffer significant loss of life during a seismic event. To enable an efficient and cost-effective solution, a new concept of construction, i.e. a wallette of interlocking blocks with movability at the interface and rope reinforcement, is investigated. The novel interlocking block is made of coconut fibre reinforced concrete (CFRC). The reason for using coconut fibre is their highest toughness amongst natural fibres. This paper describes the in-plane behaviour of the interlocking wallette under earthquake loadings. The wallette response is measured in terms of induced acceleration, block uplift, top maximum relative displacement and rope tension. The applied earthquake loadings cannot produce any damage in the structure, i.e. blocks and/or ropes. The response of the wallette is explained in detail along with correlation of materials aspect with structural behaviour.

Adjustment of the river channel due to block ramps introduction: Porębianka mountain creek, Polish Carpathians

The paper includes a description of 25-five interlocked boulder block ramps with increased roughness located on Porebianka creek and presents an analysis how those low head hydraulic structures fit to a natural river system: riffle-pool. These block ramps with increased roughness structures might be called close to the nature, and in hydraulics engineering they are replacing traditional drop hydraulic structures. One of the main advantages of block ramps is that they are supposed to be placed in a natural sequence distances which follows pools and riffles pattern along a river, also block ramps allows free movement of fish upstream and downstream without necessity of fish pass construction

Cubism and research synthesis.

rench artist Fernand Leger (1881–1955) embraced the Cubist art movement of fracturing objects into geometric shapes. The term cubism draws on the art critic Louis Vauxcelles’ reference to the bizarre cubes he saw in budding artwork that fragmented form into interlocking blocks. Many Cubists reduced objects into cylinders, spheres, and cones and painted them in a single plane as if all faces of an object are visible simultaneously or successively. Influenced by his background as an architec tural draftsman and by modernism, Leger was interested in the relationship between color and architecture, perhaps to express the noise, dynamism, speed, and movement of new technology and machinery. Leger’s unique brand of cubism was distinguished by his focus on geometric forms, use of brilliant primary colors, bold black outlines, and belief that everyone could understand art. Leger adapted cubism techniques to break down forms into tubular shapes. His predominant style in 1910 was nicknamed “Tubism.” Cubism can evoke in our minds the methodology of research synthesis conducted via systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Synthesis of clinical or public health research, conducted by combining results of several studies, explores the relationship between an intervention or an exposure and a health outcome from perspectives different from and in addition to those examined in a single study. In cubism, the artist paints an object from different or successive angles as a single image on a single canvas. In research synthesis, clinical and public health professionals examine the scientific literature on a certain topic from multiple years and perspectives. Meta-analysts display the literature in one publication in different figures, including forest plots, funnel plots, and chronological cumulative meta-analysis. Cubist artwork creates a feeling of movement and shape that can differ from what an object represents. Research synthesis allows for examining scientific studies of diagnostic tools, therapies, interventions, programs, or policies as part of a continuum, with the past flowing into the present and the present influencing the future. By revolutionizing the way objects are depicted and painted, Cubists created a dialogue among art critics, collectors, dealers, and the general public. Research synthesis creates a dialogue among clinical

Shape Optimization and Mix Proportion Design of Innovative Interlocking Mortarless Block

Mortarless interlocking blocks have the advantage of convenient construction and low cost, but establishing the geometry interlocking mechanism between horizontal blocks has been overlooked. Optimizing the shape of mortarless interlocking block. The connection of vertical direction in the form of a frustum of a cone, and the connection of horizontal direction in the form of trapezoid shape. This design proposal builds geometry interlocking mechanism between the block and its all adjacent ones. Setting cone and rectangular holes on block body, accordingly, block laying could forming taper vertical channel and rectangular vertical channel. The concrete of interlocking mortarless block has particularity, which is not suitable for “Mix Proportion Design of Ordinary Concrete Regulation” (JGJ55-2010) of China. This paper presents a platter idea to establish the concrete mix proportion design method of mortarless interlocking block, moreover, an example calculation and confirmatory experiment is dispensable.

Effects of Using Fine Quarry Waste as Cement Replacement Material on the Compressive Strength of the Mixture of Interlocking Block

The compressive strength of the sand-cement interlocking block mixtures were investigated by the method adapt from ASTM C 109. The cementitious to sand ratio of all mixtures were set at 1:2.75. Amount of water in the mixtures were 8% by weight of the solid as determined from optimum water content according to the compaction test (ASTM D698). In the mixtures, cement was replaced by fine quarry waste at the rate of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% by weight of the binder. The results show that the average density of the mixture is 2.30 ton/m3 while increasing percentage of fine quarry wastes to replace cement decreases the compressive strength of the mixture at all tested ages (i.e. 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, 56 and 90 days). Moreover, the compressive strength ratio, the proposed parameter in this paper, shows a close relationship between percentages replacement of fine quarry wastes and compressive strength at later age.

The Performance of the Interlocking Block Solar Collector

This paper investigates the thermal performance of the interlocking block solar collector. It consists of the interlocking block wall with horizontal cylindrical hollow and embedded the steel pipes connected in series, the steel pipe outer diameter are 25.4 mm; serves as a collector. The collector having a height of 2.2 m, 1.5 m wide, and thickness of 0.1 m. The results were presented the maximum temperature difference between inlet and outlet air temperatures by about 6°C. The room temperature of interlocking block solar collector is lower than the common interlocking block throughout the day. The efficiency of interlocking block solar collector during the experimental period was about 20%, that is a significantly to reduce heat gain into space room.

Residual compressive and shear strengths of novel coconut-fibre-reinforced-concrete interlocking blocks

The results of an experimental study to evaluate the residual compressive and shear strengths of novel coconut-fibre-reinforced-concrete (CFRC) interlocking blocks are discussed in this paper. This work is part of a research project in which the development of mortar-free interlocking structures is intended for cheap and easy-to-built earthquake-resistant housing. Recently, mortar-free walls made of these blocks were tested under a series of harmonic and earthquake loadings. Only few blocks at the wall bottom were damaged, the other blocks (with no visual damage) had gone under numerous uplifts which might have affected the block strengths. In parallel, the blocks without any use over a period of time in tropical environment are also considered as coconut fibres are natural materials whose strengths might have decayed. These two cases represent two real scenarios in which (I) a structure stands without having an earthquake over a period and (II) a structure having a series of dynamic loading. In both cases, the residual strengths are of much interest to determine the remaining serviceable life of the structures. The results show that the impact of dynamic load histories on capacities of CFRC interlocking blocks was relatively more in comparison to the effect of age. The compressive and in-plane strengths were increased up to 3.2% and 5.7%, respectively, after undergoing a series of dynamic loading. This shows the advantage of earthquake loading on mortar-free structures.

A case study: Evaluation of water storage capacity in permeable block pavement

In every city, low-volume roads and parking lots are composed of dense-graded pavements that increase storm-water runoff; however, urban flooding problems can be prevented if an appropriate pavement system is achieved. One preferable solution to this problem for low volume roads and parking lots is to use permeable interlocking block pavement. To determine the storage capacity of this kind of pavement, a series of material property tests were performed such as specific gravity, void ratios, and porosity etc., which was further used to calculate the water storage capacity of the pavement. And rainfall simulation tests were performed to evaluate surface runoff, delay time, storage capacity, and outflows over two hours. A regression analysis showed that the water storage capacity measurement from rain simulation tests agreed with the storage capacity calculation depending on laboratory materials-properties tests, based on their high correlation and coefficient values, each within the 95% confidence interval.

Variability in height growth, survival and nursery carryover effect of Betula papyrifera provenances

Eleven paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) provenances from a single geographic region in northern Idaho and four geographic regions in British Columbia (BC) were studied to determine whether morphometric variability was due to species' genetics, growing environment, or their interaction. Seedlings were grown at three nurseries in BC and Idaho and planted in a randomised single-tree interlocking block design at Skimikin (50°47′) and Red Rock (53°45′) common gardens in BC. Geographic variation in birch height growth was regulated by genetics and a complex interaction with environmental factors. Growth does not follow latitudinal, longitudinal or elevational clines although provenances at the southern garden showed better height growth compared to the northern garden. Greater percentages of seedling mortality were observed at the northern garden compared to provenances planted at the southern garden. Birch height growth was significantly influenced by nursery displacement effects up to four years after establishment. The safe range of southward seed-transfer distance may be as much as 5°, and beyond this limit a detrimental effect likely occurs. Collectively, these results suggest that a provenance best suited to one environment might not be the best for another environment. However, these findings will be useful in understanding the genecology of paper birch when establishing operational seed-transfer guidelines in BC.

Improvement on the Design and Construction of Interlocking Blocks and its Moulding Machine

Production of blocks used for wall construction have different techniques adopted which could be in form of hollow or solid blocks produced in varying shapes laid with mortar. An improved form of mortar-less blocks which is an innovative structural component for masonry building construction called interlocking block which can be produced mechanically or manually using interlocking block production machine, particularly an improved interlocking block machine with dual mould. This brings about economical production, reduced cost of labour and appreciation of available local materials for construction of structures for both rural and urban development in the world today, thereby eliminating the use of mortar in laying of blocks. The blocks are neatly fixed through the aid of grooves and protrusion on the blocks to restrain movement when assembling the interlocking block from top and or bottom of one to another forming safe, stable, economical and aesthetic bonding for walls. It can be widely used for both temporary and permanent structures. The top blocks, middle blocks and toe blocks have different forms of projected and engraved part achieved by the aid of pallet placed at the bottom of mould and replaceable mould lid. The assembling does not require much skill, and more so, faster, neater with improved efficiency. The dismantling in the case of temporary wall is, also, easier, faster and economical which do not involve destroying any part of the wall.

겨울철 보도 미끄럼 저항

PURPOSES : This study aimed to measure the skid resistance of the sidewalk in order to find out the relationship between different surface types and skid resistance. By using British Pendulum Tester, skid resistance of sidewalk was measured in a wet after snow-melt, sludgy, and snowy conditions. METHODS : The skid resistance was measured on surfaces including Concrete Interlocking Block Paving, Colour Asphalt Pavement, Granite Block Paving, Manhole, and Tactile Paving for Visually Impaired. Five trials at each measurement were made, and the average and standard deviation were derived. RESULTS : The skid resistance measured in wet after snow-melt, sludgy, and snowy conditions for the various surface types are summarized and compared. Reduction rates of skid resistance of sludgy and snowy against wet after snow-melt are also analysed. The skid resistance variation between measurement points which mimic pedestrian route in study site are analysed to check out the consistency of the skid resistance along the sidewalk. CONCLUSIONS : The study concluded that the skid resistance of sidewalk surfaces varied depending on the surface types and weather conditions. Secondly, reduction rates of skid resistance according to weather changes are varied depending on the surface types, Thirdly, consistency of skid resistance along the pedestrian route is hardly acquired in the study site at least. So, future study on the consistency evaluation for skid resistance along sidewalk is strongly recommended.

Effect of municipal solid waste ash on comprehensive strength characteristics of an interlocking block masonry wall

Masonry is a layered composite which consists of mortar and masonry units. A good bond between the units is essential and determines how the masonry transfers and resist stresses due to applied loads. In this study interlocking blocks were used in masonry wall construction in order to introduce uniformity in the wall model by eliminating mortar as a binding media. The blocks were moulded in a CINVA-Ram machine by replacing 0%, 2%, 5% and 10% of municipal solid waste ash (MSW ash) as a stabilizing agent. The compressive strengths of individual blocks were obtained after curing for 7, 14 and 28 days. The 2%MSW ash replacement gave the highest compressive strength and was used in constructing the wall model. The wall models were loaded in compression in direction normal to bed joints. The 2%MSW ash stabilized Juja soil wall failure was generally associated with diagonal cracks and bulging of the wall from sides. A maximum crack width of 40 mm wide occurred at failure with the central deflection of the wall reaching 20 mm at an ultimate failure stress of 2.49 N/mm 2 . The failure mode of un-stabilized Juja soil wall model was mainly due to vertical cracks forming below the load application point. The ultimate failure stress of un-stabilized Juja soil wall was 2.5 N/mm 2 , however its central deflection was low than that of stabilized wall. Conversely, un-stabilized Murang’a soil wall failed by crushing introduced by vertical cracks. A maximum stress of 0.997 N/mm 2 was achieved with a central deflection of 12 mm. Stabilized Murang’a soil had a low failure stress of 0.85 N/mm 2 as compared to the un-stabilized soil. The wall failed due to a combination of horizontal and diagonal cracks forming on the wall. In both cases the strength of individual blocks was higher than that achieved in the wall models. The progression of failure stress cracks for 2%MSW ash stabilized wall model was corresponding to that recommended in the code of practice for masonry, thus the same code can be used in design of stabilized masonry walls. Keywords: Compressive strength, failure mode, interlocking blocks, stabilization, Solid Waste Ash. Nigerian Journal of Technological Research , 8(2), 2013

Influence of pervious pavement systems on heat dissipation from a horizontal geothermal system

Due to increasing energy demands, leading countries have focused on finding renewable energy sources. Geothermal Energy is a renewable, efficient, reliable and proven energy source for heating and cooling buildings. Among all the geothermal heat exchanger systems, geothermal paving systems couple the benefits of a permeable pavement system and a horizontal heat exchanger. This paper analyses the influence of different paving surfaces and sub-bases on the thermal performance of pavement section using a newly developed laboratory test. According to the temperature profiles observed, porous asphalt surface and limestone gravel sub-base combine to produce a system which insulates the most under ambient air conditions, while interlocked concrete block pavement surface and plastic cell sub-base dissipated the most heat.

Deconstructing Building Blocks: Preschoolers' Spatial Assembly Performance Relates to Early Mathematical Skills

This study focuses on three main goals: First, 3-year-olds' spatial assembly skills are probed using interlocking block constructions (N = 102). A detailed scoring scheme provides insight into early spatial processing and offers information beyond a basic accuracy score. Second, the relation of spatial assembly to early mathematical skills was evaluated. Spatial skill independently predicted a significant amount of the variability in concurrent mathematical performance. Finally, the relation between spatial assembly skill and socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and parent-reported spatial language was examined. While children's performance did not differ by gender, lower SES children were already lagging behind higher SES children in block assembly. Furthermore, lower SES parents reported using significantly fewer spatial words with their children.

Performance and Economic Comparative Study of Interlocking Block and Clay Brick Buildings

This paper presents the results of an inquiry into the comparative thermal performance and economic viability of interlocking block and clay brick. To this end, two test rooms of 2.4 m width, 2.4 m length and 2 m height were built. The first room was constructed using interlocking block wall whereas the second room used commercial clay brick wall. Data recorded included room temperature, inside and outside surfaces temperatures of all walls, and solar intensity. The experimental results showed that heat conducted better through the interlocking block than through the clay brick. This was not surprising because the thermal conductivity of the interlocking block is 234% higher than the clay brick. However, the cost of interlocking block wall was lower than the clay brick wall by 34.5%. An economic analysis indicates that the payback period of the clay brick in tandem with a 1 ton, split-type air-conditioner depends on the indoor set-point temperature. The payback period extends over a considerable time, and as such, the interlocking block represents the most cost effective alternative for wall construction.