Novel Simplified Construction of Walls and Prisms Made of CEBs and Earth-Based Mortar

Abstract

Compressed earth blocks (CEBs) have been increasingly studied and used in the past few decades as an eco-friendly alternative to regularly practiced concrete-and-masonry systems; especially in remote rural areas in developing countries. In most of the cases in which CEBs were used, mortars containing portland cement and/or other artificial binding materials have been used, which reduces the eco-friendliness of the constructed CEB structures. In the research presented in this paper, CEBs are manufactured manually using a simplified novel technique and earth-based mortars are developed using an earth mixture involving an industrial byproduct. The bond between the earth-based mortar and the CEBs was tested experimentally. The developed mortar is used to construct CEB prisms and walls after preroughening of the CEB surface. The prisms and walls were tested structurally until failure. Furthermore, the durability of the walls was assessed by performing cycles of wetting and drying on the walls. The results were found to be promising in constructing structurally sound and durable CEB buildings.