Compressed Earth blocks with powdered green mussel shell as partial binder and pig hair as fiber reinforcement

Date of Publication

2017

Document Type

Bachelor's Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with Spec in Construction Technology & Management

Subject Categories

Engineering

College

Gokongwei College of Engineering

Department/Unit

Civil Engineering

Thesis Adviser

Bernardo Lejano

Defense Panel Chair

Cheryl Lyne C. Roxas

Defense Panel Member

Ronaldo S. Gallardo

Juanito V. Eje

Abstract/Summary

Compressed Earth blocks (CEBs), made from soil ad compacted using a molder, have shown several weaknesses and have been known for its low strength. Thus several studies have started using cement as stabilizer for CEBs. Some studies have learned that compressed Earth blocks can perform well as concrete hollow blocks (CHBs). Due to the brittleness of CEBs, the waste material-- pig hair fibers (PHF), may be utilized as fiber reinforcement for CEBs to improve their performance against cracking. Due to the high cost of cement, another waste material-- green mussel shells (GMS), can be used as a substitute for cement and as a partial cement substitute in compressed Earth blocks. In this study, CEBs reinforced with PHF and GMS were subjected to compressive, flexural, and drip erosion tests. By varying the amount of PHF, amount of GMS, and the specimen curing time, 11 PHF-GMS combinations with a control specimen and 3 specimen curing periods (7 days, 14 days, and 28 days) were used for the study. Optimization was done through statistical analysis usign the statistical software Stata to remove outliers. To check the significance of the increase in strength in contrast to the control sample, it was followed by single factor ANOVA test and T-test: 2 variables assuming unequal variances.

The results of this paper have shown that CEBs with 0.75%PHF-10%GMS contents have the highest average compressive strength and flexural strength which are 4.16 MPa and 0.3008 MPa respectively. This yields a 67% and 412% performance increase, as opposed to the control sample's performance. Lastly, the samples also with 0.375%PHF-10% GMS also performed well in the drip erosion test.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Print

Accession Number

TU21981

Shelf Location

Archives, The Learning Commons, 12F, Henry Sy Sr. Hall

Physical Description

x, 138 leaves : illustrations (some color) ; 30 cm.

Keywords

Building materials; Concrete construction

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