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Comparative compressive strength of stabilized and un-stabilized rammed earth

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Abstract

In order to minimize the unsustainable use of natural resources and massive consumption of energy in manufacturing of building materials (like cement, brick) and to protect the environment from the critical natural hazards like global warming (due to emission of CO2 during production phase), the green home technique (i.e. rammed earth construction) is seen to be an efficient technique. In this paper, the suitability of rammed earth construction has been highlighted on the basis of results obtained by testing compressive strength of cube samples made using locally available materials like soil with/without stabilizers. Four categories of sample i.e. stabilized samples using cement with/without curing, using dung as stabilizer, using cement with black cotton soil and un-stabilized samples were moulded and tested. Results show that strength of stabilized sample is sufficiently high to use it as a building material.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank faculties, Department of Civil Engineering, Khwopa Engineering College, Bhaktapur, Nepal, for their valuable suggestions. The suitable working environment provided by Khwopa Engineering College is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Khwopa Engineering College, Bhaktapur, Nepal

    Binod Khadka & Manjip Shakya

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  1. Binod Khadka
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  2. Manjip Shakya
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Correspondence to Binod Khadka.

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Khadka, B., Shakya, M. Comparative compressive strength of stabilized and un-stabilized rammed earth. Mater Struct 49, 3945–3955 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-015-0765-5

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