Experimental Study of the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Compressed Earth Blocks Stabilized with Sawdust According to the Rates for the Thermal Insulation of a Building

摘要

This paper presents an experimental study on the thermal and mechanical characterization of local materials used in building. These materials are blocks of compressed earth and stabilized with sawdust. Measurements of the thermophysical properties reveal that thermal conductivity decreases as the volume of sawdust in the mixture increases. It is 0.962 W.m~(-1).K~(-1) for simple compressed earth blocks, 0.907 W.m~(-1).K~(-1) for 1% sawdust and 0.512 W.m~(-1).K~(-1) for a dosage at 8%. These materials diffuse less heat and rapidly warm up significantly on the surface if the rate of sawdust increases. Dry compressive strength tests show an improvement of the mechanic strength when the dosage rate ranges between 0% and 1%. Lastly, we have also calculated the depth of diffusion of a room according to the various types of blocks used to build it.