Influence of sisal fibers on the properties of rammed earth

Abstract

The use of rammed earth has been increasing widely during recent years in many countries as an alternative material for building houses due to its valuable characteristics such as affordability, environment friendly, comfort, strength and durability. This thesis presents the result of an experimental study to evaluate the compressive strength and bond strength properties of untreated, treated bamboo splints and steel reinforced cement stabilized rammed earth blocks. To overcome the deficiencies of blocks, sisal fibers are added to improve the performance of CSRE blocks. Fibers are secondary reinforced materials and acts as crack arresters which improves the strength of cement stabilized rammed earth blocks. In this experimental study, red soil is mixed by adding four different percentages (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) of OPC and sisal fiber with 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1.0% by weight of soil respectively. The bamboo splints were treated by soaking them in chemical solution of boric acid, Copper-Sulphate and Potassium Di-chromate (1.5:3:4).The resin-based adhesive with coarse sand will be applied to the top of bamboo splints. After 28days of curing period the cubes were tested for compressive strength, pull-out test is done for a series of CSRE blocks in which Bamboo splints and steel bars are embedded to find out its bond strength.