Feasibility of production fired bricks based lateritic soil at very low temperature

Abstract

The present project deals with the production of lateritic soil based bricks under different curing temperatures (28°C–150°C). A fraction of 10–30 wt% amount alkaline solution was added to improve the reactive phase content. The raw materials and hardened products were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourrier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mechanical properties and scanning electron microscope analysis. The results show that the addition of alkaline solution (30%) and the curing temperature (150°C) have a beneficial influence on physical properties (bulk density: 1.77 g/cm3, water absorption: 16.98%, and porosity: 30.13%) and mechanical performances (flexural: 6.61 MPa and compressive: 13.57 MPa). Compared with the code requirements for stabilized earth blocks, the compressive strength was higher than the minimum required. Microstructural investigations were also carried out to confirm the macrostructural properties. The above-mentioned process appears to be a suitable candidate for engineering applications such as the stabilization of earth roads.