Soil cement brick production process: literature review

Abstract

Soil-cement brick is one of the most common building materials for masonry construction, although it is not the oldest. As it is a product made up basically of soil and cement, it has existed in Brazil since the appearance of cement. The brick has been gaining market share due to several characteristics: ease of production, as it can be produced at the construction site itself, ease of obtaining raw material, as the soils exist in all locations, low processing costs, and easy handling. In addition, the soil-cement brick, also called ecological brick, stands out for not harming the environment like the ceramic brick that needs to be burned. Despite being a standardized product, production procedures and properties need to be updated. As an example, the soil used is very coarse which makes it difficult for the components to react. After conformation, the cure is still carried out without humidification, not obtaining adequate resistance. Furthermore, durability has been little studied. Thus, this article presents a literature review based on research in the production of soil-cement bricks. Materials and research methods used in the process of making soil-cement bricks, as well as various properties, are discussed. The most common results are grouped. The literature review showed that the production process is well defined, although it needs improvement. As for material properties, they meet the standards. However, the entire process needs more research.