Researchers

Aref Alswidani - Ayman Meziab - Lina Othman - Mulham Kharboutli

Published in

Al Baath University Journal, Civil Engineering and Architectural Sciences Series, volume 46, issue 4, May 2024.

Abstract

Clayey and silty soils are widely spread in the Syrian Arab country, but using mud brick as a building material is now considered an urban heritage, so the revival of this heritage needs modern additions that improve its positive properties and reduce its negative aspects represented in its weak resistance and the phenomena of swelling and shrinkage, and this is what is expected to be achieved. Using the additives that were chosen in this research from natural sources or from the remnants of agricultural industries, such as the industry of oil olive.

Addition percentages of natural stabilizers and wastes of agricultural industries, between (5% to 15%), were chosen to be added to samples of silty soil to test them as a building material suitable for the production of mud brick units.

Grain size distribution, Atterberg limits, shrinkage, and shear strength tests were carried out for the silty soil sample before using stabilizers, and it was found that it is a high plasticity silty soil (MH) according to the Unified Soil Classification system (USCS).

The crystalline structure of the high plasticity silty soil was also determined using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). In order to document the sample.

The results of casting samples of high plasticity silty soil before and after addition in wooden molds, showed that the reference sample cast of high plasticity silty soil with moisture close to the liquid limit (50%) showed significant shrinkage, shrinkage was restricted when using additives so that it became less than the shrinkage of the reference sample. The lowest shrinkage obtained was when lime and olive ash were added to the slurry mixture.

To test the properties of strength, samples were cast in the form of cubes (4 4 4cm) of high plasticity silty soil with and without additives and subjected to pressure till broken.

As a result, the results of improving the high-plasticity silty soil with the addition materials proposed in the research gave promising results with the possibility of using them to produce mud bricks suitable for earth structures with strength and durability suitable for investment.

Link to full paper

https://albaath-univ.edu.sy/journal/index.php/Civil/issue/view/800/732