Physic Mechanical Behaviours of Raw Earth Bricks: Case of Laterite Stabilized with Gum Arabic and Reinforced with Sugarcane Bagasse in Chad

Abstract

Laterite is very widespread in the manufacture of raw bricks. The objective of this article is to study the physics and mechanical behaviours of raw earth bricks using a composite material consisting of laterite stabilized with gum Arabic and reinforced with sugarcane bagasse. After the geotechnical tests and the formulation of the bricks, we carried out mechanical tests, which revealed that the highest values of compressive strength are obtained for a contribution of 25% (4.77 Mpa) and 30% (4.75 Mpa) of sugarcane bagasse and those of flexural strength of 25% (3.01 Mpa) and 30% (3.33 Mpa). The bricks are subjected to the tests of linear shrinkage, mass loss by immersion and abrasion, whose values vary respectively between 1.38% at 6%, from 16% to 6% and from 0.17 to 0.23 g/cm 2 depending on the addition of sugarcane bagasse from 5% to 30%. These results show that the mechanical and physical behaviors of the laterite-gum Arabic composite are improved by the addition of sugarcane bagasse, thus providing a reduction in mass loss by immersion. The study made it possible to understand that the composite would present explorable thermal potentialities given its linear shrinkage, a sign of the possible presence of pores.