Title: Effect of Sorghum Shives & Wheat Straw on the Properties of Compressed Earth Blocks

Author(s): Imane Gharbage, Ferhat Benmahiddine, Nassim Sebaibi

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 362

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 813-827

Keywords: compressed earth blocks; compressive strength; earthen construction materials; sorghum shives; thermal properties

DOI: 10.14359/51742011

Date: 6/17/2024

Abstract:
Combining earth with natural aggregates or fibers such as wheat straw, wood shavings, rice husks, bamboo, flax fibers, or animal hair, was a building technique used worldwide thousands of years ago. Today, Sorghum, an African plant, is cultivated globally with major production areas in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Australia. Its cultivation has also begun in Europe due to its versatility and adaptability to different environmental conditions. Sorghum serves several purposes, including human and animal food, animal forage, and silage, as well as industrial applications such as methanization, biofuels, and biomaterials production. This paper investigates the effect of different sorghum shives proportions (0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) on the thermal and mechanical properties of compressed earth blocks. Furthermore, a comparison was conducted between the properties of sorghum shives and wheat straw-reinforced earth blocks. The measured properties were thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and compressive strength. Moreover, microscopic observations were performed by using numerical microscopy to gain a better understanding of the materials' behavior. According to the different results, a significant decrease of 64% in thermal conductivity was obtained for reinforced compressed earth blocks. However, the compressive strength was affected negatively and a decrease of 62% and 65% was noted for sorghum shives and wheat straw-reinforced earth blocks, respectively. Finally, the formulations studied had an insignificant effect on the specific heat capacity.