Trujillo, Nicole1; Emiroglu, Mehmet2; Bowen, Tom3; Stormont, John4 and Reda Taha, Mahmoud5
1 Former Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico, nbtrujillo@unm.edu; Design Engineer, Reid Middleton, San Diego, CA, USA, ntrujillo@reidmiddleton.com
2 Visiting Scholar, University of New Mexico, Department of Civil Engineering, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, memiroglu@unm.edu; Assistant Professor, Duzce University, Technology Faculty, Civil Engineering Department, Duzce, Turkey, mehmetemiroglu@duzce.edu.tr
3 President, Functional Earth Consulting, LLC, Erie, Colorado, USA, tom@functionalearth.com
4 Professor, University of New Mexico, Department of Civil Engineering, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, jcstorm@unm.edu
5 Professor and Chair, University of New Mexico, Department of Civil Engineering, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, mrtaha@unm.edu
ABSTRACT
Structures made of earthen materials have a long architectural and cultural heritage in New Mexicoand certain regions around the world. Earthen structures, such as those constructed of compressed earth block provide an example of a sustainable building material. In this study, stabilized compressed earth blocks (SCEBs) were produced using local soils for residential construction on the Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, USA. Two selected local soils were mixed with sand and stabilized with various amounts of Portland cement to make 9 different mixtures which were used to fabricate SCEBs. A variety of laboratory investigations including soils and sand tests, block and wall tests were performed in this study. Compressive and flexural strength tests of the SCEBs were performed for both dry and saturated conditions. Tests to characterize water transport in SCEBs including initial rate of absorption and total absorption were also carried out. Superior performance was achieved for both ambient and saturated conditions with SCEBs that were stabilized with 10% Portland cement. These SCEB assemblies had a suitable interaction with mortar and the SCEB wall assemblies had a favorable structural performance. This study demonstrates SCEBs can provide a sustainable and suitable structural masonry for residential construction in New Mexico.
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