Comportamiento térmico y energético del bloque de tierra compactada (BTC)

Abstract

This research studies the behavior of BTC stabilized with cement and vegetable fibers from rice husks, sugarcane bagasse and sawdust shavings. The characteristics of the suitable soils for its manufacture in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, were investigated. Six local soils were analyzed, found in the sectors of Sinincay, Sayausí, Baguanchi, Racar, Ucubamba and Tarqui. Field and laboratory tests were applied to the soils. With the Racar soil the following groups were designed: blocks stabilized with cement at 5, 10, 15% in relation to the dry weight of the soil; blocks stabilized with cement and vegetable fibers in a proportion of 1, 2 and 3% in relation to the dry mixture; blocks stabilized only with vegetable fibers. Blocks of 29x14x7,5cm were manufactured in a manual machine type "CINVA-RAM", which were submitted to the tests of resistance to simple compression at 30, 60 and 90 days after its manufacture; and thermal conductivity test by the Hot Plate method. The results showed that the cement increase improves the compressive strength and increases the thermal conductivity. The addition of vegetable fibers to the mixture further improves the compressive strength, in addition the values of thermal conductivity decrease. The blocks stabilized only with vegetable fibers have low values of resistance to compression. The thermal conductivity of the BTC is lower than that of other materials found in the literature such as brick, adobe, concrete block, although higher than the pumice block. The thermal transmittance calculated for uncoated BTC walls is lower than the brick walls values, but higher than the pumice wall. The manual manufacturing process and its low energy consumption in its production, show that its environmental impact compared to blocks and bricks used in the market is lower.