Influence of cement content on the thermal properties of compressed earth blocks (CEB) in the dry state

The Compressed Earth Block (CEBs) is one of the kinds of building materials which stabilized by cement. Soil is a basic component, a renewable, non-toxic and natural resource. Samples must be stabilized with a limited percentage of cement so that samples do not lose their natural properties including thermal comfort and on other hand offer high mechanical resistance. The objective of this work is to study the effect of cement content on thermal behavior of the building material of CEBs in the dry state, by studying variation of temperature with time, and measuring thermal conductivity and the specific heat, with respect to the various cement ratios added to the samples. This study is mainly an experimental and numerical, to determine how the thermal behavior evolves with the cement content in the samples CEBs. The soil was extracted from the famous city Fez in Morocco, Fez is known for its several historical monuments and buildings. After determining its granulometry and other specific characteristics, the CEBs are made by mixing soil with cement. The samples are put in plastic bags for two weeks, then removed the plastic bags from the samples and let them to dry again for an additional two weeks away from direct sun. The samples CEBs are taken cylindrical form (8 cm diameter with an average height of 12 cm). The experimental method consists of a hot ring for which a numerical modelization was developed to fit the mathematical equations of heat diffusion and the boundary conditions. For the numerical model Bouabid and Cherraj have developed numerical model which allow, with a good accuracy, to quantify the evolution of the thermal behavior of the earth material in function of cement content. Indeed, the study provides information on the influence of the cement percentage on the thermal behavior of the samples CEBs, the thermal behavior of samples increase with increase cement content