THE STABILIZATION OF COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCK USING FLY ASH

Abstract

The research described in this paper focused on the study of earth bricks made with fly ash known as compressed stabilized earth block (CSEB). This earth block was made by using 50% of laterite soil, 30% of fine aggregate, 20% of coarse aggregate and few percentages of fly ash as a stabiliser. The laterite soil, which was taken around Infrastructure, University of Kuala Lumpur was classified as well graded with about 73% of fine soil and 27% of course soil. Optimum moisture content and maximum dry density of the soil compaction test were 20% and 1.60 Mg/cm3 respectively. The CSEB with 10% fly ash had the highest compressive strength which was 1.09 MPa after 28-day curing. Durability tests improved the compressive strength of the earth block with 10% of fly ash after 21 days of freezing and drying, 21 days of drying and 24 hours of heating in the oven. The lowest water absorption percentage was 12.17%. Abrasive test showed that the earth blocks with 10% of fly ash gave the lowest amount of particle abraded away. Finally, conclusions were drawn and further works were proposed.

Keywords: CSEB, laterite soil, fly ash, compressive strength, water absorption, freezing, drying, heating, abrasive