Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) with bitumen emulsion

• Main Authors: Hernán Darío Cañola, Alejandro Builes-Jaramillo, Carlos Andrés Medina, Gustavo Enrique González-Castañeda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano 2018-10-01
• Series: TecnoLógicas
• Subjects: Capillary suction; compressed earth block; cold bitumen emulsion; water penetration; compressive strength
• Online Access: https://revistas.itm.edu.co/index.php/tecnologicas/article/view/1061/1069

Walls made of soil present serious failures due to their exposure to rain and groundwater. In addition, due to their hygroscopic characteristics, compressed earth blocks (CEBs) present low resistance to water penetration and high capillary absorption coefficients. Therefore, CEBs combined with a cold asphalt emulsion were experimentally analyzed as an alternative to reduce their capillary absorption coefficient and improve their resistance to water penetration. The emulsion was incorporated in proportions of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% with respect to the weight of water. The capillary absorption, resistance to compression, and moisture penetration of each sample were studied in order to calculate the optimal proportion of the mixture. Based on the results, CEBs with 50% asphalt emulsion exhibit the best characteristics of protection against humidity, thus guaranteeing the compressive strengthrequired for traditional construction.