Determining the thermal conductivity of earth plaster samples with mortar mixes suitable for African architecture

Date

2023-4-25

Author

Aluma, Benard

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Earth has been used as a building material in African architecture for millenniums. Building with earth in combination with other indigenous materials as additives has various benefits, including affordability, availability, and exceptional moisture-balancing and ventilation properties. However, they have certain limitations, such as their brittleness, lack of durability, and poor water resistance. Numerous studies, such as that of Pedergnana (2022), on mixes produced with ten types of sands, 11 types of fibers, and 13 types of biopolymers, have been conducted to improve these properties. On the other hand, more research was needed to determine the impact of the additives on the thermal properties of earth mixes, especially those that would be suitable for use in African architecture. Therefore, 18 samples were selected from Pedergnana’s research that contained three suitable additives (straw, sand, and cow dung) as well as two others (sheep wool and pine-needles) for comparison. Consequently, this study determined the effect of these additives on the thermal conductivity of the selected samples measured by a simplified method that is based on Fourier's heat transfer equation. The research revealed that the thermal conductivity of mud plasters decreased with an increase in the fiber content as well as the amount of cow dung. On the other hand, an increase in the amount of sand increased the thermal conductivity of the earth mixes. The thermal conductivity of fiber-stabilized samples was determined to be between 0.39 and 0.58 W/mK; that for samples with sand and fiber was between 0.41 and 0.60 W/mK, while the cow dung-stabilized samples had values ranging from 0.43 to 1.19 W/mK.

Subject Keywords

Mud plaster mixes, Natural additives, Natural fibers, Thermal conductivity, Adaptive material use in African architecture

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/103293

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis