06-Sept-2013

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CAST EARTH WITH LOCAL SOILS OF KERALA

Members: 1. Ms. Arya. V T

2. Mr. Neeraj . A. Narayanan 3. Ms.Neenu Chandran K 4. Mr. Rejin. T 5. Ms.Salmiya Bushra K

6. Mr. Shalu Balakrishnan A P

Research Supervisor: Ms.VANDANA SREEDHARANAssociate Professor,Dept.of Civil EngineeringGovt. College of Engg. Kannur

Presented to CERD Trivandrun

“ There can be no life without soil and no soil without life”

-Charles E. Kellogg

Glance at the Types of Earth Constructions

Natu

ral B

uild

ing

Tech

niqu

e

•One of man’s oldest building material .

•Used through the millennia for

construction of various structures.

•About 20 types of constructions such as

rammed earth, adobe, cobe, compressed

earth stabilised block, cast earth etc.

Advantages of Earth Constructions

• Ecological

• Economical

• Ergonomical

Reduce carbon foot printReduce Environmental impactCompletely recyclable

Reduces Economic cost

Comfortable

Major Hurdles

• Labor cost• Non uniformity of soils• Perception of soil as inferior material• Thicker heavier sections

Watt and Duab construction Cob wall construction

Adobe construction Rammed construction CSEB-construction

Cast earth construction

What is cast earth?

• A structural material made with earth and calcined gypsum

• It consists of rapidly pouring in place, removing forms shortly after the pour.

• A new development, not yet completely reduced to practice but put into limited field use from late 2003

• A patented technology

Need for cast earth• The cast earth works are light weight and flexible

because of the free flowing nature of the cast earth slurry and the rapid setting behavior

• Cast Earth components can be thinner in section• Cast earth can be poured with very high volumes as

compared with adobe and hence faster .• Cast Earth is machinery intensive, not labor

intensive.• Cast Earth can be made available at reasonable

cost as it utilizes the in-situ soils.

cast earth Socio Economic Importance

• Sustainable material for construction• Economical to build • Ideal for densely populated state like Kerala which

has soils suitable for earth constructions • Saving of embodied energy• Promotes local culture and heritage• Facilitates easy and speedy construction • Encourages the use of soils from the construction

site and thus minimizes the transport cost• Does not require skilled labour

OUR GREEN GOALS

• Test cast earth mixes with different local soils. • Develop specific mix design.• Promote the use of alternate materials.• Study suitability of the material for the state of

Kerala • Life cycle and embodied energy assessment.

Testing program • Characterization of soil.• Design of mix with alternative additives (based

on grain size) • Tests on workability and setting time • Study of Strength characteristics-(Compressive

strength and Modulus of rupture) • Linear Shrinkage test• Erosion test/Water absorption test

Project Schedule

• Literature review-Up to Dec 2013 • Collection of materials –Sept 15- Oct 15 2013 • Experiments – Jan 2014• Lifecycle analysis- Feb 2014• Report prepartion –March 2014

ANTICIPATED AND FUNDING FROM CERD

Sl No

Items

Amount (Rs.)

1. Consumables 10,0002. Equipments 20,0003. Travel 4,0004. Research Literature 1,0005. Other (specify)

a)Labour 5,0006. Contingency 10,000

Total

50,000 (Fifty Thousand only)

Anticipated impact

• Giving birth to a different method of construction which is economic,energy effiecient , comfortable, noise & fire resistant and sustainable…