Effect of Locust Bean (Parkia Biglobosa) Pod Ash and Portland cement on Strength and Durability Properties of Compressed Earth Bricks

The need for locally produced, durable and robust, readily available, inexpensive and environmentally friendly building materials has led to persistent bottlenecks in sustainable housing delivery. "The construction industry is exploring exciting new materials that are eco-friendly and perfect for construction projects." The major problem associated with compressed earth bricks is the high rate of water absorption and lack of durability properties because most soil in its natural condition needs more strength, dimensional stability, and durability, which are required for building materials. The effect of high rate of water absorption and other strength and durability issues make bricks to be soluble in water and limits its use and performance of the bricks. This experimental study assesses the effect of locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) pod ash and Portland cement on compressed earth bricks' strength and durability properties. Compressed earth bricks were tested for density, compressive strength, permeability, water absorption, shrinkage, sorptivity and abrasion resistance. The maximum compressive strength was achieved at 10%C:10%LBPA stabilization with a strength of 2.52 N/mm2 and 2.80 N/mm2 at 28 and 56 days, which shows a 50% and 53.21% increase in strength over the control brick samples, respectively. Bricks produced with cement and locust bean pod ash were less permeable and had high resistance to abrasion, less shrinkage, less porous and less sorptivity than 0% stabilization. In conclusion, cement and locust bean pod ash are good stabilizing agents in compressed earth bricks. The use of Portland cement and locust bean pod ash as a stabilizing material seems to be a feasible solution not only to the problem associated with compressed earth bricks but also helps in the adoption of Indigenous waste material of locust bean pod in the production of bricks which will help reduce the environmental problem. Therefore, this research recommends using cement and locust bean pod ash at 10%C:10%LBPA in compressed earth bricks, leading to robust, stabilized and durable bricks.