Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

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Construction and Building Materials

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Mechanical and thermophysical properties of raw earth bricks

incorporating date palm waste
Daifallah Khoudja a, Bachir Taallah a,⇑, Ouarda Izemmouren a, Salima Aggoun b, Ouided Herihiri a,c,
Abdelhamid Guettala a
a
Laboratory of Research in Civil Engineering, Mohamed Khider University of Biskra, Algeria
b
CY Cergy Paris University, L2MGC, F-95000 Cergy, France
c
Department of Civil Engineering, Yahia Fares University of Médéa, Algeria

h i g h l i g h t s

A bio-sourced lightweight material based on raw earth and date palm waste aggregates is investigated.

The thermal insulation performance of bricks incorporating date palm waste is significantly improved.

The presence of date palm waste in the material has a significant impact on its mechanical performance.

Date palm waste-based bricks are classified as weakly capillary, according to Standard NF XP 13-901.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Low cost building materials, thermal comfort, energy consumption reduction and lower carbon dioxide
Received 17 July 2020 emissions are the main reasons for the renewed interest in the exploitation of local materials, in partic-
Received in revised form 14 November 2020 ular earth material and plant waste, in several countries throughout the world. In this context, the main
Accepted 21 November 2020
purpose of the present work is to test a bio-sourced composite material, in the form of raw earth bricks,
stabilized with lime and mixed with date palm waste (DPW) aggregates. This is done for the purpose of
studying the effect of this waste at different contents (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% by weight) on the physical and
Keywords:
thermal properties of the bricks obtained, and on their mechanical behavior. The results obtained
Raw earth
Brick
revealed an improvement in the thermal insulation, with a thermal conductivity that went from
Date palm waste 0.677 W/m.K, for test pieces with no date palm waste (DPW), to 0.342 W/m.K for those containing
Mechanical behavior 10% of DPW. This improvement was accompanied by a reasonable decrease in the mechanical perfor-
Water absorption mance, while keeping the minimum performance threshold required by earthen construction standards.
Thermal conductivity Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction 3]. Like many developing countries, the building sector in Algeria
is the largest consumer of energy, since it represents more than
Global technological and socio-economic development has led 42% of the overall energy consumption [2]. This figure has been
to excessive consumption of energy, which has generated signifi- continuously increasing in recent years. In the residential sector,
cant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the environment. It is this consumption went from 8.86 million tons of oil equivalent
widely acknowledged that CO2 emissions linked to the industrial (Mtoe) in 2010 [4] up to 17.64 million tons of oil equivalent in
sector, excluding those related to Land Use, Land Use Change and 2018 [5].
Forestry (LULUCF), increased by more than 60% between the years The reduction of energy consumption generated by the use of
1990 and 2016, with contrasting trends, depending on the speci- heating or air conditioning systems has been the subject of several
ficities of each country [1]. The building sector is one of the main research studies aimed at improving the thermal insulation of
sectors requiring high energy consumption, as it is responsible walls as well as the choice of the constituent materials [6–10]. In
for around 40% of the annual energy consumption worldwide [2– this context, The use of bio-sourced composite materials based
on raw earth may be a good choice, especially in rural areas, given
their considerable power in terms of thermal insulation, their
⇑ Corresponding author. affordability and their low impact on the environment [10–12].
E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Taallah).

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D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

It is widely believed that, in the past, man has used several tech- announced that better results could be obtained with mixtures
niques in earth construction. The most prevalent one consisted of including palm fibers. They also discovered that the presence of
utilizing the raw earth brick that is commonly known as adobe fibers prevents the formation of deep cracks in bricks. On the other
[13]. The principle of adobe production is to mold earth, previously hand, the results obtained by Ismail and Yaacob [30] showed that
prepared in a plastic state, and naturally dried on the ground. It is the addition of 3% of palm fibers induced an improvement in the
worth indicating that adobe constructions have considerable eco- compressive strength of the composite brick. In the same study,
nomic, thermal and environmental advantages; however, they the authors also noted a slight increase in water absorption as
are often criticized because of their sensitivity to water and their the fiber content went up. However, other authors indicated that
lack of durability [14]. In order to improve the mechanical behavior increasing the content of vegetable fibers decreases the compres-
of the adobe material so that it can better resist the erosive effect of sive strength of a clay brick as well as the Young’s modulus [31–
water, two stabilization methods, i.e. chemical and physical, are 33].
actually applied. The chemical method consists of adding cement Furthermore, several research studies have shown that, to
or lime [14] or the combination of the two [15]. According to P. ensure the thermal comfort in constructions, it is strongly advised
Walker and the Australian standard [16], aerial lime should be to use raw earth bricks mixed with vegetable fibers because this
used with cohesive soils, while cement should be used with gran- type of bricks provide a significant energy saving gain in compar-
ular soils. The physical method consists of performing a granular ison with those made of conventional materials (concrete and
correction and then incorporating fibers [14]. cement agglomerates). In addition, Laborel-Préneron et al. [34]
In this regard, a great deal of research has been conducted to reported that heating and cooling energy consumption in buildings
study the mechanical, physical and thermal properties of the can be reduced by using materials with low thermal conductivity.
adobe, with or without stabilizers. For example, it would be inter- Likewise, Binici et al. [35] found out that a small fiber brick house is
esting to cite the work of [17–21]. 56.3% cooler in summer and 41.5% less cool in winter in compar-
It has been reported in the literature that the values of mechan- ison with a concrete brick house. It was therefore found that a
ical properties, such as compressive strength and tensile strength, 57% energy gain was achieved in summer and 69% in winter when
of ancient adobe constructions, are within the ranges extending earth materials are used. It is widely acknowledged that the results
from 0.66 to 2.15 MPa and from 0.12 to 0.40 MPa, respectively obtained in several previous studies have confirmed that an
[22]. However, these mechanical properties can be improved for increase in the content of vegetable fibers or vegetable aggregates,
gypsum-stabilized adobes (4.72 MPa for compressive strength with low apparent density, leads to a decrease in thermal conduc-
and more than 1.5 MPa for flexural strength), as suggested by tivity of earth-based materials used in construction [34]. For the
[12]. The same trends were observed during an investigation of sake of example, the study conducted by Liuzzi et al. [36] on mix-
raw earth bricks reinforced through the addition of fibers and tures of earth and plaster, incorporating olive fibers, showed that
chemical stabilizers [23]. Overall, the results found in previous the thermal conductivity of the mixture decreased from 0.593 W/
research works indicated that the compressive strength values of m.K to 0.428 W/m.K when the fiber content rose from 4% to 12%.
the adobe varied between 0.8 and 8.3 MPa; most of these values In the same context, Taallah and Guettala [37], in their study on
range from 0.8 to 3.5 MPa. The minimum strength values, as rec- the thermal properties of compressed earth blocks (CEBs) rein-
ommended by the National Standards, range between 1.2 and forced with date palm fibers, came to the same conclusion except
2.1 MPa [19]. that the recorded increase in thermal conductivity is lower because
Experimental work carried out by several researchers on the bulk density of compressed earth blocks is higher than that of
Cement Stabilized Soils (CSSs) indicated that their mechanical the adobe. For solid bricks, with a density equal to 2400 kg/m3, and
strength increases when the cement content grows [24,25]. In light bricks, with a density of 700 kg/m3, the thermal conductivity
the case where quicklime or hydrated lime is utilized as a soil sta- is around 1.40 W/m.K and 0.24 W/m.K, respectively [38,39].
bilizer, the results reported in the literature suggested an improve- In Algeria, particularly in the southern region, the waste gener-
ment in the long-term mechanical strength for an optimal value of ated by annual maintenance operations performed on palm groves
lime content that varied according to the nature of the soil [26]. In is little exploited and, consequently, has unfavorable effects on the
addition, Nagaraj et al. [15] conducted a research work and found environment [37,40,41]. The aim of this study is to valorize local
out that the combination of cement and lime gave better long-term resources, namely earth and date palm waste to be used in building
results in terms of mechanical strength than cement alone. materials, in order to contribute to solving the housing problem
Over the last few years, the stabilization of raw earth with nat- and to reduce the energy consumption in rural areas that are char-
ural fibers for construction purposes has been the subject of sev- acterized by arid and semi-arid climates, through the use of raw
eral research studies. The results obtained confirmed the earth constructions. To achieve this objective, it was decided to
beneficial effects of these fibers on the mechanical and thermal study the mechanical, physical and thermal properties of raw earth
properties of bricks. In this context, Bouhicha et al. [18] found bricks stabilized with quicklime and incorporating date palm
out that adding straw reduces shrinkage and curing time on the wastes.
one hand and, on the other, improves the compressive strength if
an optimal content of straw is used. In the same perspective, the
authors observed an increase in the flexural strength and shear 2. Materials and experimental procedures
strength; they also indicated that, compared to a straw-free sam-
ple, the straw-reinforced sample is more ductile. Similarly, Millogo 2.1. Materials
et al. [27] suggested that reinforced adobe bricks become more
ductile in tension with the incorporation of kenaf fibers. For their 2.1.1. Soil
part, Ouedraogo et al. [28] suggested that using small amounts of Raw earth, which was extracted from the region of Biskra (Alge-
fonio straw improves the mechanical properties of adobes and ria), was sieved to 2 mm. The elementary chemical analysis, carried
makes them less brittle. In a recent study, Vatani Oskouei et al. out by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy on this soil, revealed
[29] reported that, with the introduction of natural additions such the chemical composition given in Table 4. In addition, The X-ray
as straw, wood shavings, rice hulls and palm fibers, in a mixture of diffraction (XRD) was carried out according to the protocol of the
clay soil, sand and gravel, a very significant improvement in the Laboratory of Geochemistry and Sedimentary Environment (AGEs)
compressive and tensile strengths were observed; they also of the University of Liège, Belgium [42,43] to determine the miner-
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D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

Table 1
Mineralogical composition of soil (%).

Quartz Calcite Dolomite Albite Potassium feldspaths (Orthose) Illite Kaolinite Montmorillonite Ferruginousminerals + others
25 44 6 Trace 5 2 7 8 3

The physical characteristics of this sand were determined accord-

ing to AFNOR standards. The physical characteristics and the chem-
ical composition are presented in Table 3 and Table 4 respectively.
The particle size distribution is shown in Fig. 2.

2.1.3. Lime
In this study, quicklime, produced by the lime unit of Saida
(Algeria), was used. Its physical and chemical properties are pre-
sented in Table 5 [37].

2.1.4. Water
The water used in the mixture comes from the public network
and has a temperature of (20 ± 1 °C). This water meets the quality
requirements of Standard NFP 18–404
Fig. 1. Atterberg limits for adobe manufacturing, as recommended by CRATerre –
EAG [48]. 2.1.5. Waste date palm
Date palm waste (DPW), used in the form of aggregates, comes
alogical composition presented in Table 1. The semi-quantitative from palm grove maintenance operations. Only the aggregates
estimation of the proportions of mineral phases present in our soil resulting from the grinding of dry palms were used in the present
is made according to the approach which is based on the measure- study. Note that these palms are renewable parts of date palm
ment of the peaks’ intensities on the XRD diffractograms, and mul- trees from year to year. This is clearly shown in Fig. 3. This waste
tiplying these intensities by corrective factors of [44,45] for the was provided by the Technical Institute for the Development of
total mineralogy (disoriented powder) and the corrective factors Saharan Agriculture headquartered in Biskra, Algeria. Fig. 4 pre-
of [44–47] for clay minerals (oriented blades). sents SEM images of the palm components, such as the spine, peti-
Furthermore, the particle size distribution of this soil was deter- ole and Leaflet.
mined by wet sieving for the coarse fraction (> mm), according to The chemical composition and granulometric distribution of the
Standard NF P 94-056, and by sedimentation for the fine fraction date palm waste are presented in Table 6 [49] and Fig. 5, respec-
(<80 mm), according to Standard NF P 94-057 Fig. 2. tively. This waste is generally in the form of tiny sticks Fig. 5.
The liquid limit (WL), plastic limit (WP) and plasticity index (PI)
of the soil under study were found equal to 40.5%, 18.9% and 21.6%, 2.2. Apparent density of date palm waste (DPW) aggregates
respectively, according to Standard NFP 94-051. The liquid limit
and the plasticity index are presented in the diagram given in The recommendations of the RILEM Technical Committee 236
Fig. 1 (Zone of soils recommended for the manufacture of adobe) were followed to determine the apparent density of the aggregates.
as defined by the International Center for Earth Construction, CRA- These aggregates were first dried at 50 °C for 48 h; they were next
Terre - EAG cited by [48]. placed in a cylindrical container, of diameter of 15 cm and height of
Table 2 also shows some physical characteristics of the soil 25 cm, up to about half of this height and were then weighted.
under study. Afterwards, the cylinder was inverted ten times (protocol followed
by [50] in order to determine the density of the dry plant aggre-
2.1.2. Crushed sand gates. Finally, the corresponding final volume was identified and
The sand used in the preparation of all block mixes is crushed was then filled with water, and weighed. The operation was
sand (0/3) brought from a quarry in the region of Biskra(Algeria). repeated three times and the average of the measurements per-

Fig. 2. Granulometry of soil, sand and mixture (soil + sand).

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D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

Table 2
Physical characteristics of soil.

Passing at 2 m (%) Passing at 80m (%) Atterberg limits Apparent density (kg/m3) Absolute density (kg/m3) BMV PH Organic matter
WL WP PI
26 80 40.5 18.9 21.6 1290 2560 3.17 7.93 1.96

BMV: Methylene blue value

Table 3
Physical characteristics of crushed sand.

Apparent density (kg/m3) Absolutedensity (kg/m3) Grain size distribution (%)

<0.08 mm 0.08–1.00 mm 1.00–5 mm
1550 2300 25 27 48

Table 4
Chemical composition of soil and crushed sand (%).

SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 K2O Na2O P2O5 TiO2 Loss on ignition
Soil 37.69 6.04 2.73 25.97 1.96 0.11 1.01 0.09 0.18 0.37 23.86
Crushed sand 1.07 0.31 0.14 57.22 0.57 0.06 0.07 0.02 – – 40.21

Table 5 The measurements carried out revealed an average density q =

Physical and chemical properties of lime used in this work [37]. 101.15 kg / m3
Designation
Physical properties Apparent density (g/l) 600–900 2.3. Absorption of date palm waste aggregates
More than 90 lm (%) < 10
More than 630 lm (%) 0
The aggregates were dried at 105 °C until mass stabilization
Chemical composition CaO(%) < 83.3
MgO(%) <O.5 (msec); they were first immersed in water for a period of 24 h,
Fe2O3(%) <2 and then the mass of saturated date palm waste (msat) was esti-
Al2O3(%) < 1.5 mated. The absorption coefficient of water by the DPWs was then
SiO2(%) < 2.5 determined using the following equation:
SO3(%) <0.5
Na2O(%) 0.4–0.5 msat  msec
CO2(%) <5 aDPD ð%Þ ¼  100 ð2Þ
msec
CaCO3(%) <10
Insoluble material (%) <1 Furthermore, the average of three measurements was calcu-
lated, and the value of the absorption coefficient of the DPWs
was found to be equal to 175% which is within the interval
[96.83%–202.64%] as previously reported by Kriker et al. [51].
drypalms

3. Experimental methods

3.1. Preparation of test pieces

The soil was first sieved to 02 mm, to remove all the coarse ele-
ments that could cause disorders in the preparation of the test
pieces, and then passed through the oven at 105 °C for a period
of 24 h, according to the protocol of [21,52]. Afterwards, 30% of
Aggregates of date crushed sand, previously baked at 105 °C for 24 h, was added to
palm waste the soil in order to correct its particle size [53]. Firstly, the lime
content was optimized with regard to the compressive strength
Fig. 3. Grinding of dry palms. of blocks of dimensions (10x10x10) cm3. Several lime contents
(3%, 5%, 7%, 9%, 11%, 13% and 15% by weight) were used, and the
optimal value was that of 11%, as shown in Fig. 6. A water content
of 32% by weight was chosen to obtain a homogeneous mixture
formed was used. This made it possible to calculate the apparent having plasticity suitable for molding adobes. The water content
density using the following expression: (W) found was close to the value given by the following formula:

M W ð%Þ ¼ ðWL þ WPÞ =2 ð3Þ

q¼ :q ð1Þ
Mw w This is the average value between the liquid limit and the plas-
ticity limit. This formula has been used in various previous works
Where q is the density of date palm waste (DPW) aggregates, M is [28,54]. An electric mixer was used to obtain homogeneous mix-
the mass of dry date palm waste aggregates (g), MW is the mass of tures after 15 min. These mixes were then manually filled in cubic
water (g) corresponding to the volume occupied by date palm waste molds (10x10x10) cm3, in three identical layers, and left to dry in
aggregates, and qw is the density of water (1000 kg / m3). the open air for 72 h. Afterwards, the blocks were removed from
4
D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

a b

Fig. 4. SEM images of the components of the palm: a) Spine, b) Leaflet, and c) Petiole.

Table 6
Chemical composition of date palm waste [49].

Composition MS % MO MM MAT CB NDF ADF CV HCO SE LIGN CI

Freshmatter
Date palm 94,37±0,50 84,74±0,13 15,25±3,13 3,90±0,40 30,70±0,30 89,44±0,16 65,30±0,74 32,83±2,31 23,98±2,81 20,45±2,36 12,02±0,69
waste
(DPW)

MS: Dry matter MO: Organic matter MAT: Total nitrogenous matter
MM: Mineral matter CB: Crude cellulose NDF: Total wall
ADF: lignocellulose CV: True cellulose HCOSE: Hemicellulose
LIGN:lignin CI: insoluble ash

100 5.50
90
compression strength(MPa)

80 5.00
70 4.50
passing (%)

60
50 4.00
40 3.50
30
20 3.00
10 2.50
0
200 20 2 0.2 0.02 2.00
5 7 9 11 13 15
Parcle size(mm)
lime content(%)
Fig. 5. Particle size distribution of date palm waste aggregates.
Fig. 6. Dry compression strength of adobe as a function of lime content.

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D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

the molds and cured in the oven for 07 days at a temperature of of block before immersion in water, S (cm2) is the immersed surface
65 °C; they were subsequently placed in sealed plastic bags, of the block, and t (min) is the immersion time (min) of the block.
according to the procedure proposed by [26].
Note that a brick is considered to be:
After optimizing the lime content, date palm waste-based -Weakly capillary when Cb  20
bricks were manufactured. The mixing and preparation were done -Little capillary when Cb < 40
in two stages. First, the mixture (soil + sand + lime) was subjected
to dry malaxation for 5 min, then water was added and the result- 3.5. Total absorption
ing mixture was malaxated with the electric mixer for 15 min until
complete homogenization of the paste. After that, the mixing was The value of the total water absorption (TWA) of the adobe is
continued manually, by gradually adding the required quantity of important because it can give an idea on its sensitivity to water
date palm waste previously saturated for 24 h. The proportions and porosity which is directly related to thermal conductivity
of the different mixtures are presented in Table 7. Note that the fill- and mechanical strength. The total water absorption test consists
ing of the (10  10  10) cm3 cubic and (4  4  16) cm3 prismatic of immersing the block in a water tank for the periods of 1, 2, 3
metal molds was done in two layers. The same curing steps were and 4 days, and measuring the increase in the weight Wh with
followed to optimize the lime content. Three test pieces were pre- respect to its weight in the dry state Ws. Then, the total water
pared for each test. Before each test, the samples were dried in an absorption is determined by the following formula [55]:
oven at temperature (65 ± 2)°C until mass stabilization.
TWA % ¼ ðW h  W s Þ:100 =W s ð5Þ

3.2. Tests performed

3.6. Mechanical tests
In this study, the samples prepared were subjected to testing for
the dry compressive strength, three-point flexural strength, capil- The dry compressive strength was determined on cubic blocks
lary absorption, total absorption, ultrasonic testing, thermal con- of dimensions (10  10  10) cm3 using a hydraulic press. while
ductivity and specific heat. the prismatic specimens of size 4  4  16 cm3 were intended
to study the mechanical behavior in three-point bending and in
3.3. Ultrasound test compression on the resulting half test pieces by means of a univer-
sal machine controlled by a microcomputer using the specific soft-
The purpose of this test is to measure the speed of transmission ware testXpert V9.0, and aforce sensor of 20 KN with a loading
of waves using a portable device. This device measures the time speed of 05 mm/min. This procedure made it possible to draw
taken for an ultrasonic wave to travel the distance between the compressive and flexural stress–strain diagrams, which allowed
emitter and the receiver placed at each end of the sample. The following the mechanical behavior of the material under dry com-
device used also gives the speed of the sound wave at the same pression and bendingat different DPW contents (flexural and com-
time with the time display. To ensure good continuity of the pressive strength, ductile or rigid nature of samples, variation in
emitter-block and block-receiver interfaces, a smear of grease residual deformations, compressive and flexural apparent modulus
was applied to the surface of the block and metal parts. The com- of elasticity calculated from the linear part of the stress–strain
plete characteristics of the equipment are defined by standard NFP data). The tests were repeated three times for each composition
18-418. The device was calibrated before taking measurements on on blocks with horizontal surfaces prepared beforehand so that
each specimen.” they were flat and parallel; the average of the three values was
taken.

3.4. Capillary absorption

3.7. Thermal properties (conductivity (k) and specific heat (Cp))
The samples were dried at (65 ± 2)°C until reaching a constant
These properties were assessed in accordance with Standard
mass; then the blocks were allowed to cool down to room
NFE993-15 using the Current Transformer (CT) meter, [56]. This
temperature.
device is based on the transient hot wire technique, according to
The measurement of the capillary absorption of the blocks was
ISO 8894–1: 1987[37]. The measurements were made using a hot
carried out according to Standard AFNOR XP P 13-901. The water
wire probe, which is a heating resistor with a temperature mea-
absorption coefficient (Cb) was calculated using the following
surement sensor in a transient state. The probe is placed between
formula:
two symmetrical blocks, having facets as smooth as possible to
100:ðP1  P0Þ h 1
i avoid contact with air. The procedure used allows measuring the
Cb ¼ pffiffi g=cm2 :min2 ð4Þ thermal conductivity for any water content of the material, since
S t
this water content does not change [57].
Where Cb is the coefficient of resistance to capillary rise, P1 (g) is All the measurements were carried out at ambient laboratory
the weight of block after immersion in water, P0 (g) is the weight temperature (22 °C), with 55% humidity.

Table 7
Composition of the mixtures.

Mixture Soil Sand Lime (relative to the weight of Water content(relative to the weight of DPW (relative to the weight of
soil + sand) soil + sand + Lime) soil + sand)
1 70% 30% 11% 32% 0%
2 2%
3 4%
4 6%
5 8%
6 10%

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D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

4. Results and discussions This result can probably be assigned to the increase in volume
of voids at the expense of the continuous wave transfer bridges
4.1. Effect of date palm waste content on the physical properties of (wave propagation velocity in air is lower than in solids). These
adobe results are in agreement with those of Belakroum et al. [60]. These
authors proved in their study that materials incorporating date
4.1.1. The apparent density palm fibers possess good sound absorption properties. Further-
The density values of adobe found by researchers, and reported more, this finding indicates that the incorporation of DPW con-
in the literature, range from 1540 kg/m3 to 1950 kg/m3 [58]. In this tributes to the increase in volume of voids due, on the one hand,
study, the apparent density of the dried specimens was determined to the porous structure of date palm wastes (DPWs) and, on the
by considering the ratio between the weight of the block of soil and other hand, to their entanglement since these wastes are generally
its volume which is determined geometrically by measuring its irregularly shaped rods that prevent the grains, especially those of
three dimensions using an electronic caliper with an accuracy of very small size, of the matrix from occupying all voids and pores.
0.01 mm. Fig. 7 presents the average density values of the formu- Indeed, the decrease in the speed of sound propagation reflects
lated material, for every date palm waste (DPW) content. It was the tendency of the material to be less compact and more absor-
found that these values range from 1243 kg/m3 to 1652 kg/m3. It bent to sonic waves.
should also be noted that for the 10% DPW content, a significant
decrease (25%) was observed in comparison with that of the con- 4.1.3. Capillary absorption
trol material (with no DPW). This reduction is attributed, on the In most constructions, contact between water and the building
one hand, to the lower apparent density of date palm waste material is inevitable. This contact occurs either through immer-
(101.0 kg/m3) as compared to that of the mixture (soil + sand + li sion or capillarity. Note that adobe is one of the building materials
me = adobe) whose apparent density is equal to 1650 kg/m3, which most vulnerable to water. Fig. 8 shows the curve representing the
caused the porosity to go up. On the other hand, this decline was variation of the capillary water absorption coefficient Cbof the
assigned to the water-absorbing capacity (175%) of the DPW. Note material under study as a function of the amount of DPW incorpo-
that these date palm wastes were saturated during 24 h before rated in the mixture. It is worth mentioning that the capillary
they were used, which engendered additional porosity during the absorption is proportional to the increase in DPW content. The
drying process of the manufactured earth blocks (evaporation of water absorption coefficient Cb ranges from 13.31 g/cm2min1/2for
the absorbed water). In addition, it was noted that water evapora- the control block (0% DPW) to 25.14 g/cm2min1/2for the block with
tion led to the detachment of DPW particles from the clay matrix 10% DPW. By adding the date palm waste (DPW) aggregates with a
after its shrinkage, which caused the porous network inside the content less than or equal to 6%, the formulations tested can be
material to increase. The same trends have been reported in the classified as weakly capillary, based on the threshold values
study conducted by Omrani et al. [59] on the lightweight compos- defined in Standard NF XP 13-901 (Cb<20). However, for percent-
ite material containing earth, sand and vegetable fibers of Spiny ages between 8 and 10% of DPW, it was found that the adobes pre-
Rush (Juncus acutus). Indeed, an abrupt reduction in density was pared did not have a high capillarity (Cb<40).
recorded, as it dropped from 1847 kg / m3 to 1078 kg/m3 for a fiber The increase in the coefficient of water absorption is due to the
volume fraction of 20%. increase in the DPW content. This result can be explained by the
fact that the date palm wastes (DPW) have more voids than the
clay matrix. This may be attributed, on the one hand, to the pres-
4.1.2. Propagation speed of ultrasound waves
ence of date palm wastes (DPWs) in the mixture (soil + sand + li
The sonic auscultation test was carried out in order to get an
me), making the grain rearrangement more difficult and, on the
idea of the porosity of the blocks prepared.
other hand, to the hydrophilic nature of DPWs which contain cel-
While analyzing the results of the ultrasound propagation
lulose and hemicellulose.
speed test, presented in Fig. 7, it was found that the wave propaga-
tion speed decreased significantly when the amount of DPW in the
4.1.4. Total absorption
clay matrix went up. It is worth noting that the lowest value was
The total water absorption (TWA) test allowed making a funda-
recorded for the percentage of 10% of DPW, which represents a
mental remark which is that the prepared material remained
decrease of 48% in comparison with that of the control material.
stable and unchanged after a 4-day immersion period, since all
These results mean that the material formulated has the capacity
to slow down the speed of propagation of ultrasonic waves.

26
capillary absorption (g/cm2min1/2)

1900
1700 apparent density 24
1800
speed of ultrasonic waves (m/s)

speed of ultrasonic waves

apparent density (Kg/m3)

1700
1600
22
1600
1500 20
1500
1400
1300 18
1400
1200
16
1300 1100
1000 14
1200 900
800
12
1100 700 10
0 2 4 6 8 10
DPW (%) 0 2 4 6 8 10
DPW (%)
Fig. 7. Variation of the apparent density andthe propagation speed of ultrasonic
waves as a function of the percentage of DPW. Fig. 8. Variation in capillary absorption as a function of DPW content.

7
D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

35 6.00
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
30
5.00
total absorption (%)

compressive strength(Mpa)
25

20 4.00

15
3.00
10
2.00
5

0 1.00
1 2 3 4
duration of immersion (day)
0.00
Fig. 9. Variation of total absorption as a function of DPW content, after immersion 0 2 4 6 8 10
in water. DPW (%)
Fig. 10. Dry compressive strength of adobe as a function of DPW content.
the blocks kept their original shape and handling capacity without
any degradation. This represents a great advantage with regard to
on specimens of dimensions (10x10x10) cm3. It was found that the
earthen construction.
increase in DPW content, and therefore the decrease in bulk den-
Fig. 9 illustrates the variation of the total water absorption
sity Fig. 10, was accompanied by a very noticeable drop in the com-
(TWA) of bricks as a function of the amount of DPWs. It should
pressive strength. The greatest compressive strength value was
be noted that, after one day of immersion in water, it was found
recorded for the control bricks (without DPW), with an average
that the TWA values ranged between 19.57% for 0% of DPW and
value of 5.16 MPa.
31.29% for 10% of DPW. Moreover, it is worth noting that the total
In fact, for a percentage of 10% of DPW, Rcs went down 80%,
water absorption increases with the increase in the amount of
which represents a very significant decrease. In addition, at around
DPW in the mixture.
3% in DPW, the Rcs values were higher than the minimum value of
The results of the evolution of TWA, during 4 days of immersion
2 MPa required by the New Mexico Standards for the adobe [63].
in water, are also illustrated in Fig. 9, in order to examine the
However, for 6% of DPW, Rcs was greater than the value of
behavior over time of the adobes under study vis-à-vis water. It
1.3 MPa that is recommended by the Standard NZS 4298 of earthen
is important to mention that most of the water was absorbed dur-
construction of New Zealand, as cited by [64]. As for the Turkish
ing the first day; however, over the next three days, the TWA vari-
Standard (Turkish Standard Institution, Ankara, 1985 - TSE: Adobe
ation was less important since its increase until the fourth day did
Blocks and Production Methods TS 2514), it requires an Rcs thresh-
not exceed 2% for all DPW contents.
old of 1 MPa [65].
Consequently, the results presented in Fig. 9 allow us to con-
In conclusion, all the bricks studied, with or without DPW, were
clude that the addition of date palm waste aggregates to the mix-
found suitable for adobe constructions. Although the control sam-
tures considerably increases the total water absorption. A stable
ples exhibited the highest compressive strength values, as shown
TWA deviation in the vicinity of 11%, for a percentage of DPW
in Fig. 10, it was found that those of DPW-based bricks decreased
between 0% and 10% of DPW, for all water immersion times, means
as the waste content went up. This compressive strength decrease
that the penetration of water in the samples increased with the
could be assigned to the heterogeneous microstructure due to the
DPW content. This can be explained by the same arguments given
fact that the pore sizes became larger and larger because of the
in the case of water absorption by capillary action, in particular
entanglement caused by the date palm aggregates that are gener-
because of the hydrophilic nature of DPWs which contain a large
ally found in various shapes and sizes, as illustrated in Fig. 12 (a
amount of OH groups in their chemical composition. It is widely
and b). This figure depicts the optical microscope images of the
accepted that any material reinforced with these raw fibers tends
bricks without and with DPW. On the other hand, low density
to absorb more water. This hypothesis was confirmed in the exper-
adobe was obtained due to the low density of date palm wastes
imental study carried out by Boukhattem et al. [61] who showed
Fig. 11. The decrease in Rcs is due to the increase in the number
that date palm fibers are very hydrophilic; indeed, they recorded
in their study a maximum water absorption by these fibers equal
to (387 ± 2) %, which represents four times their dry weight.
6.00
compressive strength(Mpa)

4.2. Effect of date palm waste content on the mechanical properties of 5.00
adobes
4.00
4.2.1. Dry compressive strength
3.00
The strength of an earthen brick depends on the binder
strength, the bonding strength between lime-stabilized clay paste 2.00
and sand grains, and the internal strength of sand particles them-
selves. According to the study conducted by Parisi et al. [62], the 1.00
compressive strength, tensile strength and Young’s modulus under
0.00
compression of the adobe were found in the ranges (0.2 MPa2.5 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700
MPa), (0.17 MPa0.75 MPa) and (15 MPa287 MPa), respectively. density (kg/m³)
In the present study, the effect of varying the DPW content and
density on the dry compressive strength (Rcs) of bricks was studied Fig. 11. Dry compressive strength of adobe as a function of density.

8
D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

a b

10µm 10µm

Fig. 12. Optical microscope images: (a) Adobe without DPW, (b) Entangled DPW rods.

of voids inside the blocks (Fig. 12-b) due to the detachment of the content (0%) is certainly due to the high rigidity of the material;
DPW aggregates from the stabilized earth matrix of dry bricks. This this is not true for bricks containing high contents DPW contents.
is attributed to the significant reduction in the volume of waste Table 8 clearly shows that the transition from the control spec-
introduced into the mixtures in the saturated state. This reduction imen to that with 10% DPW was accompanied by a drop in the
is mainly due to the drying of DPWs which have a high water maximum strength from 6.83 to 0.55 MPa. This strength drop in
absorption capacity, thus inducing significant swelling. resistance is entirely logical if the same interpretation of the
These findings are in good agreement with those reported in results given by Fig. 12 is used.
other studies that showed that the mechanical strength decreases Furthermore, the stress–strain diagrams of Fig. 13-a clearly
as the plant aggregate content goes up [66–67]. On the other hand, indicate that the test pieces with different DPW contents kept
other studies, which were conducted on the effect of coconut fibers almost the same ultimate strain threshold that corresponded to
treated with potash, up to a content of 0.8%, on the mechanical the maximum stress values, though these stresses experienced a
properties of clay-cement building materials [68], or the study car- very significant drop, with the exception of the test pieces with
ried out by Demir, [65] on adobe bricks containing sawdust, 08 and 10% of DPW for which the ultimate deformation reached
tobacco or grass residues, allowed observing an increase in com- 7.18% and 9.98%, respectively. Note that these values are almost
pressive strength with the addition of plant aggregates in the double that of the control specimen (4.05% ultimate deformation).
mixture. As for Fig. 13-b, it shows that the maximum stresses decreased
It should be noted that adobes with low fonio straw content, as with the increase in the DPW content, which confirms the results
reported by Ouedraogo et al. [28], presented improved homogene- of Fig. 10.
ity, which resulted in reduced pore sizes, unlike unreinforced It is worth noting that the results of Fig. 13-c show that the
adobes. It was therefore possible to achieve maximum compres- apparent modulus of elasticity corresponding to the various DPW
sive and flexural strength values for fonio straw contents of 0.4% contents spread out between 233.5 MPa, for the control sample
and 0.2%, respectively. which presents a significant rigidity (burst of blocks), and
19.18 MPa for a sample with 10% of DPW which presents a ductile
damage. This contrast in behavior reflects the great ductility of the
4.2.2. Mechanical behavior under compression composite material after the addition of the date palm waste.
The mechanical behavior under compression of the samples,
with different DPW contents, was studied from the stress–strain
curves carried out on half test pieces of dimensions (4x4x16) cm3- 4.2.3. Flexural strength and mechanical behavior
resulting from the three-point bending test. Fig. 13 shows the The three-point bending test was carried out to determine the
effect of DPW content on the mechanical behavior in compression mechanical properties of (4x4x16) cm3 test pieces with different
(stress–strain curves). On the other hand, Table 8 summarizes the DPW contents (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%).
mechanical parameters deduced from these curves (average value The influence of the DPW content on the mechanical behavior
of maximum stress and corresponding ultimate deformation, and and mechanical strength in bending of the material was analyzed
apparent modulus of elasticity). starting from the stress–strain curves of Fig. 14-a. The maximum
After reading and analyzing the stress–strain curves, it was bending stress values are listed in Table 9. The stresses (rf) and
noted that the behavior of all test pieces was characterized by the elastic modulus (E) were calculated based on the theory of uni-
two zones; the first zone showed a quasi-linear behavior where axial curvature using the expression below:
deformations increased with the applied stress, which means that
FL
the material was elastic in this phase up to a maximum stress rf ¼ 1:5 2
ð6Þ
value. The second zone exhibited a negative slope which varied bd
from steep to flat as the DPW content went up, while the maxi-
mum stress decreased as the DPW content increased. In addition, FL3
it was noted that the peak of the corresponding max-strain curve E¼ ð7Þ
48Id
was sharper for the control sample, and even for the 02% DPW
sample. However, this peak began widening as the DPW content Where F is the applied load, L is the span length, and b, d and I are
increased until it almost disappeared for the highest DPW contents respectively the width, height and moment of inertia of the section
(8 and 10%). This resulted in the reduction of the rigidity of the at mid-span. Also, d is the deflection caused by the load F (d and F
material, due to the high DPW contents, which gave a more ductile was recorded experimentally by the acquisition unit of the test
material. Note that the sudden burst of bricks with very low DPW machine).
9
D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

8
a b

ultimate compressive strength [MPa]

7

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
DPW (%)

275
250 c
225
Elasc modulus (MPa)

200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
DPW (%)

Fig. 13. Effect of the DPW content on the mechanical behavior in compression a) Stress–strain curves, b) Maximum compressive strength, c) Modulus of elasticity.

Table 8 the other plant waste additions, such as the fibers from Juncus acu-
Mechanical parameters in compression. tus [59], barley straw and hemp by-products [69].
DPW compressive apparent modulus of Ultimate
Furthermore, the average flexural modulus of elasticity
(%) strength (MPa) elasticity (MPa) Strain (%) dropped from 409.62 MPa to 47.86 MPa, confirming the gain
in ductility provided by the DPWs present in the earth matrix
0.00 6.83 ± 0.53 233.5 ± 22.87 4.05 ± 0.19
2.00 2.92 ± 0.13 118.05 ± 22.50 3.22 ± 0.67 composite. However, this material remains twice as rigid as that
4.00 1.29 ± 0.11 64.18 ± 9.83 3.14 ± 0.46 studied by [59] who found out that the average flexural modulus
6.00 0.83 ± 0.06 39.73 ± 3.19 3.29 ± 0.66 of elasticity decreased from 197 MPa to 21 MPa, which proved
8.00 0.70 ± 0.05 34.58 ± 1.91 7.18 ± 0.55
the ductile behavior of the composite containing clay and Juncus
10.00 0.55 ± 0.02 19.18 ± 1.27 9.98 ± 0.70
acutus fibers.
It is worth noting that the flexural behavior of blocks, with
According to the analysis of the Fig. 14-a, the control blocks increasing DPW content, exhibited one single bending stress peak;
(without DPW), and even the blocks with 02% of DPW, exhibited however, the study conducted by [27] suggested that the flexural
an elastic behavior that essentially linear until a maximum load, behavior of pressed adobe blocs (PABs) presented two bending
followed by a sudden break without any residual strength. How- stress peaks. This was probably due to the fact that the only single
ever, the specimens with DPW showed a two-phase behavior. substance that can balance most of the tensile stresses is the clay
The first phase represents a quasi-linear stress–strain relationship present in adobe, whether for control samples or those containing
up to a maximum value, followed by a second phase characterized DPW. The low contribution of DPW was certainly due to their poor
by a drop in flexural strength, accompanied by plastic deformation adhesion to the clay matrix, and to the numerous impurities and
with gain in residual strength in accordance with the remarks of residual lignin present on the surface of the DPW aggregates, as
Laborel-Préneron et al. [69] and Thanushan et al. [70]. With regard has already been confirmed by [71].
to bricks including date palm wastes, the two parts of the specimen In bending tests, bricks without DPW showed no residual
did not break apart instantly because the palm date rods present in strength, which can be explained by the brittleness of the lime-
the clay matrix preventedthe possibility of brittle fracture. On the stabilized clay matrix, while those containing DPW have ductile
other hand, Fig. 14-b highlights a loss of flexural mechanical per- post-peak behavior by delaying the rupture of the specimens,
formance, estimated at 88%, dropping from 2.26 MPa for the con- which is in the same trend with the work of Benaimeche et al.
trol bricks to 0.26 MPa for the bricks with 10% of DPW. In terms [72].on mortar reinforced with date palm fibers (DPM). This ductil-
of deformation, the ultimate deflection corresponding to the max- ity may be the result of additional micro-cracking or of a deviation
imum load remained almost constant (around 0.25 ± 0.01 mm) for or branching of the main crack due to the action of DPW bars as
all DPW contents. However, it turned out that this was not true for bridging sites. This ductility is accompanied by a relative and grad-

10
D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

2.5
a b

Ulmate Flexural strength(Mpa)

2

1.5

0.5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
DPW (%)
450
400 c
Elasc modulus (MPa)

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
DPW (%)

Fig. 14. (a) Stress–strain curves in bending; (b) Maximum flexural strength as a function of DPW content; (c) Flexural elastic modulus as a function of DPW content.

Table 9 38 ± 4.03) kg/m3, with a corresponding thermal conductivity of (0.

Flexural mechanical parameters. 0738 ± 0.0006) W/m.K.
DPW Flexural apparent modulus of Ultimate These results lie in the range of values obtained by several
content (%) strength (MPa) elasticity (MPa) deflection (mm) researchers. In this context, Oushabi et al. [75], while working on
0.00 2.26 ± 0.19 409.62 ± 37.82 0.24 ± 0.01 a sample composed of date palm waste mixed with urea–
2.00 1.50 ± 0.06 267.31 ± 63.78 0.25 ± 0.06 formaldehyde resin and heat-compressed, found that the thermal
4.00 0.69 ± 0.05 136.23 ± 30.17 0.24 ± 0.05 conductivity was of the order of (0.0572 ± 0.0017) W/m.K. On
6.00 0.56 ± 0.01 111.92 ± 36.77 0.24 ± 0.06
the other hand, Ali and Alabdulkarem found values that ranged
8.00 0.40 ± 0.02 100.93 ± 34.85 0.24 ± 0.09
10.00 0.29 ± 0.03 47.86 ± 1.21 0.26 ± 0.04 between 0.0475 and 0.0697 W/m.K for samples consisting only
of surface date palm fibers stuck with cornstarch resin [76]. In
another study, Agoudjil et al. conducted a study on samples incor-
porating date palm waste and found a thermal conductivity equal
ual decrease of flexural strength until failure. This result is similar to 0.083 W/m.K [41]. For their part, Masri et al. investigated a com-
to the findings of Abdulla et al. [73].In fact, the progressive extrac- posite based on crushed date palm leaves and found a thermal con-
tion of the DPW bars from the matrix by friction caused at their ductivity between 0.112 and 0.159 W/m.K. [77].
points of contact with the matrix and the micro-cracks combine
to create a macro-crack whose size increases with displacement. 5.2. Thermal conductivity of formulated earth blocks
The increasing damage with increasing strain constitutes the duc-
tile behavior phase of the material [74].This phenomenon is very The thermal conductivity, which is an important property for
important for masonry. Similar behavior of adobe bricks makes the materials used in building walls, depends on several factors,
the masonry more stable against seismic effects and differential such as the morphology, density and homogeneity of the material
settlement. considered [78]. Fig. 15 presents the variation of thermal conduc-
tivity as a function of the DPW content. This figure shows a
quasi-linear decrease in thermal conductivity with the increase
5. Thermal properties in the DPW content, which induces a gain in thermal insulation
performance estimated at 49% for the case of an adobe containing
5.1. Thermal conductivity of date palm waste 10% of DPW corresponding to a thermal conductivity of 0.342 W/
m.K which is smaller than that of control adobe whose thermal
To measure the thermal conductivity of date palm waste, sam- conductivity is equal to 0.677 W/m.K. The same linearity trend
ples of dimensions (10  10  4) cm3 were prepared, glued with an was also found by [66]. These results can be explained, on the
adhesive obtained by dissolving polystyrene waste with petrol and one hand, by the decrease in the density of the tested blocks
compressed for 15 days. The average apparent density of the mate- Fig. 16 due to the increase in the percentage of DPW whose density
rial obtained was measured and its value was found equal to (377. is lower than that of the clay matrix, and on the other hand, by the
11
D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

0.750 1250
Thermal conducvity Specific heat
0.700
0.677 1200

Thermal conducvity λ (w/m.k)

0.650
1150

Specific heat (J/kg K)

0.600

0.550 0.587 1100

0.500 1050
0.501
0.450
1000
0.443
0.400

0.389 950
0.350
0.342
0.300 900
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
DPW (%)

Fig. 15. Thermal conductivity and Specific heat as a function of DPW content.

0.750 tents, and measured under ambient laboratory conditions, with a

0.677 relative humidity of 55% and at temperature of 22 °C. It was noted
Thermal conducvity λ (w/m.k)

0.700
that when the DPW content went from 0% to 2%, the specific capac-
0.650
0.587 ity increased from 1168.83 J/kgK to 1197.14 J/kgK, which is a 2.4%
0.600 increase. This was followed by a slight decrease, more or less
0.550 stable, between 2% and 4% of ADPW, with a little decline of 0.8%,
0.501
0.500
to reach a value of Cp = 1188.16 J / kgK. Afterwards, beyond 4%
0.443 of DPW, an almost linear drop in the specific heat Cp occurred to
0.450
0.389 reach the lowest value of 1010.45 J / kgK for the highest DPW con-
0.400 tent (10%).
0.342
0.350 It was found that the specific heat Cp increased up to 4% of
DPW; this can be explained by the fact that the incorporation of
0.300
1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 this waste whose specific heat (wood family) is higher than that
density (kg/m³) of the control clay block containing lime and sand only. However,
a DPW content of more than 4% promotes porosity which becomes
Fig. 16. Correlation between thermal conductivity and density.
very important because the large pores get filled mainly with air
whose Cp is equal to 1005 J/kg.K; this tends to decrease the specific
progressive increase in the amount of DPW whose thermal conduc- heat of the material.
tivity is very small, as found in the present study (about 0.0738 W/
m.K) and in that conducted by Oushabi et al. [75] who found
around 0.0572 W/m.K. As for the lime-stabilized clay matrix, the
value of the thermal conductivity was 0.677 W/m.K. The low ther- 6. Conclusion
mal conductivity value of date palm aggregates, which contain lig-
nocellulose, may be explained by the internal porous structure of This study aimed at experimentally investigating a lightweight
its fibers [40–41,79]. The difference in thermal conductivity biosourced material that is based on lime-stabilized raw earth cor-
between the clay matrix and the date palm aggregates is essen- rected with crushed sand and containing date palm waste (DPW)
tially due to the pore size of the two materials and the volume of aggregates. The main physical, mechanical and thermal properties
air trapped by each, knowing that air conductivity is very low were measured by varying the DPW content from 0% to 10% by
(0.026 W/m.K), and also that the incorporation of DPW increases weight.
the percentage of vacuum occupied mainly by air inside the mate- It was found that the earth used in this study required an opti-
rial due to the entanglement caused by date palm waste aggregates mum lime level of 11% by weight, to achieve the best mechanical
in the form of sticks. characteristics.
These results are consistent with those reported by several Investigation of the physical properties revealed a 25% decrease
researchers, like [28,80], in their studies conducted on raw earth in the apparent density of the formulated blocks using 10% of DPW,
bricks containing vegetable fibers. For example, the study carried which caused a decrease in the speed of propagation of ultrasonic
out by Benmansour et al. on mortar reinforced with date palm waves by about half.
fibers of different sizes, recorded a maximum decrease in thermal The bricks tested, with different DPW contents, were classified
conductivity of around 92.5% [81]. as weakly capillary for a DPW content of<6%, and little capillary for
the other contents, according to Standard NF XP 13-901. On the
5.3. Specific heat of the earth blocks prepared other hand, the total water absorption was strongly influenced
by the addition of DPW; the maximum of 32.29% of absorption
Fig. 15 clearly shows the results of the specific heat Cp of raw was reached for bricks with 10% DPW, which represents a devia-
earth bricks stabilized with lime incorporating different DPW con- tion of more than 11% with respect to the control material.
12
D. Khoudja, B. Taallah, O. Izemmouren et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121824

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