Extrudable Earth-Based Mixes with Recycled Materials: Mechanical and Durability Properties

The environmental degradation from the construction practices around the world has led to a surge in demand for sustainable alternative methods for limiting the negative environmental impact. The present study is aimed towards achieving the goal of environmentally friendly construction by employing the waste materials such as marble dust, rice husk and goat hair in extrudable eart-based mixes. The performance of the mixes was tested in terms of compres-sive strength, flexural strength, capillary water absorption, abrasion resistance and behavior under wetting-drying cycles. The study also tested the effect of sta-bilizers content, sand grading (0-1 mm vs. 0-4 mm) and two curing techniques i.e. normal room temperature curing and oven curing on the test mixes. Results depict that mechanical strength and durability improved when incorporating finer sized sand in the mixes due to better compaction. The lime and marble dust incorpora-tion in the mixes gave an improved compressive strength under oven curing due to accelerated strength development from high temperature. The mixes with higher clay and goat hair fiber content achieved reduced water absorption, however the initial strength rate reduced, which improved extending the curing period. The abrasion resistance test revealed that stabilizer (lime) content influenced surface wear, as such mixes exhibited higher erosion compared to fiber-rich mixes. Under wetting and drying cycles lime rich mixes showed enhanced durability. These findings highlight the feasibility of incorporating recycled materials into extrud-able clay-based construction, offering an eco-friendly alternative for sustainable building applications.