Browsing by Author "Arooz, R"

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item: Conference-Abstract
Energy content of walling materials- a comparison of mud concrete blocks, bricks cabook and cement blocks in tropics
Udawattha, C; Arooz, R; Halwatura, RU
The concept of embodied energy can be used to understand and develop energy saving products or services. By definition the embodied energy is sum of all the types of energy consumed while producing specific product or a service. The embodied energy can be calculated by dividing the total; process of production and measuring each and every process energy consumption. The mud concrete block is a novel ecological walling material. The intention of this paper is to calculate embodied energy and carbon emission, compare in a real world scenario of constructing one square (10ft x10ft) wall of mud concrete block and compare with industrialized walling materials such as brick and cement blocks. The energy consumption of mud concrete block was on account of transport of raw materials (cement) to the factory and the already embedded energy of cement. The cement was a governing raw material in adding energy content to the total embedded energy of mud concrete block. The brick showed comparatively highest embedded energy. And the cement block had intermediate energy content. The Brick production was using more or less sustainable energy sources such as bio mass, bio mass is renewable. But mud concrete block and cement block using non renewable energy sources which can be replaced by renewable energy sources
item: Conference-Full-text
A preliminary study on fabric formwork for a mud-concrete slab system
(IEEE, 2020-07) Suluxan, S; Nanayakkara, I; Arooz, R; Halwatura, RU; Weeraddana, C; Edussooriya, CUS; Abeysooriya, RP
Mud concrete and fabric formwork are existing technologies in construction industry which are gaining importance with the drive towards a climate conscious construction industry. The current work aims at combining these two technologies toward developing an earthen slab system. A preliminary study was done to assess the viability of fabric formwork for mud-concrete casting and identify potential challenges in developing such a technology. A series of tests were done to identify the performance of commonly available grey fabric ('amu redi') with changing unsupported span lengths of fabric, thickness of overburden mud-concrete layers, and water content of the mud-concrete wet mix. The experimental work verified the viability of using commonly available fabric as formwork for typical mud concrete mixes. The study showed an upper bound on the thickness of the overburden mud concrete layer beyond which the influence on the fabric, measured as the maximum deflection, was negligible as arching effects transfers the loads laterally. A peak water content at which the maximum deflection of the fabric was the highest was observed. In addition, the use of fabric formwork was observed to give a smoother surface finish.
item: SRC-Report
Structural behavior of the doubly curved shell structure using mud-concrete (MC)
(2020) Jayasinghe, RR; Halwatura, RU; Nanayakkara, KIU; Arooz, R
Mud-Concrete is a concrete material which uses soil as its primary binding material. Mud-concrete deviates from typical concrete mixture by replacing sand and granite coarse aggregates with a graded soil. When mud-concrete is used as a walling material, initial cost and operational cost is comparatively low compared with that of cement brick or burned bricks walls. The environmental impact of the mud concrete is significantly low compared with other building materials. This paper presents the possibility of developing a doubly curved earthen slab system using mud-concrete to achieve demands of economy, environment and aesthetics. The work presented in this paper is broadly aimed towards developing an earthen slab system for housing in Sri Lanka. The main objectives of this research are to; • Propose a feasible structural system for an earthen slab system • Develop a practical construction sequence for the proposed slab system • Evaluate economic and environmental viability of the proposed slab system To fulfil both environmental and economical demands in the construction industry; reducing the cost and labour expenses nearly 50% compared with that of traditional reinforced concrete slab systems. A I m x I m prototype mud-concrete slab was constructed to check the potential for modular construction with a square footprint. Poured mud-concrete shell of 50 mm thickness is the primary structural component, while a non-structural mud-concrete filling to a horizontal/eve/ 50 mm from apex was used to create a usable floor surface. Masonry mould method was used as the form work system for the construction considering its cost effectiveness and ease of construction.