Influence of water repellent chemical additive and different curing regimes on dimensional stability and strength of earth bricks from termite mound-clay.

This article is focussed on evaluating the effects of water repellent admixture and different curing regimes on characteristics of clay from termite hills used for production of earth bricks. Water absorption, thickness swelling and compressive strength characteristics of the specimens with different compositions of cement, hydrated lime and water repellent additive subjected to different curing regimes were measured. The samples were characterised by SEM and FTIR. The least water absorption was at 3.3% while thickness swelling ranged from 0.78 to 3.21 % for the samples. Saturated curing condition resulted in an average compressive strength of 35.5 N/mm