Stabilization of Earthen Building Materials by Select Native Binders

Increased environmental and energy concerns have renewed global interest in raw earth as a building material. Low-energy requirements, low-cost, high availability at construction sites, and favorable engineering properties make (EBMs) an attractive alternative to conventional cement-based construction materials. Though the use of native binders to improve soil properties has garnered attention in recent literature, the available knowledge has not been covered in a single document. This book highlights the key soil properties that determine the mechanical performance of earthen building materials, importance of unsaturated soil mechanics in the engineering behavior of earthen building materials, the different types of stabilizers used to improve the engineering performance of earthen building materials including the use of select native binders, the characteristics of compressed earth blocks stabilized with cement and cement + wood ash additives and the improvement in the engineering properties of adobes stabilized with plant fibers and cow dung. 

Dr. Sudhakar Rao is a Retired Professor from Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His major research contributions are on elucidating the role of suction, climate and physico-chemical forces in the mechanical response of unsaturated and saturated soils, use of native binders in stabilization of raw earth, and re-use of wastes in civil engineering applications, such as the use of fly ash in synthesis of geopolymer sands. He has designed and taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in environmental sciences and geoenvironmental engineering. He was a Principal Investigator of several Sponsored Research Projects that focused on indigenous earth deposits stabilized with native binders, design of clay barriers to contain hazardous wastes and re-use of hazardous wastes, such as phosphogypsum sludge, bone char sludge and fluoride contaminated magnesia in civil engineering applications. He has published more than 100 papers in leading International Journals and has supervised 24 Ph.D. and 7 M.Sc. (Engineering) dissertations. He has co-edited one book and has contributed chapters to five edited books. He is serving as the associate editor of two journals and the editorial board member of one journal.  He was a visiting scientist at McGill University, Ryerson University, Canada and Cardiff University, UK.