Browsing by Author "Paul Tiboti"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Enhancing properties of unfired clay bricks using palm fronds and palm seeds
(Results in Engineering. Science direct, 2025-02-11) John Bosco Niyomukiza; Karen Cathy Nabitaka; Moses Kiwanuka; Paul Tiboti; Joseph Akampulira
The building industry has been thriving all around the world. With global advancement, particularly in technology, real estate development is evolving with the ongoing adoption of new tactics. The current study investigates the performance of palm fronds and palm seeds in enhancing the properties of unfired clay bricks as construction materials. The methodologies used to attain the study’s objectives were; determining particle size distribution and Atterberg limits of clay soil, efflorescence, compressive strength, water absorption, and fire resistance of bricks, which were used to give the most appropriate percent of palm fronds and palm seeds for robust bricks. The study required experimental research of the materials used and samples made. Using particle size distribution and Atterberg limits, the soil was classified as clayey soil and low to medium plasticity soil. Batching by weight was achieved using a weighing scale and substitution technique to obtain the proportions of contents in samples. Sample 5, which contained 80% clay, and 20% palm fronds, and sample 6, which contained 65% clay, 25% palm seeds, and 10% palm fronds, passed all the tests. Samples 5 and 6, under efflorescence check, confirmed slight responses where 10% of the brick was covered with a skinny deposit of salts. Under compressive strength, samples 5 and 6 recorded 4.23 N/mm2 and 3.85 N/mm2, respectively, which were more significant than the required minimum compressive strength of fired bricks. For water absorption, they attained a moisture content of 18.1% and 16.1%, respectively, which was in the range of 16–20% under second-class bricks. All bricks passed the fire resistance test, which confirmed that they had a reasonable safety factor. In conclusion, mixes of samples 5 and 6 are recommended to produce robust bricks.
Investigation on the potential use of waste paper to produce papercrete bricks
(AIP Conference Proceedings, 2025-02-17) John Bosco Niyomukiza; Bernard Joseph Odeke; David Owori; Paul Tiboti; Moses Kiwanuka; Joel Webster Mbujje
A significant demand has been placed on the building material industry, especially in the last decade due to the increasing population, which causes a chronic shortage of building materials. The current study aims at utilizing waste paper to produce papercrete bricks and study their engineering properties, a step towards sustainable development. Papercrete is rapidly gaining popularity in the building construction industry worldwide because of its environmental friendliness, low-cost and lightweight. The study considered literature and related ideas up to conceptualization and design of the trial ratio used in testing. Trial mixes of paper sludge, sand, and cement at different proportions made papercrete bricks of dimensions 220×110×102 mm. The tests conducted included compressive strength and water absorption. The mixes of paper sludge, sand, and cement in the ratio of 50, 35, and 15%, respectively, gave the best results. The compressive strength increased with the increase in the curing period. The rate at which the papercrete bricks absorbed water reduced as the curing period increased for all the papercrete trial mixes. It was concluded that percentages of paper sludge less than 50% are recommended for non-load bearing walls such as parapet walls and partition walls.