Abstract: Clay has always been used by our ancestors for the manufacture of rudimentary pottery. Nowadays, the use of this material is experiencing a resurgence in the field of construction because of its availability, its abundance and its shaping requiring little energy. Clay materials are abundant, and the current trend is to build with sustainable, environmentally friendly and less energy-consuming materials by combining them with additives for stability. The geotechnical study includes particle size analysis, Atterberg limits, methylene blue tests and normal Proctor tests. The simple compressive strength of compressed clay bricks stabilized with acacia seyal gum arabic was determined. The experimental results show that the soil studied is too fine, with 97.732% passing through the 80 µm sieve, with 65.3% clay, 32% silt and only 2.7% sand, optimum moisture content of 18.6% and dry density of 1.66 determined by Normal Proctor test. The physico-chemical analysis shows that silica (SiO2) is dominant, followed by iron oxide (Fe2O3) with respective percentages of 67.94 and 12.75. Finally, the addition of gum arabic improved the mechanical strength of this plastic type clay. It went from 3.14 MPa for 100% clay to 4.25 MPa for 8% gum arabic an increase of 35%.Abstract: Clay has always been used by our ancestors for the manufacture of rudimentary pottery. Nowadays, the use of this material is experiencing a resurgence in the field of construction because of its availability, its abundance and its shaping requiring little energy. Clay materials are abundant, and the current trend is to build with sustainable, envir...Show More
