Concrete blocks with bitumen emulsion for foundation walls

Abstract

The walls of the first level of the building often exhibit moisture problemsas a result of exposure to rain and water absorption in the soil by thefoundation wall. Unfortunately, conventional concrete blocks, purchasedon the market and used as foundation wall, have a high coefficientof capillary suction and a low resistance to water penetration. In thisresearch, concrete blocks and cylinders were produced and analyzedexperimentally. They were manufactured with washed concrete sand,type I Portland cement, cold bitumen emulsion and a 0,40 water-tocement(w/c) ratio by weight. Blocks and cylinders were analyzed firstwithout the addition of bitumen emulsion and then with the addition of10 %, 20 %, 30 % and 40 % of bitumen emulsion by weight of the cement.Capillary water absorption test, resistance to water penetration test andcompressive strength test were completed. A comparative analysis ofthe results was performed in order to determine the optimum additionof bitumen emulsion. It was determined that the blocks with bitumenemulsion have better properties than conventional blocks withoutadditives. Furthermore, it was concluded that the blocks with coldbitumen emulsion reduce moisture problems in the walls since theseblocks have a low coefficient of capillary suction.