Influence of Stipa ichu on the thermal and mechanical properties of adobe as a biocomposite material

A millenary building material that has been used in many cultures is "adobe". In the Peruvian Andean regions during the winter, the temperature decreases drastically (+5 to -15°C), affecting the health of people of vulnerable age, agriculture and bovine livestock. Bioclimatic techniques must be considered to provide a comfortable thermal environment in the interior of housing. Furthermore, knowing the thermal conductivity of the elements that compose the houses allows us to perform thermal exchange simulations before construction is developed. Specifically, in this investigation, the thermal conductivity of adobe with and without Stipa ichu was measured as 0.371 W/m K and 0.349 W/m K, respectively, considering the norm ASTM C177 for that purpose. The mechanical behavior is as important as the thermal properties, and a value of 2.41 N/mm² was obtained for unit compression. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) mages of adobe samples were evaluated to investigate the internal composition, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the type of clay present. According to these results, our adobe has favorable thermal and mechanical performance.