Articles
  • Suitability of clays from Maroua (Far North Cameroon) and physical properties of their adobe bricks reinforced with staff waste powder for eco-friendly construction

  • Bertin Pagna Kagonbéa,*, Klamadji Moussa Ngarenab, Özgür Cengizc,d,*, Djoulaiyatou Djalloe,
    Soureiyatou Fadil-Djenabouf, Viviane Djaoyang Bakaïnéa,g, Etienne Yannég, Fréderic Pagoré Djodag and Débonnaire Bandeyah

  • aLocal Materials Authority Promotion (MIPROMALO), P.O. Box 2396, Yaoundé, Cameroon
    bDepartment of Mining and Geological Engineering, Faculty of Life and Earth Sciences, University of Pala, P.O. Box 20, Pala, Chad
    cDepartment of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Afyon Kocatepe University, 03200, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye
    dDepartment of Ceramic, Fine Arts Faculty, Afyon Kocatepe University, 03200, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye
    eNational Advanced School of Mines and Petroleum Industries, University of Maroua, P.O. Box 46, Cameroon
    fDepartment of Life and Earth Sciences, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Maroua, P.O. Box 55, Maroua, Cameroon
    gDepartment of Civil Engineering and Architecture, National Advanced School of Engineering of Maroua, University of Maroua, P.O. Box 58, Maroua, Cameroon
    hDepartment of Materials Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Minerals Industries, University of Ngaoundéré, P.O. Box. 454, Ngaoundéré, Cameroon

  • This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

From a perspective of sustainable development in Cameroon in general and in the far north in particular, the development of an ecological material is a major issue. This article deals with the evaluation of clay soil used in the production of adobe bricks and the influence of staff waste powder on the physical and mechanical properties of bricks made from this material. Geotechnical tests consisted of granulometry and Atterberg limits. The physic-mechanical properties, notably linear shrinkage, water absorption, and compressive strength tests of the adobe brick specimens, were performed according to modern material standards. The granulometric analysis reveals dominant proportions of clay fractions ranging from 30.15 to 42.5%. The plasticity test shows that the studied soils are almost essentially low (M1) and medium (M2, M3) plasticity clays, depending on the case. The clay soil samples are made up of quartz, smectite, kaolinite, and illite, according to the mineralogical analyses carried out. The most abundant oxides in the three samples are SiO2 (57.51-60.53%), Al2O3 (11.93-23.49%), and Fe2O3 (6.87-7.51%), while K2O, MgO, TiO2, P2O5, Na2O, and MnO are in small amounts. The measurement of mechanical properties such as water absorption, linear shrinkage, and compressive strength showed an improvement in resistance when increasing staff waste powder in clay soil is observed. Based on the test results, the studied clay soils were suitable for adobe brick production.


Keywords: Clayey soil, Adobe bricks, Staff waste powder, Stabilization, Cameroon.

This Article

  • 2025; 26(4): 547-558

    Published on Aug 31, 2025

  • 10.36410/jcpr.2025.26.4.547
  • Received on Mar 17, 2025
  • Revised on Jul 27, 2025
  • Accepted on Aug 7, 2025

Correspondence to

  • Bertin Pagna Kagonbé a, Özgür Cengiz c,d

  • aLocal Materials Authority Promotion (MIPROMALO), P.O. Box 2396, Yaoundé, Cameroon
    cDepartment of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Afyon Kocatepe University, 03200, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye
    dDepartment of Ceramic, Fine Arts Faculty, Afyon Kocatepe University, 03200, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye
    Tel : (+237) 672803795; (+90) 2722282538 Fax: (+90) 2722281417

  • E-mail: kagonbebertin@gmail.com, ocengiz@aku.edu.tr