Statistical Analysis of Preliminary Studies for Hemp Concrete

Abstract

Waste is a major worldwide problem and its recycling has become mandatory in the current context of the decrease in natural resources. The management of recyclable waste improves the efficiency of any economic activities and the impact on the environment decreases proportionally to the quantities reused. With a significant impact on carbon dioxide emissions, the construction sector is one of the largest consumers of energy and raw materials. Hemp, and other biomass waste, are by-products in agriculture, making important contributions to the development of ecological materials by incorporating important quantities of such recyclable waste. This paper presents a series of different hemp concrete compositions that aim to obtain the optimum ratio between the binder and hemp shiv, in order to determine the inflection point towards which the delimitation can be made between insulating materials and materials with improved mechanical resistance. The importance of the work is given by the fact that, until now, the optimal proportion between the binder and hemp wood chips has not been demonstrated. This turning point must be justified by a variation of the mechanical resistance or a variation of the heat transfer coefficient, through the conductivity of the obtained samples. After preliminary testing, the statistical analysis will allow identification of the specific quantities needed to improve the physical-mechanical performance of the hemp-concrete recipe. Thus, by adding a justified amount of binder, an ecological material based on vegetable waste from agricultural crops is obtained. The material will have thermo-mechanical properties designed for a specific situation, required by the minimum performance imposed by the destination for which it will be made.