Development and assessment of performance, fire safety, and sustainability of wood-clay materials for construction of housing in Africa

这项研究的预期成果是通过设计一种由玉米棒制成的新型建筑材料来扩大加拿大木材的市场，玉米棒是一种与水和有机纤维混合的底土建筑材料， 发展中国家该项目将解决非洲的住房短缺问题，并使那些无法获得住房的人受益。 通常都能接触到工程研究六个具体目标是1）配制粘土混合物 与建筑用植物纤维，以测量热和湿度特性，2）测量 在木材处理中使用的八硼酸二钠（DOT）向粘土中的迁移，3）评估 梁上和木-粘土小墙原型上的冷杉-粘土材料的防火性能，4）执行 5）进行可持续性分析，以突出 在可持续发展的背景下，使这种建设选择有益和生态的条件 6）向非洲需要社会住房的人传播结果。在ETS， 一名硕士生将完成目标1，2，4，5和6。目标3将由一名 约克大学的硕士生，也将为目标6做出贡献。这条新的加拿大贸易线 加拿大木材在增加木材销售和加拿大木材在非洲的市场份额方面具有很大的潜力。

The intended outcome of the research is to expand the market of Canadian wood, by designing a novel building material made of cob, a subsoil building material mixed with water and organic fibre, and wood for use in developing countries. The project will address the housing deficit in Africa and benefit those that would not normally have access to engineering research. The six specific objectives are 1) to formulate a mixture of clay with plant fibres for construction in order to measure thermal and hygrometric properties, 2) to measure the migration of disodium octaborate (DOT) used in the wood treatment into the clay, 3) to evaluate the fire performance of fir-clay materials on a beam and on a prototype of a wood-clay small wall, 4) to perform hydrothermal modelling on the envelope of wood-clay buildings, 5) to conduct sustainability analyses to highlight the conditions that make this choice of construction beneficial and ecological in the context of sustainable development, and 6) to disseminate the results to those needing social housing in Africa. At ETS, two PhDs and one Master student will complete objectives 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. Objective 3 will be the responsibility of one Master student at York University who will also contribute to objective 6. This new tradeline for Canadian wood has great potential to increase wood sales and the market share of Canadian wood in Africa.