Author’s Copy 1 INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR DESIGN OF BAKED CLAY BEAMS AND ITS USE IN BUILDINGS ABDUL AZIZ ANSARI 1 , SALIM KHOSO 2 & FARHAN HUSSAIN WAGAN 3 1 Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University College of Engineering Science & Technology Larkano, (Sindh), Pakistan 2 Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University College of Engineering Science & Technology Larkano, (Sindh), Pakistan 3 Lab: Engineer, Department of Civil Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University College of Engineering Science & Technology Larkano, (Sindh), __ ABSTRACT Reinforced cement concrete found wide acceptability all over the world during past more than hundred years as major material of construction. But due to escalation of cost of steel and cement and particularly the transportation charges for bringing these materials of construction to the sites in the distant areas where the soil is alluvial / clayey / fertile in nature (in the plains), it could be more beneficial and economical to produce baked clay panels of structural members for swift and economical construction without sacrificing the strength and durability of the buildings. With this particular intention in mind, a systematic programme of experimental study visualizing the future construction in the rural areas at relatively cheap and affordable prices for the poor masses, a large number of beam panels were cast, baked, post reinforced, cured and tested. The results of that experimental study have been presented in this paper. In order to determine the shear/flexural strength of baked clay alone no vertical reinforcement or anchorage steel was provided. The study was carried out in terms of modulus of rupture, shear/ flexural behaviour, mode of failure, crack pattern and ultimate load of baked clay beams. However, fundamental structural properties and material constants i.e. crushing strength, Poisson’s ratio and modulus of elasticity of the material cut from the beams after testing them, were also determined experimentally. The results are encouraging. However, from these tests it is found that shear strength is the dominant factor. Complete details are given in the following sections. Keywords: Clay, Pit-sand, Beams, Roller support, Plate support, Point load, UDL INTRODUCTION: One of the major challenges to the socio-economic development of third-world countries resides in the utilization of the local natural resources by using both the empirical data of ancestral practices and the modern exploration technologies for control and scientific elaboration of those materials [1]. Clay is a very common, abundant and inexpensive material. It is easy to extract and does not require significant transformation. Clay is also a capricious material with very variable physical properties. Clay shrinks during drying and firing. This creates many problems. Certain clays shrink more than others. The finished products of clay crack during cooling [2]. Advocating clay as the first choice for rendering strawbale walls as well as any other conventional wall system is predominantly linked to its great benefits to our health and the environment. Earth has a vast technical and architectural potential in the construction industry and the fact that it has been used in the simplest and most sophisticated structures all over the world supports its importance in this industry today [3]. Clay is cohesive material and this property improves if clay is micro-fined and properly kneaded after mixing the water. Wet clay having a sufficient quantity of water acts like a lubricant but with only a little quantity of water, it acts like a plastic body. It has no elastic limit and could be worked to any shape with little pressure without rupturing. Clay possesses the property of a binding agent [4]. International Resource Institute (IRI) has recently been involved in Natural Composite Architecture using a composite of bentonite clay/ cellulose fibre/ straw bale wall and roof system [5]. Polymer clay has been in use as man-made modeling material just like ceramic. It is being supplied by various suppliers under the brand name as FIMO. FIMO is an easy to use extremely versatile plastic based modeling clay [6]. A systematic review of a large number of journals pertaining to the field of Civil Engineering including those of ACI, ASCE and British Institute of Civil Engineering was carried out but as expected, there is no mention of any research conducted up to this time for studying the behaviour of the pre-fabricated, post- reinforced baked clay structural panels which would be used as replacement for pre-cast concrete panels for erection of buildings at relatively lower cost without sacrificing durability, reliability and elegance. Although hundreds of technical publications regarding the properties and uses of clay for various purposes were found in the Journals, they mostly discussed the