Effect of moisture content on the mechanical characteristics of rammed earth

Bui, Quoc-Bao; Morel, Jean‐Claude; Hans, Stéphane; Walker, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.12.067

Cited by 222 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…These studies assumed that the cohesion at the interface between earthen layers was perfect. This hypothesis proved to be acceptable for the case of vertical loading [7], but it could be questionable for horizontal loading. To address this problem, discrete element modeling (DEM) seemed to be a relevant means of simulating a RE wall.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling rammed earth wall using discrete element method

Bui

Limam

et al. 2015

Continuum Mech. Thermodyn.

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Rammed earth is attracting renewed interest throughout the world thanks to its "green" characteristics in the context of sustainable development. Several research studies have thus recently been carried out to investigate this material. Some of them attempted to simulate the rammed earth's mechanical behavior by using analytical or numerical models. Most of these studies assumed that there was a perfect cohesion at the interface between earthen layers. This hypothesis proved to be acceptable for the case of vertical loading, but it could be questionable for horizontal loading. To address this problem, discrete element modeling seems to be relevant to simulate a rammed earth wall. To our knowledge, no research has been conducted thus far using discrete element modeling to study a rammed earth wall. This paper presents an assessment of the discrete element modeling's robustness for rammed earth walls. Firstly, a brief description of the discrete element modeling is presented. Then, thirteen parameters that were necessary for discrete element modeling were identified. The relevance of the model and the material parameters were assessed by comparing them with experimental results from the literature. The results showed that, in the case of vertical loading, interfaces did not have an important effect. In the case of diagonal loading, model with interfaces produced better results. Interface's characteristics can vary from 85% to 100% of the corresponding earthen layer's characteristics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Young and shear modulus of a RE wall can be determined experimentally (e.g., see Bui et al [4], [7], Silva et al…”

Section: Identification Of the Interface's Elastic Stiffnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling rammed earth wall using discrete element method

Bui

Limam

et al. 2015

Continuum Mech. Thermodyn.

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“…Specimens were tested at 28 days immediately after removal from the curing environment, pre venting re-equilibration to atmospheric conditions. This step was taken to ensure suction similarity between specimens; although usually not considered a pertinent factor governing the strength of cement-stabilised RE, suction was demonstrated to be a key contributor to strength in unstabilised and lime-stabilised RE [19,20]. Hence, suction equilibration was necessary to compare mix performance across stabilisers.…”

Section: Unconfined Compressive Strengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle analysis of environmental impact vs. durability of stabilised rammed earth

Arrigoni

Beckett

Ciancio

et al. 2017

Construction and Building Materials

121

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Rammed earth (RE) has enjoyed a revival in recent decades due to the increasing awareness of environmental issues surrounding the building industry. Although RE in its traditional form is deemed a highly environmentally-friendly material, the same cannot be said for its modern stabilised counterpart. Comprehensive experimental procedures exist to estimate mechanical strength properties of stabilised RE (SRE). However, tests for material durability are far less common. Engineers and practitioners therefore assume that strength and durability are interchangeable properties, i.e. the stronger the material, the more durable. Inflated strengths are recommended to ensure adequate durability, leading to high environmental costs through excessive use of stabilisers. This paper rates the relevance of two acknowledged durability tests (accelerated erosion due to sprayed water and mass loss due to wire brushing) and relates outcomes to the strength and the environmental impact of several SRE mixes. The environmental impact of each mix was estimated using attributional and consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches as well as an assessment of cumulative energy demand. Results demonstrated that it is possible to have durable SRE mixes without paying the cost of using environmentally-expensive stabilisers

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“…The lime mortar was a mix of lime and sand in a 1:3 ratio by volume, which has been applied to show suitability in a previous study [13]. (0.25 m) was chosen to take into account several factors during the manufacturing: confinement effects, and frictions between the earth and the formwork during the compaction [1].…”

Section: Re Specimen Manufacturingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several research investigations have recently been conducted to study the properties of RE: mechanical characteristics [1,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17], durability [9,18], hygrothermal behavior [6,[19][20][21], and earthquake performance [22][23][24][25]. However, using nondestructive techniques to determine the in-situ characteristics of RE walls is less reported, although several studies can be cited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Rebound Hammer Test for Rammed Earth Material

Bui

2017

Sustainability

Self Cite

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Rammed-earth (RE) is a construction material manufactured from the soil. The soil is compacted at its optimum water content, inside a formwork to build a monolithic wall. RE material is attracting renewed interest throughout the world thanks to its sustainable characteristics: low embodied energy, substantial thermal inertia, and natural regulator of moisture; on the other hand, the existing historic RE buildings is still numerous. This is why several research studies have been carried out recently to study different aspects of this material. However, few investigations have been carried out to explore the possibility of applying the nondestructive techniques on RE walls. This paper presents an assessment of the well-known rebound hammer test on RE walls. The calibration curves of the rebound hammer test have been established for conventional concrete where the rebound number is more than 20. For RE material with lower compressive strengths, a new calibration curve must be established. In the present study, two soils were used and different homogenized specimens with different dry densities were manufactured and tested, to plot a general calibration curve. Then, this calibration curve was applied to RE specimens; different results at different positions in an earthen layer were observed, due to the inhomogeneity of the material. The final results showed an acceptable accuracy of the calibration curve in the prediction of the compressive strength of RE material.

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Effect of moisture content on the mechanical characteristics of rammed earth

Cited by 222 publications

References 12 publications

Modeling rammed earth wall using discrete element method

Modeling rammed earth wall using discrete element method

Life cycle analysis of environmental impact vs. durability of stabilised rammed earth

Assessing the Rebound Hammer Test for Rammed Earth Material

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