Abstract
As a special kind of soil is widely distributed in Loess Plateau of northwest China, it is difficult to use for growing crops and has poor structural property. According to local arid climate, the best utilization of the soil is as earthen construction material and it has been used for thousands of years. To research and improve the mechanical properties, the study investigates the response of soil with cement, lime, sand, and straw as admixtures to compressive loading. The influence on compressive strength and ductility of additives in different proportions is compared and analysed. The experimental data is also used for the formulation of dimensionless and generalized models describing the raw soil and modified soil’s full stress-strain response. The models can be applied to soil and modified soil in Loess Plateau with variable strength and deformation characteristics and therefore may be exploited for earthen construction design and nonlinear structural analyses.
Highlights
It is estimated that 30 percent of the world’s population currently live or work in earthen structures [1, 2] and the proportion rises to 36 percent in China
Due to current global concerns for sustainable development that have arisen from extensive environmental problems such as climate change and the impoverishment of resources coupled with the rapid pace of technological advancement within the building sector, interest in alternative building materials such as earth has developed [4,5,6]
This paper investigates experimentally compressive behaviour of raw soil and modified soil specimens produced at optimum moisture content (OMC)
Summary
It is estimated that 30 percent of the world’s population currently live or work in earthen structures [1, 2] and the proportion rises to 36 percent in China. As an environmental friendly material, with superior thermal performance, lower cost, and abundant availability, earthen materials have been used in construction of shelters for thousands of years [3]. Earthen construction is a part of the world’s cultural heritage. Due to current global concerns for sustainable development that have arisen from extensive environmental problems such as climate change and the impoverishment of resources coupled with the rapid pace of technological advancement within the building sector, interest in alternative building materials such as earth has developed [4,5,6]. Researches on earthen construction and local soil as building material have received growing attention from the scientific community in the past 20 years
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