Rammed Earth Technique Research Articles

RAMMED EARTH CONSTRUCTION: A CIRCULAR SOLUTION FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

The building and construction sector is one of the most harmful industries to the environment, responsible for producing high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy consumption, and waste. Rammed earth, a traditional building technology is deemed as a promising solution to tackle these challenges. In addition, the low level of skill required for rammed earth buildings paves the way for self-built activities. This paper presents the preliminary findings of an ongoing research study focused on the rammed earth construction technique. The primary objective is to assess its sustainability and circularity within the context of Europe and the Mediterranean. The methodology employed is based on an analysis of rammed earth techniques and a review of relevant regulations related to the selected context. The analysis includes case studies of contemporary European rammed earth buildings. They aim to illustrate possible design strategies that incorporate rammed earth alongside well-established construction technologies. These case studies also shed light on how the integration of various construction technologies introduces circularity variables into buildings, thereby influencing their overall sustainability. These variables are contingent upon the techniques, technologies, and performance characteristics of the selected building elements. As a result of this analysis, the paper initiates a discussion on the role that rammed earth constructions can play in the development of sustainable hybrid buildings.

Rammed Earth Techniques in China and the Mediterranean Area: A Comparative Analysis

ABSTRACT Rammed earth techniques have a long history and are widely used in the Mediterranean and China. These traditional techniques developed independently in the two regions, producing differences and similarities. Tools and materials as two essential aspects are compared in this paper. For ease of movement and secure fixing, formworks comprise forms, end-stops, and retaining devices. The latter determines how the formwork is used. The formwork size represents the main difference and influences various aspects. Although the choice of the earth for construction is similar, the different local soil components and materials constitute essential differences in reinforcing rammed earth in the two areas.

A cartography of al-Andalus’ landscape: Mapping settlements of Muslim agricultural colonization in Europe applying GIS techniques

This paper analyses the landscape defined by rural settlements, with Hispanic Muslim remnants built in a rammed-earth technique in a valley located in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. The aim of this work is to describe the different anthropic points of this particular medieval landscape to contextualize them in the historical literature and then to expose, alongside the methodological innovations applied, the main behavioural patterns found in the implantation of these establishments in order to categorize and classify them. This challenge involves using procedures that enable a macrospatial reading of the territory and measurement of the influence of landscape variables. In order to achieve this goal, an original and interdisciplinary method has been designed combining archaeological, historical, and architectural techniques alongside a multicriteria analysis developed in the geographic information systems setting. The findings provide significant knowledge about the ways in which the al-Andalus’ territory was populated, how the system of rural nodes worked, and the relationships between establishments and agricultural colonization, shedding new light on the complex palimpsest of landscape. A video component is available to introduce this landscape, which you can access by clicking on the image below (video 1).

البناء بأکياس التربة کمدخل لبناء مساکن اللاجئين

Construct the residential buildings in the crises considers as one of the major problems for the countries, which need to provide affordable shelters within limited time especially in the refugees' cases, earthquakes, floods or any emergency crises. The paper suggests to use the earthbags buildings as a solution. Earthbags system considered as one of the Flexible –form Rammed Earth technique which lays on mixing earth components, soil and dirt with little amounts of water. Earthbags method begins with filing the soil into the bags before drying as the same with the rammed earth, then laying the bags and compact them with tampers, two strands of 4-point barbed wire are laid in between every row which act as mortar, that helps to raise the tensile strength of the walls, finally the bags corbel to form the domes. The paper focuses on studying the Earthbags building techniques to use in the refugees' shelters, and comparing with the compressed earth blocks to show the deference in the time of building process, in addition to the community participation which adds values in the crises cases. The paper presents some examples of building with earthbags system and finally concludes to a methodology to apply the earthbag system on the refugees' shelters.

Minimizing the Carbon Footprint by Using Rammed Earth Technique

The construction sector holds a large of share in carbon dioxide emissions. in pursuit of minimizing the carbon footprint, it started applying new building techniques and employing environmentally friendly materials One of those applications is rammed earth wall which was originally a traditional construction method that uses soil as the main material. The purpose of this study is to propose the rammed earth technique as an alternative approach for minimizing carbon footprint. It is also discussed its thermal behaviour and required energy to construct. The advantages and disadvantages are stated accordingly. This paper help architects to rethink the traditional techniques which use soil as the main material and how they can reuse it in their design of more sustainable buildings. As a result, minimizing the carbon footprint in the built environment.

Architectural energetics for rammed-earth compaction in the context of Neolithic to early Bronze Age urban sites in Middle Yellow River Valley, China

Rammed-earth construction techniques (i.e., tamping or pounding loose earth into a solid mass with a rammer) were invented in the Iron Age Mediterranean and the Neolithic Middle Yellow River Valley and adopted across the globe overtime. Rammed-earth techniques were widely employed for building massive structures ranging from large tombs to the Great Wall in late Neolithic and dynastic China; as such, understanding the labor costs involved is fundamental for understanding labor organization for these public works.Ethnographic, historic, and previous experimental accounts provide inconsistent labor estimations for rammed-earth compaction. Our research develops a method for contextually relevant and reliable labor estimations for archaeological rammed-earth structures of varying quality. We built a rammed-earth wall under realistic conditions, quantified the influential factors for rammed-earth quality, and developed the protocol for calibrating experimental results to match the archaeological record.Our calibrated estimations for the rammed-earth walls at the Taosi and Erlitou urban sites reveal rather light labor demands on the inhabitants, implying that monumental architectures at the dawn of China's dynastic history in the Central Plain were less about manifesting power than facilitating social changes. Our method can be applied to estimate labor costs for earthen structures in general and enables reliable comparative studies across and space regarding the relations between massive earthen construction and social-political transformation.

Seismic vulnerability analysis of medieval rammed earth fortifications in southeastern Spain

This paper analyses the seismic vulnerability of various rammed earth medieval fortifications situated in Southeastern Spain, where seismic events with intensity over VII have taken place in the last millennium, using the vulnerability index method. This method begins with the choice of a certain initial value, V0, of the vulnerability index, which is obtained from a preset range between maximum, $${\text{V}}_{0}^{ {\rm max} }$$ , and minimum, $${\text{V}}_{0}^{ {\rm min} }$$ , values, which are likely for vulnerability indices, according to the constructive material characteristics and based on expert judgments. Rammed earth structures have not yet been studied using the vulnerability index method, despite the fact that they are quite common medieval structures in Spain and other countries in the Mediterranean region, many of which are also heritage sites, and hence are legally protected. Intervention priorities on them have been determined from the results in this paper with the aim of reducing their seismic vulnerability. For the different rammed earth techniques, a proposed primary value Vp = 0.76 together with some other material modifiers (construction typology and quality, current material porosity and density, and superficial deterioration) make the range of values V0 vary between 0.58 and 1.02. Moreover, structural behavior modifiers (MK) have been adapted to the various defensive rammed earth structural typologies used for these fortifications allowing us to obtain individualized vulnerability index values. Three rammed earth fortifications damaged by historical earthquakes and located in SE Spain have been used to validate the method, in which values of V0med range between 35.2 and 89.1% and upwards and the vulnerability index IVmed may vary between 27.9 and 70.7% and upwards as compared to those used by other authors for castles. Besides, the proposed method has been used by carefully choosing six rammed earth fortifications (two towers, two walls and two castles) in SE Spain which are representative of different construction systems, structural typologies and topographies. Furthermore, the mean damage grade and the probability of its occurrence is determined for each fortification based on PGA data and site effects, taking into account a probabilistic seismic scenario for a 975 year return period, in accordance with existing legislation. In the end, direct relations are established between the seismic vulnerability and the types of material and the typology of the fortifications. We have carried out a sensibility analysis in order to learn about the influence of the constructive technique, the material condition and the structural typology on the damage grade value. The results show that lime-crusted rammed earth technique and tower typologies are the most vulnerable structures while topography is somehow less important. The results suggest that for half of the structures analyzed for the given scenario the probabilities are above 80% for damage grade 4 and 5 (EMS-98).

An overview on contemporary rammed earth buildings: technological advances in production, construction and material characterization

Raw earth is a traditional material used worldwide in vernacular architectures. For its wide availability, recyclability and low embodied energy in its life cycle, earth is acknowledged as one of the most environmentally sustainable material. Earth construction diffusion has been slowed by the lack of broadly accepted standards. Due to it, earth has been used as an artisanal material or adapted to existing technologies in combination with high embodied energy materials as steel, concrete and EPS or PU insulations (as in rammed earth technique, from now on RE). Aim of the research is to propose an innovative RE constructive technology, more coherent with the sustainable features of the base material, which can reach the high performances and the quality target required by the constructions sector using a low-tech prefabrication process. Prefabrication of RE elements can also reduce the construction times and the risks of technological faults, enhancing the quality of the entire building. The basic idea is to create manageable and transportable rammed earth panels with superior mechanical and thermal performances. The prefabrication under controlled conditions ensures a high-quality product which can be combined, on site, with a reinforcing timber structure with anti-seismic function. A characterization campaign on different local soils has been performed in order to implement the desired RE elements. The soils have been analysed with a set of geotechnical tests and qualitative assessments in order to detect their suitability for constructions. Once a suitable soil has been identified, a physical and / or chemical stabilization is needed to improve the physical features, mechanical characteristics and thermal properties of the natural soil. In the last section of the paper, the first results on natural local soil and engineered soil (an optimized mix of soil, sand and gravel) are presented and compared to identify a suitable material for the RE panel.

La tecnología constructiva andalusí: obra encofrada y revestimientos en la arquitectura militar (ss. XI-XIII). El ejemplo de las torres

Se plantea el estudio de las fábricas encofradas desde las taifas hasta los almohades, por considerarse tal lapso cronológico el período en el que se desarrolla y consolida la tecnología constructiva mediante tapiales. Para ello, se propone un recorrido evolutivo en torno a la puesta en obra de uno de los principales y omnipresentes elementos poliorcéticos: la torre de flanqueo.

Restauração da “Casa da Candinha”, Guarulhos-SP

A Casa da Candinha, edificação em taipa de pilão, principal residência da Fazenda Bananal, em Guarulhos-SP, foi objeto de projeto de restauro empreendido pelo corpo docente e discente da Universidade Guarulhos e técnicos da Prefeitura de Guarulhos. Exemplar da arquitetura colonial na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, está localizada cerca de 4 km ao norte do Aeroporto Internacional de São Paulo-Guarulhos, e a menos de 1 km das obras do trecho norte do Rodoanel, resistindo ao avanço da ocupação urbana e ao ritmo letárgico das ações do poder público. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho busca evidenciar o processo de desenvolvimento do projeto de restauro, as particularidades da edificação e os desafios enfrentados para a viabilização de sua restauração.

Experimental testing of the in-plane behavior of bearing modern rammed earth walls

With the introduction of the modern rammed earth technique, a large number of modern rammed earth buildings were constructed in China Mainland. China has a vast territory, which faces the Circum-Pacific seismic belt on the east and the Eurasian seismic belt on the south; earthquake has constantly threatened the safety of people’s lives and property. Consequently, it is necessary to probe in the seismic performance of rammed earth buildings. Two un-stabilized rammed earth specimens, one un-stabilized rammed earth reinforced with geogrid sheets’ specimens, and four stabilized rammed earth specimens were built for obtaining a better insight on the behavior of un-stabilized rammed earth/stabilized rammed earth walls under cyclic in-plane loads. Testing results are discussed in terms of failure mode, shear capacity, hysteretic curve, stiffness degradation, and total energy dissipation to provide comparisons of the seismic performance between un-stabilized rammed earth and stabilized rammed earth specimens. Different failure modes indicated that the cohesion between particles and the bond strength between layers are the two key parameters for the shear capacity of rammed earth buildings. It is also demonstrated that stabilized rammed earth specimens have higher shear and energy dissipation capacity but weaker deformation capacity than un-stabilized rammed earth.

Tensile strength of compacted rammed earth materials

A rammed earth technique is a traditional architectural technique to build soil structures by compacting geo-materials in a form. In this study, tensile strength properties of rammed earth materials and effects of test conditions are evaluated by conducting direct tension tests and splitting tests on several specimens. It is inferred from the result of these test that the direct tension test should be used to evaluate tensile strength of a layer interface, while the splitting test might evaluate the strength related to the tensile strength inside a compaction layer. When rammed earth structures are constructed, the results from the experiments indicate that it is important to scarify interfaces during compaction in order to prevent reduction and variation of the tensile strength of the layer interfaces. The tensile strength of the rammed earth specimens made of compacted soils without lime increased with the decrease in their water contents. The tensile strengths of the specimens represent 5.0–12.5% of corresponding values of unconfined compression strength at the same water content range. The tensile strength of rammed earth specimens made of lime-mixed soil was in the range of 15–20% of the corresponding unconfined compression strength at 28 days curing. In the series of cyclic tensile loading test, no significant reduction of tensile strengths was observed even after undergoing the cyclic loading history.

The Influence Of Loam Type And Cement Content On The Compressive Strength Of Rammed Earth

AbstractCurrently, a worldwide dynamic rise of interest in using soil as a construction material can be observed. This trend is evident in the rapid rise of the amount of standards that deal with soil techniques. In 2012 the number of standards was larger by one third than five years prior. To create a full standardization of the rammed earth technique it is necessary to take into account the diversity of used soil and stabilizing additives. The proportion of the components, the process of element production and the research methods must also be made uniform. The article describes the results of research on the compressive strength of rammed earth samples that differed from each other with regards to the type of loam used for the mixture and the amount of the stabilizer. The stabilizer used was Portland cement CEM I 42.5R. The research and the analysis of the results were based on foreign publications, the New Zealand standard NZS 4298:1998, the American Standard NMAC14.7.4 and archival Polish Standards from the 1960’s that dealt with earth material.

Seismic Rehabilitation of Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Rammed Earth–Built Churches in the Andean Highlands: Field and Laboratory Study

AbstractIn a Latin American context, few studies exist regarding the construction of churches during the colonial period using adobe and rammed-earth techniques. Investigations of their spatial characteristics, systems of construction, and structural behavior, therefore, are also scarce. This lack of research has led to poor results in restoration attempts for these kinds of churches, which has caused the loss of important Colombian architectural and historical heritage. Additionally, Colombia is at a high seismic risk, and adobe and rammed-earth buildings are particularly vulnerable during earthquakes. This paper presents the results of an investigation of these kinds of structures, developed by the investigative groups investigation group on materials and structures (GRIME) and Estructuras & Construccion (at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana) during the period 2002–2013. The investigation focuses on churches in the geographical area within the central Colombian highlands built during the 16th and 17th ce...

El refugio en altura andalusí de Vilella (Almiserat, Valencia), un ejemplo de arquitectura defensiva rural en el ámbito centro-meridional valenciano (ca. 1150-1250)

The results of the study of the small rural refuge of Vilella (Almiserat, Valencia), built in rammed earth technique in the last period of the Islamic domination in the Sharq al-Andalus, are here exposed. This work analyses the shape and the defences of the enclosure (access system and western tower) and, above all, the different types of rammed earth fabric and the building traces associated to it. It analyses as well other recorded building techniques.

Influence of Arabic and Chinese Rammed Earth Techniques in the Himalayan Region

This paper discusses different rammed earth construction technique in Asia. Rammed earth construction techniques from China, Indian, Nepal and Bhutan are examined. It is shown that these techniques are demonstrably different from each other, and argued that the techniques may have developed independently. Case study structures are discussed and it is shown that with care it is possible to chart the development of both techniques both chronologically and geographically.

Chronological Description of the Spatial Development of Rammed Earth Techniques

Rammed earth has been used by man for thousands of years and is currently experiencing a revival in some parts of the world as a result of its inherent sustainability. Historic rammed earth structures are scattered around the world, and much information can be derived from these structures to inform the development of modern rammed earth. This article provides a chronological study of rammed earth distribution through observation of monumental buildings to aid the study of this building technique. It is shown that the rammed earth technique is likely to have originated independently in China and around the Mediterranean, and spread through the movement of people and ideas to many other parts of the world. Through observation of historic rammed earth sites, geographic and climatic limits can be placed on the extent of rammed earth. The different ways rammed earth has been used over time are explored, culminating in its current incarnation as a sustainable building material.

O sistema de acondicionamento e os materiais de um conjunto de pastéis de José Malhoa e as suas consequências no estado de conservação

This article tries to chart the developing of an ancient building technique which might be the oldest constructual technique imported to Brazil, the rammed earth technique, and a variety of aspects in relation to the cultural heritage and other buildings of cultural significance. It does not pretend a total inventarisation of whole heritage that is constructed totally or partially by this building technique but a careful study about the origin of this remote building technique and its antecedents, and an indication where in Brazil this technique can be found. The term formigao, often incorrectly used, will be clarified and the essential function of the aggregate lime for its conservation. At the end follows an explanation why the state of Sao Paulo had used the rammed earth technique much longer than other regions of Brazil and the reasons behind its disappearing.