Analysis of historic rammed earth construction

Jaquin, P.A.; Augarde, C.E.; Gerrard, C.M.

Abstract

Rammed earth is a widely used historic building material, found in Mediterranean regions, along the Silk Road, and in parts of the Himalayas. While guidelines exist for the construction of new rammed earth structures, there is very little guidance for the structural analysis of historic structures. A novel approach to the modelling of rammed earth using finite elements is presented. Each rammed earth lift is modelled as two layers, one representing the actual rammed earth and one representing the interface between each rammed earth lift. These layers are both modelled using the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria, but different strength properties are assigned to each. A rammed earth wall is then built up using a number of these layers. These simulations have been compared with rammed earth test walls constructed in the laboratory and the above technique has been used to model these walls, with a good degree of success.

Citation

Jaquin, P., Augarde, C., & Gerrard, C. (2006). Analysis of historic rammed earth construction. In P. B. Lourenco, P. Roca, C. Modena, & S. Agrawal (Eds.),

• Conference Name: 5th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions
• Conference Location: Delhi
• Publication Date: 2006-11
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 1091-1098
• Keywords: rammed earth, historic structures
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1697773
• Additional Information: For more information on rammed earth research go to http://www.dur.ac.uk/charles.augarde