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Identification of the mechanical behaviour of rammed earth including water content influence

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Abstract

A set of tests is proposed to contribute to the experimental identification of the failure surfaces of an elasto-plastic model for a rammed earth along different stress paths such as compression, extension and tensile stress paths. The constitutive model involves two failure surfaces reflecting two different modes of failure within the material, a shear mode of failure and a tensile mode of failure typical of quasi-brittle materials. Secondly, the influence of water content on these failure surfaces is addressed. Such an influence is important to understand when stability of walls against unexpected storage of humidity is modelled since such storage is the main cause of failure of rammed earth construction. Three different water contents were considered in this study. The results show that for the studied material, the dissymmetry of behaviour between compression and extension is far greater than another quasi-brittle material such as concrete, which is new. As a first attempt, the influence of the water content can be modelled by a mere shift of the shear and of the tensile failure surface along the hydrostatic axis. Particularly, in the range of the investigated water contents, the shape of the failure surface can be stated as independent of the water content where just the apex will shift towards smaller values.

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Notes

  1. ‘Guide de bonnes pratiques de la construction en pisé’ to be edited by the Terre Crue Rhône-Alpes (TERA) association. Contact: mboiron@terre-crue-rhone-alpes.org.

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Acknowledgements

The present work has been supported by the French Research National Agency (ANR) through the ‘‘Villes et Bâtiments Durables” program (Project Primaterre no. ANR-12-VBDU-0001). Important contribution was also provided to the author E. Araldi by the SAHC International Masters Course Programme, and especially the Eramus + Scholarship, during the development of his master’s thesis. The authors acknowledge Stephane Cointet and Joachim Blanc Gonnet for their significant assistance in the laboratory tests, as well as Winarputro Adi Riyono for his assistance in the use of CJS-RE model. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LTDS, UMR 5513, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat, 3 rue Maurice Audin, 69518, Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France

    Evandro Araldi & Antonin Fabbri

  2. LTDS, UMR 5513, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, 36 avenue Guy de Collongue, 69134, Ecully Cedex, France

    Eric Vincens

  3. CNRS, LOCIE, Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, 60 rue du lac Leman, 73000, Chambéry, France

    Jean-Patrick Plassiard

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  1. Evandro Araldi
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  2. Eric Vincens
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  4. Jean-Patrick Plassiard
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Correspondence to Evandro Araldi.

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Araldi, E., Vincens, E., Fabbri, A. et al. Identification of the mechanical behaviour of rammed earth including water content influence. Mater Struct 51, 88 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-018-1203-2

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