Macrostructural changes in compacted earthen construction materials under loading

Beckett, C.T.S.; Hall, M.R.; Augarde, C.E.

doi:10.1007/s11440-012-0203-6

Macrostructural changes in compacted earthen construction materials under loading

Beckett, C.T.S.; Hall, M.R.; Augarde, C.E.

Authors

C.T.S. Beckett

M.R. Hall

Professor Charles Augarde charles.augarde@durham.ac.uk
Head Of Department

Abstract

There is increasing interest in the use of earthen materials for modern construction. The mechanical behaviour of these materials is strongly controlled by their internal macrostructures. Rammed earth (RE) is one example of these materials, created by in situ compaction of a wet soil mixture. Changes to the material structure occur on loading and during compaction; therefore, the nature of these changes needs to be understood if the effect on the material behaviour can be predicted. Here, the change in the macrostructure of RE on the application of compressive loading is investigated by using X-ray computed tomography and fractal analysis to monitor the changes in loaded RE specimens. The macrostructures of specimens comprising different layer thicknesses are also investigated in order to determine how layer thickness affects the compaction of the material. Results are used to recommend procedures for manufacturing specimens that are representative of the material found in full-scale RE structures.

Citation

Beckett, C., Hall, M., & Augarde, C. (2013). Macrostructural changes in compacted earthen construction materials under loading. Acta Geotechnica, 8(4), 423-438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-012-0203-6

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Aug 1, 2013
Deposit Date	Dec 21, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Jan 10, 2016
Journal	Acta Geotechnica
Print ISSN	1861-1125
Electronic ISSN	1861-1133
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	8
Issue	4
Pages	423-438
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-012-0203-6
Keywords	Cracking, Macrostructure, Rammed earth, X-ray computed tomography