Investigation and Analysis of Wall Cracks in Cement Stabilized Rammed Earth Technology
Abstract
Cement stabilized rammed earth (CSRE) is one of the developed and affordable housing technologies, adopted in many countries, which has been used in Sri Lanka since 2004 for building single and two-floor houses. Steel slip-form and timber formwork have been used for casting walls. Information collected on wall cracks under these two methods is analyzed to justify the reasons for these cracks. Data collected at the initial stage of construction and its serviceability period of 12 years is considered under this study. Most of the walls have been in satisfactory condition, but few had to be repaired. CSRE wall tends to crack similar to other masonry technology due to faulty construction and environmental changes. Major issues are the cracks due to shrinkage of CSRE material which appeared after one year period of construction. Detailing the construction with the provision of shrinkage cracks is required to mitigate the vertical cracks on CSRE walls.
Keywords:
cement stabilized rammed earth, shrinkage, steel slip-form, timber formwork, wall cracksDownloads
References
N. Kamaladasa, C. Jayasinghe, “Development of an efficient construction technique for rammed earth”, Annual Transactions of IESL, Vol. 2005, pp. 1-6, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2005
G. W. T. C. Kandamby, Work Norm for Cement Stabilized Rammed Earth Wall, Annual Transactions of IESL, Vol. 2016, pp. 87-93, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2016
C. Jayasinghe, N. Kamaladasa, “Compressive strength characteristics of cement stabilized rammed earth walls”, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 21, No. 11, pp. 1971-1976, 2007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2006.05.049
B. V. V. Reddy, P. P. Kumar, “Compressive strength and elastic properties of stabilized rammed earth and masonry”, Mansory International, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 39, 2009
G. P. Makusa, Soil Stabilization Methods and Materials, Lulea University of Technology, 2012
British Standards Institution, BS 5628-1: 2005: Code of Practice for Use of Masonry. Structural Use of Unreinforced Masonry, British Standards Institution, 2005
G. W. T. C. Kandamby, Cement Stabilized Rammed Earth for Load Bearing Walls in Two Storey House, MSc Thesis, University of Moratuwa, 2015
M. Hall, Y. Djerbib, “Rammed earth sample production: Context, recommendations and consistency”, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 281–286, 2004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2003.11.001
V. Maniatidis, P. Walker, A Review of Rammed Earth Construction, University of Bath, 2003
Q. B. Bui, J. C. Morel, B. V. V. Reddy, W. Ghayad, “Durability of rammed earth walls exposed for 20 years to natural weathering”, Building and Environment, Vol. 44, No. 5, pp. 912-919, 2009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2008.07.001
J. Norton, Building with Earth, A Handbook, Practical Action, 1997 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3362/9781780443959.000
H. Luan, Q. Kang, T. Liu, “Cause analysis and control measures of cracks in filling wall of reinforced concrete structure”, Chemical Engineering Transactions, Vol. 59, pp. 529–534, 2017
M. A. Almherigh, “Common causes of cracking in masonry walls diagnosis and remedy”, International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 25-33, 2014
W. O. Ajagbe, O. S. Ojedele, “Structural investigation into the causes of cracks in building and solutions: A case study”, American Journal of Engineering Research, Vol. 7, No. 8, pp. 152–160, 2018
Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes on Brick Construction, Brick Industry Association, 2009
C. Jayasinghe, G. W. T. C. Kandamby, “Load bearing rammed earth wall construction with pre-cast earth wall junctions”, Masonry International, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 1-6, 2013
Engineering Design of Earth Buildings, NZS 4297 (1998): Building Code Compliance Documents B1 (VM1), B2 (AS1), Engineering Design of Earth Buildings, 1998
P. A. Jaquin, Analysis of Historic Rammed Earth Construction, PhD Thesis, Durham University, 2008
L. Keefe, Earth Building: Methods and Materials, Repair and Conservation, Taylor and Francis, 2005
Downloads
Additional Files
How to Cite
Metrics
Abstract Views: 713PDF Downloads: 456 Untitled Downloads: 0 Untitled Downloads: 0
Metrics Information
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after its publication in ETASR with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
