TFG Lucia Palazon Juncos

RAMMED EARTH CONSTRUCTION :
EFFECT OF THE RELATIVE

HUMIDITY ON THE STABILITY AND
RESISTANCE OF EARTH WALL
Lucía Palazón Juncos

JULIO 2016
TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO PARA Lucía Palazón Juncos

LA OBTENCIÓN DEL TÍTULO DE
GRADUADO EN INGENIERÍA EN DIRECTOR DEL TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO:
TECNOLOGÍAS INDUSTRIALES Ignacio del Rey

RESUMEN EJECUTIVO
El objetivo del proyecto es analizar la influencia de la humedad relativa en la estabilidad
y resistencia de una estructura construida con tierra compactada. Esta técnica consiste
en compactar sucesivas capas de suelo dentro de un molde. La compactación puede ser
manual o bien, mecánica.
Como es sabido, esta técnica requiere una cuidadosa ejecución debido a la fuerte
influencia de las condiciones climáticas en las prestaciones de la construcción, debido a
que la transferencia de la humedad está directamente relacionada con la microestructura
del material, lo que obliga a una meticulosa evaluación. El comportamiento hidro-
mecánico de la estructura debe ser analizado considerando la composición del material
y la interacción entre las diferentes fases.
En primer lugar, se hará una explicación de las características del suelo y las leyes en
las que se han basado las investigaciones. El estudio continuará mediante la simulación
de la estructura en diferentes situaciones. El comportamiento mecánico se estudiará
mediante la simulación del viento horizontal, así como las cargas verticales en las
plantas (dado que la estructura que se está estudiando es la mitad de una vivienda con
dos pisos). Después, teniendo únicamente en cuenta las condiciones hidráulicas en
Bélgica, se analizará la transferencia de humedad, así como la presión del agua. Una vez
completado estos pasos, se llevará a cabo un acoplamiento de ambos enfoques.
La humedad relativa exterior e interior de una vivienda en Bélgica respectivamente son

las siguientes:
Figura 7.1: Evolución de la humedad relativa de Bélgica en el año 2014. [2]
Figura 7.3: Gráfico de la humedad relativa interior y la temperatura exterior durante un año. [2]
La estructura analizada es la que se muestra a continuación:
El estudio se hará para un periodo de análisis de al menos 6 años, ya que en

investigaciones previas se concluye que la estructura se estabiliza frente a las
condiciones climáticas en el quinto año.
Tras este estudio podemos concluir que el efecto hidráulico es considerablemente

elevado en comparación con el efecto mecánico producido por las cargas exteriores.
Cuando ambas condiciones se aplican es posible despreciar las tensiones producidas por
cargas exteriores. Estas tensiones afectarán a la estructura una vez dichas cargas hayan
sido elevadas.
a) b)
Displacements when the external loads and the enviromental conditions are applied in: a) X
direction. b) Y direction. [m]
Cuando se aplican únicamente las cargas exteriores, la estructura final sufre un

desplazamiento máximo de aproximadamente 2 cm. En el caso en el que únicamente se
aplica la condición climática, la estructura se deforma en la dirección vertical 6 cm.
Cuando se consideran ambos efectos, la construcción se deforma 7cm (como se aprecia
en la figura anterior). Por lo que se puede observar, las condiciones climáticas tienen un
mayor efecto en las tensiones y por lo tanto en las deformaciones de la estructura en
comparación con las cargas exteriores.
La evolución del grado de saturación a lo largo del muro se muestra en la figura 8.9,
donde se puede observar como este parámetro decrece con el paso de los años hasta
establecerse en el quinto año. A partir de este momento el valor del parámetro variará de
forma sinusoidal a lo largo de los años, dependiendo de si es verano o invierno:
0.00 0
-10.00 0.5
Water pressure (Mpa)
1
-20.00 1.5
-30.00 2
-40.00 2.5
3
-50.00 3.5
-60.00 4
-70.00 4.5
5
-80.00 5.5
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 6
Position (m)
Figura 8.9: Presión del agua frente a la posición a lo largo de 6 años.
El objetivo de este proyecto también es analizar la hipótesis correcta de la ecuación de

Bishop. El parámetro alfa de dicha ecuación es el más influyente en las tensiones
inducidas en la estructura. Como el segundo término de la ecuación es 𝑆𝑟𝛼 𝑠, cuando α
aumenta la tensión efectiva disminuye ya que el grado de saturación tiene siempre un
valor comprendido entre 0 y 1. Tras analizar los resultados con los diferentes valores de
α, se puede concluir que el valor de este que conlleva a una situación más próxima a la
realidad es α=2.08. El máximo valor del desplazamiento en el eje vertical utilizando
esta hipótesis será de 7cm como se ha mencionado anteriormente, siendo este valor
considerado aceptable para una estructura de estas características. Sin embargo, con esta
hipótesis se alcanzará el colapso de la estructura con valores de cargas exteriores
menores en que la otra hipótesis considerada (α=1).
El trabajo se complementa con una investigación sobre la plasticidad de la estructura,

donde es necesario introducir un nuevo parámetro:
𝑞
𝑉=
𝑞𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒
Figura 8.47: Diseño para explicar el parámetro V.

Siendo q la tensión desviadora. Esta variable da en cualquier punto de la estructura
cómo de lejos está ese punto del fallo (en este estudio es equivalente a la plasticidad). Si
V=1, ese punto de la estructura ha plastificado.
Analizando el parámetro V tras aplicar las cargas exteriores y las condiciones

hidráulicas para α=1, se puede observar que el valor máximo de esta variable se
encuentra en las partes rojas de la siguiente figura, donde V=0.992 lo que indica que ese
punto prácticamente ha plastificado.
Figure 8.48: Valores de V en invierno del quinto año para α=1.
A continuación el valor de la carga vertical aplicada sobre los forjados se incrementará

hasta que el colapso total ocurra.
La carga máxima que se puede aplicar hasta que el colapso total ocurra es de 187 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
utilizando la hipótesis α=1. Mientras que con α=2.08, el valor de la carga máxima
aplicada antes del colapso total es de 74 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 , casi la mitad que con la hipótesis
anterior. En este caso, las partes de color rojo de la figura 8.49 tendrán un valor del
parámetro V igual a 1.
Figura 8.49: Valores del parámetro V tras aplicar la máxima carga vertical.
Palabras clave: suelo, humedad relativa, grado de saturación, relación de Bishop,

plasticidad.
Códigos UNESCO: 220509 Mecánica de Sólidos, 220506 Teoría de N Cuerpos, 251108

Mecánica de Suelos
RESUMEN EN CASTELLANO:
CONSTRUCCIONES DE TIERRA
COMPACTADA: EFECTO DE LA
HUMEDAD RELATIVA EN LA
RESISTENCIA Y ESTABILIDAD
DE UNA ESTRUCTA DE TIERRA
Rammed Earth Construction
RESUMEN
1. INTRODUCCIÓN Y OBJETIVOS
El objetivo del proyecto es analizar la influencia de la humedad relativa en la estabilidad
y resistencia de una estructura construida con tierra compactada. Esta técnica consiste
en compactar sucesivas capas de suelo dentro de un molde. La compactación puede ser
manual o bien, mecánica.
La principal motivación para estudiar e investigar acerca de esta técnica de construcción

es el beneficio esperado en términos de reducción del impacto medioambiental en
comparación con otras técnicas como el por ejemplo aquellas en las que el cemento es
el principal componente. Además, los materiales utilizados en este tipo de construcción
son considerados de bajo coste así como reciclables.
Como es sabido, esta técnica requiere una cuidadosa ejecución debido a la fuerte
influencia de las condiciones climáticas en las prestaciones de la construcción, debido a
que la transferencia de la humedad está directamente relacionada con la microestructura
del material, lo que obliga a una meticulosa evaluación. El comportamiento hidro-
mecánico de la estructura debe ser analizado considerando la composición del material
y la interacción entre las diferentes fases.
Diversas investigaciones existentes ([Alexandre Robert, 2013], [Mohamed Mahdah,

2014], [Bujar Hajdinaj, 2015]) ya han profundizado en las características que debe tener
el material que se va a utilizar, así como el comportamiento hidro-mecánico de la
construcción.
Para la realización de este trabajo se ha tomado como punto de partida los resultados de
las investigaciones realizadas por Bujar Hajdinaj en 2015. En estos estudios, se analiza
el comportamiento de un muro, construido con materiales procedentes de Bélgica al
verse sometido a las condiciones climáticas del país.
Así, partiendo de dichos estudios, el proyecto pretende aportar una investigación

complementaria mediante el acoplamiento del comportamiento hidromecánico de una
estructura, lo que pretende aportar un entorno más realista
En primer lugar, se hará una explicación de las características del suelo y las leyes en
las que se han basado las investigaciones. El estudio continuará mediante la simulación
de la estructura en diferentes situaciones. En primer lugar el comportamiento mecánico
se estudiará mediante la simulación del viento horizontal, así como las cargas verticales
en las plantas (dado que la estructura que se está estudiando es la mitad de una vivienda
con dos pisos). Después, teniendo únicamente en cuenta las condiciones hidráulicas en
Bélgica, se analizará la transferencia de humedad, así como la presión del agua. Una vez
completado estos pasos, se llevará a cabo un acoplamiento de ambos enfoques, el
comportamiento hidro-mecánico se discutirá.
Lucía Palazón Juncos 9

Resumen
El estudio del comportamiento hidro-mecánica se hará para un periodo de análisis de al

menos 6 años, ya que en investigaciones previas se concluye que la estructura se
estabiliza frente a las condiciones climáticas en el quinto año.
El trabajo se complementa con una investigación sobre la plasticidad de la estructura.
En conclusión, el objetivo principal de la investigación es analizar la distribución de

tensiones de una estructura cuando son consideradas las condiciones climáticas y las
cargas externas típicas de una vivienda de dos pisos.
2. ESTRUCTURA Y CARACTERÍSTICAS DEL SUELO

El suelo es el resultado de las alteraciones de las rocas, dependiendo del desgaste de
estas, se pueden encontrar diferencias en la textura y el tamaño de grano del suelo. Se
compone principalmente de arena, limo, arcilla, óxidos coloidales y materia orgánica.
El suelo está compuesto principalmente por partículas sólidas pero entre ellas se
encuentra huecos que pueden contener aire y agua.
Los huecos del material se pueden medir con los parámetros: porosidad y coeficiente de
huecos:
𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
Porosidad: 𝑛= 𝑉𝑇
Coeficiente de huecos: 𝑒= 𝑉𝑠
Los parámetros que miden el agua del material son: grado de saturación y contenido de
agua:
𝑉𝑤 𝑉𝑤
Grado de saturación: 𝑆𝑟 = 𝑉 =𝑉
𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑡 −𝑉𝑠
𝑀𝑤
Contenido de agua: 𝑤= 𝑀𝑠
La compactación del suelo consiste en agrupar o compactar las partículas aumentando

así el peso específico seco del suelo 𝛾𝑑 [kN/𝑚3 ]: [1]
𝛾𝑑 = 𝜌𝑑 𝑔
Donde 𝜌𝑑 es la densidad específica:
𝑀𝑠
𝜌𝑑 =
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡
10 Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (UPM)

El valor del contenido en agua del material con el que se obtienen las condiciones
óptimas de resistencia se adquiere gracias al ensayo de compactación Proctor.
Determinando la relación entre el contenido en agua y el peso específico seco 𝛾𝑑
después de la compactación. El incremento de este último parámetro conducirá a un
mejor comportamiento mecánico.
3. LEYES
En esta sección, se enumeran y explican las leyes y las suposiciones que se utilizan para
llevar a cabo el estudio de este proyecto.
3.1 POTENCIAL HIDRÁULICO

La ecuación de Bernouilli define el potencial hidráulico h [m]: [1]
𝑢𝑤 𝑣 2
ℎ=𝑧+ +
𝛾𝑤 2𝑔
Donde el último término de la ecuación puede ser considerado despreciable en
comparación con los otros para el problema estudiado.
3.2 LEY DE DARCY
El flujo de agua o cualquier otro fluido en movimiento a través del suelo se rige por una
ley empírica. Esta expresión se conoce como la Ley de Darcy, que establece que el flujo
de fluido (en una dirección) era directamente proporcional al gradiente hidráulico:
ℎ2 − ℎ1
𝑞 = 𝑘𝐴
𝑙
Donde el coeficiente de permeabilidad k mide la capacidad de un fluido para pasar a
través del suelo. El suelo es permeable cuando k tiene valores altos. Por el contrario,
para valores bajos de k el suelo se define como impermeable. K dependerá del grado de
saturación (Sr), esto se explicará más adelante en la sección 3.6.
3.3 SUCCIÓN
La succión es una medida de la atracción entre el agua y el suelo. Se puede definir como
la fuerza que, por un diferencial de presión, atrae el agua a la región de presión más
baja. Cuanto más seco sea el suelo, mayor será la succión. Además, la succión en el

Resumen
suelo puede variar en un intervalo muy amplio, desde 0 GPa para un suelo saturado a 10
GPa para un suelo seco.
La succión tiene varios componentes, pero el que más afecta al comportamiento de la

estructura es la succión capilar, definida como la diferencia entre la presión del aire (que
puede considerarse despreciable en comparación con la del agua) y la presión del agua:
𝑆𝑐 = 𝑢𝑎 − 𝑢𝑤
3.4 RELACIÓN ENTRE LA HUMEDAD RELATIVA Y LA SUCCIÓN

La humedad relativa se define como la presión parcial del vapor de agua con respecto al
vapor de agua saturado. Se expresa como un porcentaje (%) [6].
Debido a las grandes superficies expuestas al aire, el efecto de la humedad relativa es

particularmente importante en el comportamiento de estas estructuras. La succión total
está relacionada con la humedad relativa del aire a través de uno de los fundamentos de
la termodinámica, que es la ley de la Kelvin, cuya expresión es: [6]
𝑅𝑇
𝑆= ln(𝑅𝐻)
𝑀𝑔
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒

𝑅𝐻 = 100%
𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒
Figura 5.3: Relación entre humedad relativa y succión.
Según la ley de Kelvin, a medqida que la humedad relativa disminuye, la succión aumenta.
3.5 LACURVA DE RETENCIÓN DEL AGUA

La relación entre la cantidad de agua presente en los poros del material (cuantificada por
el grado de saturación o el contenido en agua mencionados anteriormente) y a succión
del material se conoce normalmente como la curva de retención del agua.

La evaporación del suelo conlleva a un estado más seco. A medida que el material se
seca, el grado de saturación, o, alternativamente, el contenido de agua, disminuye a
medida que aumenta de succión.
La forma de la curva de retención del agua se puede caracterizar por varios modelos,
uno de ellos es el conocido como el modelo de Van Genuchten y será el utilizado en
este estudio, [11].
1 − 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠
𝑆𝑟,𝑤 = 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠 +
𝛼𝑠 𝑛 𝑚
(1 + (𝛾 ) )
𝑤
Dónde:
 𝑆𝑟 es el grado de saturación [-]

 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠 es el grado residual de la saturación [-]
 S es la succión [Pa]
 𝛾𝑤 es la fuerza volumétrica de agua (𝛾𝑤 =9.81𝑘𝑁⁄𝑚3)
 α [𝑚−1]
 n es una medida de la distribución de tamaño de poro [-]
1
 𝑚 = 1 − 𝑛 [-]
Figura 5.4: Curva de retención.
3.6 PERMEABILIDAD RELATIVA

Con el fin de modelar el cambio en la permeabilidad con el grado de saturación, es
común expresar la permeabilidad del agua como el producto de la permeabilidad en
condiciones de saturación y la permeabilidad relativa en función del grado de
saturación: [12]
𝐾𝑤 (𝑆𝑟,𝑤 ) = 𝐾𝑤𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑘𝑟,𝑤
Van Genuchten (1980) obtuvo la siguiente expresión analítica que relaciona la

permeabilidad relativa con el grado de saturación [11]:

Resumen
1 𝑚 2
𝑘𝑟,𝑤 (𝑆𝑟,𝑤 ) = √𝑆𝑟,𝑤 (1 − (1 − 𝑆𝑟,𝑤 ) )
𝑚
Donde todos los parámetros incluidos en esta expresión han sido definidos
anteriormente. Es por ello que es conveniente utilizar esta ley; no requiere ningún
parámetro adicional con respecto los de la curva de retención del agua.
3.7 TENSIÓN EFECTIVA PARA SUELOS NO SATURADOS

Como se ha visto anteriormente, el suelo es considerado como un material de múltiples
fases. A micro-escala, cada fase está sometida a su propio estado de tension. La cuestión
principal es cómo describir el estado de tensión de una manera relativamente simple que
permite relacionar ese estado de tensión al estado de deformación correspondiente. La
idea principal es tener en cuenta el medio en un nivel lo suficientemente grande para
que el suelo se pueda describir como cualquier un material continuo. En ese nivel
macroscópico, podemos obtener un único estado de tensión que es responsable del
comportamiento mecánico del material [1].
Con el objetivo de utilizar una sola tensión para describir el comportamiento mecánico
de los materiales no saturados, las combinaciones entre la tensión mecánica y las
presiones del fluido se evalúan utilizando una tensión efectiva para materiales no
saturados [1].
Bishop (1959) intentó por primera vez de extender el concepto de tensión efectiva para
medios porosos no saturados [1]:
𝜎 ′ = 𝜎 − 𝑢𝑎 + (𝑢𝑎 − 𝑢𝑤 )𝜒
Dónde:
- σ′ es la tensión efectiva [Pa]

- σ la tensión [Pa]
- ua la presión del aire [Pa]
- (ua − uw ) la succión (s) [Pa]
- 𝜒 el parámetro de tensión efectiva [-]
La presión del aire ua puede ser despreciada en comparación con la presión del agua,
eso conlleva a la siguiente ecuación:
𝜎 ′ = 𝜎 + 𝜒𝑠
Con s=−𝑢𝑤 .

El parámetro de tensión efectiva varía con el grado de saturación del material, desde
cero para suelos secos hasta uno para suelos totalmente saturados. Por ello, en este
proyecto la siguiente suposición se llevará a cabo: 𝜒 = 𝑆𝑟𝛼
Cuando no hay tensión exterior (σ = 0), el material está sometido a tensión efectiva que
depende de las condiciones hidráulicas:
𝜎0′ = 𝑆𝑟𝛼 𝑠
La tensión efectiva puede ser horizontal o vertical, la relación entre ambos está
gobernada por el coeficiente de presión del suelo Ko como se enseña a
continuación:𝜎ℎ′ = 𝐾0 𝜎𝑣′
4 CARACTERIZACIÓN DEL MATERIAL

4.1 EL SUELO
El suelo utilizado a lo largo de todo el estudio proviene de Marches-Les-Dames en la
provincia de Namur, Bélgica. Está compuesta principalmente de limo (58%). [14]
De acuerdo con la Tesis de Mohamed Mahdah (2014) [4], el contenido de agua residual
es w = 1,1%, por lo que es posible obtener el grado residual de saturación.
Los materiales utilizados para la construcción de tierra compactada tienden a tener una
alta porosidad (30% -50%, habitualmente más del 35%), y por lo tanto se clasifican
como materiales muy porosos [17]. En esta tesis el valor elegido para la simulación es
n = 33,6% obtenido a partir del valor del peso unitario después de la compactación
(mostrado en adelante en esta sección).
4.1.1 PARÁMETROS ELÁSTICOS

El módulo de Young se obtiene a partir de los estudios de Mohamed Mahdah (2014)
[4]. En este proyecto se usará el test de tensión- deformación que realizó para una
succión de 2.4MPa que es la que será la succión inicial en las simulaciones.
Figura 6.4: Grafico tensión- deformación para s=2.4MPa. [4]

Resumen
El módulo de Young está representado por la tangente a la curva en cada punto. Para
obtener experimentalmente el módulo de Young, la pendiente (m) de la parte lineal de
la curva debe ser calculada. Para ello, dos puntos son elegidos (A y B).
 Point A: 𝑥1 = 0.01 𝑦1 = 0.6 𝑀𝑃𝑎

 Point B: 𝑥2 = 0.016 𝑦2 = 1.4 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝑦2 − 𝑦1 1.4 − 0.6
𝐸=𝑚= = 𝑀𝑃𝑎 = 133.3 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝑥2 − 𝑥1 0.016 − 0.01
En este proyecto, se considera la relación de Poisson para la tierra compactada ν = 0,22

de acuerdo con las investigaciones de Bui y Ali (2014) [16].
4.1.2 PARÁMETROS PLASTICOS

En este proyecto se utiliza el criterio de Drucker-Prager, es un modelo dependiente de la
presión para determinar si un material ha fallado o ha sobrepasado el límite plástico. El
material utilizado en la simulación va a ser considerado como un material elástico-
perfectamente plástico. Esto significa que cuando el límite plástico se ha alcanzado, no
ocurrirá ni endurecimiento ni ablandamiento bajo aumento de la carga externa, el límite
plástico es igual la tensión de fallo.
Los valores que determinan la plasticidad del material serán los correspondientes a los
obtenidos en el estudio de Mohamed Mahdah [4]:
- Ángulo de fricción inicial y final 𝜙 = 36.5 ̊

- Cohesión inicial y final 𝑐 = 6.2 𝑘𝑃𝑎
- Ángulo de dilatancia 𝜓 = 0 ̊
4.1.3 COEFICIENTE DE PERMEABILIDAD

Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2] en su estudio midió el coeficiente de permeabilidad en estado
de saturación del suelo de MLD. La prueba se realizó gracias a la prueba del
permeámetro. Obtuvo un valor: 𝐾𝑠𝑎𝑡 = 5.54𝑥10−7 cm/s.
El código de elementos finitos utilizado en este proyecto requiere la permeabilidad

intrínseca expresada en 𝑚2 gracias a la siguiente relación [2]:
𝜇
𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟 = 𝐾𝑠𝑎𝑡 = 𝐾𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑥10−9 𝑚2 = 5.54𝑥10−16 𝑚2
𝑔𝜌
Como se ha mencionado anteriormente, el coeficiente de permeabilidad depende del

grado de saturación gracias al modelo de Van Genuchten. Para poder usar esta relación
se deben definir a priori los parámetros m y n:
 n=1.325

1 1
 m=1− 𝑛 =1− 1.325 =0.245
4.1.4 PARÁMETROS DE LA CURVA DE RETENCIÓN DEL AGUA

Además de los parámetros m y n que son los mismos que en el caso anterior, también se
requieren los siguientes parámetros para completar el modelo de Van Genuchten:
𝛾𝑤
𝛼 = 0.022 [-] 𝐶𝑆𝑅1 = = 454545.455 [Pa]
𝛼
𝛾𝑤 = 9.81𝑘𝑁/𝑚3
𝐶𝑆𝑅2 = 𝑛 = 1.325
Una vez estos parámetros son conocidos es posible obtener el grado de saturación inicia
para una succión inicial de 2.4MPa:
1 − 0.653
𝑆𝑟,0 = 0.0653 + 1 = 0.582
1.325 1−1.325
2.4 106
((1 + ) )
454545.455
𝑆𝑟,0 = 58.2%
4.1.5 TENSIÓN EFECTIVA DEL MATERIAL

El modelo utilizado en este proyecto para χ es el mencionado anteriormente en la
sección 3.7:
𝜒 = 𝑆𝑟𝛼
En las simulaciones, dos α diferentes serán utilizados. Para cada uno corresponderá una
tensión efectiva inicial conforme la succión inicial 𝑠 = −𝑢𝑤 = 2.4 𝑀𝑃𝑎:
α[-] 𝜎0′ (with 𝑆𝑟 = 0.572)

[Pa]
1 −1.373 106
2.08 −7.509 105
Figura 6.7: Tabla de tensiones efectivas iniciales 𝜎0′ en función de α
Donde α = 1 es el valor tomado por defecto. α = 2,08 es el parámetro de la tensión

efectiva como se deduce a partir del estudio de Mohamed Madhad (2014) [4], dando
una mejor aproximación a la realidad en las simulaciones como se verá más adelante.

Resumen
El signo menos se debe poner con el fin de cumplir con la convención de signos del
código (compresión es negativo).
4.2 MADERA Y HORMIGÓN

En las simulaciones también se utilizará madera y hormigón para dar resistencia a la
estructura. Estos materiales sólo se utilizarán en la simulación dela ultima estructura que
es la que más se aproxima a la realidad. Como el objetivo de este proyecto es el estudio
de la tierra compactada, estos materiales serán considerados como perfectamente
elásticos para simplificar el modelo. Sus parámetros elásticos son los siguientes:
Elastic Properties Wood Concrete

9
Young’s modulus [Pa] 11𝑥10 20𝑥109
Poisson ratio [-] 0.25 0.15
Specific mass [𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ] 500 2400
Figura 6.9: Tabla de las propiedades elásticas de la madera y el hormigón [18][19][20].
5 CONDICIONES DE CONTORNO
5.1 CONDICIONES HIDRÁUICAS
5.1.1 HUMEDAD RELATIVA EXTERIOR

En la siguiente gráfica se muestra la evolución de la humedad relativa en Bélgica en el
año 2014. Estos datos han sido obtenidos del “Institut Royal Meteorologique” (IRM).
Para simular la evolución de la humedad relativa en un año, solo un valor por semana se
midió.
Figura 7.1: Evolución de la humedad relativa de Bélgica en el año 2014. [2]

5.1.2 HUMEDAD RELATIVA EN EL INTERIOR DE UNA CASA

La humedad relativa interior está directamente relacionada con la temperatura exterior
gracias a la siguiente relación:
Figura 7.2: Relación entre la temperatura exterior y la humedad relativa interior. [2]
Figura 7.3: Gráfico de la humedad relativa interior y la temperatura exterior durante un año. [2]
El estudio de la humedad relativa se hizo sólo para un año. Como el estudio realizado en este
proyecto dura al menos 6 años, estos valores se repetirán a lo largo de los años.
Dado que el programa requiere los datos de presión del agua, es necesario utilizar la ley de
Kelvin mencionada anteriormente:
𝑅𝑇
𝑆= ln(𝑅𝐻)
𝑀𝑔
Tras aplicar la ley de Kelvin, los datos que se utilizaran en las simulaciones son los
siguientes:

Resumen
0
-10
Water pressure (MPa) -20
-30 external
environment
-40
-50 internal
-60 condition
-70
-80
-90
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (years)
Figura 7.5: Evolución de la presión de agua en el exterior y en el interior de la estructura.
5.2 CONDICIONES MECÁNICAS

En este caso dos cargas principales son consideradas en las siguientes simulaciones:
 Carga causada por el viento. Un valor de 1𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 va a ser aplicada

horizontalmente sobre el lado exterior de la pared como se muestra en 6.1.1.
 Cargas causadas por la actividad humana y muebles. En este caso una
suposición inicial de 10𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 aplicada verticalmente en cada losa será
considerada.
6 RESULTADOS
En esta parte, se analizarán tres estructuras diferentes. La primera es considerada como
la más simple, mientras que la última es la más realista y compleja. Cada estructura se
someterá por separado a las condiciones hidráulicas y mecánicas mencionadas en el
capítulo 5, y después ambos efectos se aplicará conjuntamente para estudiar el
acoplamiento entre la transferencia de humedad y del comportamiento mecánico.
Es importante analizar el eventual colapso de la estructura cuando se aplica el

acoplamiento de ambos efectos. Para ello, sólo en la tercera estructura, las cargas se
incrementarán hasta que la estructura comience a plastificar. Más tarde, los resultados
serán comparados con aquellos en los que sólo se consideran las cargas externas
En esta sección, se muestra también el comportamiento al cambiar el parámetro α de

α = 1 a α = 2,08. La plasticidad también se comparará en ambos casos.

6.1 PRIMERA GEOMETRÍA
La geometría considerada para el primer análisis es un muro de 1 metro

de altura y un espesor de 39 cm. La base está fijada en las direcciones X e
Y. Como primera simulación, que se someterá a las condiciones
hidráulicas en ambos lados y también al efecto del viento sólo en el lado
izquierdo.
6.1.1 ANÁLISIS MECÁNICO

Tras aplicar las cargas horizontales en el lateral izquierdo del muro, las tensiones y
desplazamientos son los siguientes:
a) b) c)
Figura 8.3: a) Deformación del muro. b) Desplazamientos en la dirección X. c) Desplazamientos

en la dirección Y [m]
El máximo desplazamiento en la dirección horizontal es de 0.021cm situado en la parte

superior del muro. En la dirección vertical ocurre un desplazamiento máximo de
0.0052cm.
Como se puede observar en la figura 8.4, la máxima tracción se produce en la dirección

horizontal en la parte inferior derecha de la estructura, con un valor de 18.7KPa.

Resumen
a) b)
Figura 8.4: Tensiones en la direccion: a) horizontal. b) vertical [Pa]
6.1.2 ANÁLISIS HIDRÁULICO

En la parte derecha de la estructura se impondrán las condiciones hidráulicas interiores
mientras que en la parte izquierda las exteriores.
Después de lanzar la simulación, se puede ver como los máximos desplazamientos

varían desde 2.58cm hasta 5.96cm en la dirección horizontal en verano e invierno
simultáneamente. Esto se debe a que en invierno, la diferencia de la humedad relativa en
ambos lados de la estructura es mayor que en verano, siendo así la presión del agua
mucho mayor en la parte derecha que en la izquierda. Por ello, gracias a la ecuación de
Bishop, habrá mayores valores de compresión en la parte derecha y por lo tanto un
mayor desplazamiento.
El muro también sufre desplazamientos en el eje vertical; como la estructura está

sometida a humedad relativa, esta causa contracción en el muro, los desplazamientos se
producen en la dirección negativa del eje Y; que oscila entre 6,8 cm (en verano) y
7.68cm (en invierno).
a) b)
Figure 8.5: Deformacion de la estructura en: a) verano. b) invierno.

a) b)
Figure 8.6: Desplazamientos en la dirección horizontal: a) en verano. b) en invierno. [m]
a) b)
Figure 8.7: Desplazamientos en la dirección vertical: a) en verano. b) en invierno. [m]
La evolución de la presión del agua será ahora analizada. Como ha estudiado Bujar
Hajdinaj (2015), la reacción a las condiciones climáticas comienzan a ser repetitivas a
partir de un período de 5 años, por ello se analizarán los valores de la presión del agua
en el verano del quinto año y en invierno del sexto año. Se puede suponer que a partir
de este período en adelante, la estructura se comportará de la misma manera que se
observa en las siguientes situaciones (figuras 8.8, 8.9, 8.11).
a) b)
Figura 8.8: Presión del agua en: a) verano b) invierno.
La sección transversal se analizará psuponiendo que es el misma en toda la estructura.

Resumen
El siguiente gráfico (figura 8.9) muestra la forma en que la humedad se propaga a través del
muro en un período de 6 años. Sólo dos fechas por año fueron elegidas, una en verano (es decir,
0,5 años) y otra en invierno (es decir, 1 año).
0.00 0
-10.00 0.5
1
-20.00 1.5
-30.00 2
-40.00 2.5
3
-50.00 3.5
-60.00 4
-70.00 4.5
5
-80.00 5.5
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 6
Position (m)
Figura 8.9: Presión del agua frente a la posición a lo largo de 6 años.
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
time (years)
Figura 8.10: Presión del agua en sección del medio de la estructura a lo largo de los años.
0.45 0.5
1
0.40 1.5
2
0.35 2.5
Sr [-]
3
0.30 3.5
4
0.25 4.5
5
0.20 5.5
6
position (m)
Figura 8.11: Evolución del grado de saturación frente a la posición a lo largo de los años.
Ya que la transferencia de la humedad está relacionada con el coeficiente de

permeabilidad y este será el mismo a lo largo de las simulaciones, se puede considerar
que estas figuras serán las mismas todas las estructuras.

A medida que pasan los años, la presión del agua va incrementando en valor absoluto
hasta alcanzar el equilibrio (quinto año) donde el valor de la presión del agua variará de
forma sinodal entre verano e invierno.
Las tensiones producidas por la humedad relativa aplicada en ambos lados de la

estructura son compresiones debidas a la ecuación de Bishop. Las compresiones
máximas en ambas direcciones son del mismo orden (horizontal=-17.9MPa, vertical=-
15.8MPa) una vez ha pasado el quinto año.
a) b)
Figura 8.12: Tensiones en invierno del quinto año en la dirección: a) horizontal b)

vertical [Pa]
Al centrarse en las magnitudes de los desplazamientos y las tensiones, podemos

concluir que el efecto de las condiciones hidráulicas es considerablemente mayor que el
de las cargas exteriores. Produciendo el primero compresiones del orden de mega
pascales y el segundo del orden de kilopascales.
5.1.3 ANÁLISIS HIDRO-MECÁNICO

Después de aplicar ambas condiciones, se puede observar que los diagramas de
tensiones y desplazamientos son los mismos ya que en esta situación, los valores
absolutos de las tensiones y desplazamientos no han aumentado significativamente.
Ahora, el valor máximo del desplazamiento en la dirección horizontal ha incrementado
en 0.02cm en comparación con la situación anterior. Los valores máximos de
compresión son ahora –17.91MPa en la dirección horizontal y –15.82Mpa en la
vertical.
Como se ha mencionado anteriormente, la evolución de la presión del agua y el grado

de saturación no experimentará ningún cambio con la adición de cargas exteriores.

Resumen
5.2 SEGUNDA GEOMETRÍA
5.2.1 ANÁLISIS MECÁNICO

Ahora la estructura que será analizada será un muro del mismo espesor (39cm) pero de
altura 5.75cm, simulando el muro externo de una casa con dos pisos. Los pisos no se
simularán en este apartado, se pondrán fijaciones en el eje horizontal simplificando la
situación como si estuvieran presentes los dos pisos.
Para el análisis mecánico, como en el apartado anterior, únicamente las

cargas exteriores horizontales se aplicarán en la cara exterior izquierda de la
estructura.
Tras analizar los resultados, se puede observar que los máximos

desplazamientos se producen en la dirección horizontal, con un valor de
0.0319cm. En la dirección vertical el máximo desplazamiento es de
0.007cm. Con tensiones máximas de -22.6KPa.
a) b) c)
Figura 8.17: a) Deformación de la estructura. b) Desplazamientos en la dirección horizontal. c)

Desplazamientos en la direccion vertical
a) b)
Figura 8.18: a) Tensiones en la dirección horizontal. b) Tensiones en la direccion vertical.

5.2.2 ANÁLISIS HIDRÁULICO

Después de aplicas las condiciones hidráulicas en ambos lados de la estructura con el
parámetro α de la relación de Bishop igual a 1, se puede observar que ahora el valor
máximo de desplazamiento en la dirección horizontal es de 2.5cm, casi 80 veces mayor
que en la situación donde solo las cargas exteriores se han aplicado. En la dirección
vertical se puede ver como el desplazamiento máximo es de 28cm. Este valor es
considerado inaceptable para una estructura de estas condiciones, por ello es posible
pensar que la hipótesis utilizada (α=1) no es la correcta. Ahora se analizara la hipótesis
propuesta α=2.08. Al ser α mayor que uno, el segundo término de la ecuación de Bishop
tiene valores menores. La tensión efectiva será menor y por lo tanto los desplazamientos
decrecerán dando unos resultados más aproximados a la realidad.
a) b)
Figure 8.19: a)Estructura deformada. b) Boceto de la estructura deformada para α=1.
a) b)
Figure 8.20: a) Desplazamientos en la dirección: a) Horizontal. b) Vertical para α=1
Los diagramas serán iguales en ambas hipótesis pero con valores distintos, para α=2.08
el valor máximo del desplazamiento en la dirección vertical ahora tiene un valor de
5.7cm, un valor mucho más aceptable para este tipo de estructuras.

Resumen
5.2.3 ANÁLISIS HIDRO-MECÁNICO

Finalmente tras aplicar ambas condiciones se pueden llegar a las mismas conclusiones
que en la geometría anterior. Las cargas exteriores no son lo suficiente elevadas para
que el comportamiento de la estructura se vea afectado una vez que se han aplicado las
condiciones hidráulicas. Tras cambiar el parámetro α a 2.08 el valor final del
desplazamiento es de 5.8cm, solo 0.1cm mayor que en la situación anterior. Como
conclusión de este último estudio, el parámetro α=2.08 propuesto por Mohamed
Mahdah en 2014 da unos resultados más coherentes y realistas.
5.3 TERCERA GEOMETRÍA

Para esta última geometría se han realizado
los mismos estudios llegando a las mismas
conclusiones. La estructura tendrá
finalmente un desplazamiento máximo de
7.46cm tras aplicar ambas condiciones con
α=2.08. Con esta geometría se analizar el
fallo de la estructura. Para ello un nuevo
parámetro se deberá introducir:
𝑞
𝑉=
Siendo q la tensión desviadora. Esta

variable da en cualquier punto de la estructura cómo de lejos está ese punto del fallo (en
este estudio es equivalente a la plasticidad). Si V=1, ese punto de la estructura ha
plastificado.
Figura 8.47: Diseño para explicar el parámetro V.
Analizando el parámetro V tras aplicar las cargas exteriores y las condiciones

hidráulicas para α=1, se puede observar que el valor máximo de esta variable se
encuentra en las partes rojas de la siguiente figura, donde V=0.992 lo que indica que ese
punto prácticamente ha plastificado.

Figure 8.48: Valores de V en invierno del quinto año para α=1.
A continuación el valor de la carga vertical aplicada sobre los forjados se incrementará

hasta que el colapso total ocurra.
La carga máxima que se puede aplicar hasta que el colapso total ocurra es de 187 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
utilizando la hipótesis α=1. Mientras que con α=2.08, el valor de la carga máxima
aplicada antes del colapso total es de 74 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 , casi la mitad que con la hipótesis
anterior. En este caso, las partes de color rojo de la figura 8.49 tendrán un valor del
parámetro V igual a 1.
Figura 8.49: Valores del parámetro V tras aplicar la máxima carga vertical.
Esta situación se produce en el primer tiempo de la simulación, es decir, en el verano

del primer año, cuando toda la carga se ha aplicado (dado que en la simulación se
incrementara desde 0 hasta la carga total en los primeros 6 meses de la simulación). Una
vez pasado este momento, el valor de V decrecerá debido a la ecuación de Bishop:

Resumen
Figura 8.51: Esquema de las compresiones en ambas hipótesis.
Los puntos (1) y (2) de la figura 8.51 representan el momento del fallo de la estructura
cuando α = 2,08 y 1, respectivamente. La carga se incrementa hasta este punto (mitad
del primer año de la simulación), y luego se mantiene invariable. Después de este punto,
las tensiones siguen aumentando en la forma que muestra la figura, debido a la relación
de Bishop. A medida que la humedad relativa disminuye, el segundo término de la
expresión de Bishop aumentará (debido al incremento de la succión).
Como el segundo término de la ecuaciones de Bihop es menor en el caso en el que α =

2,08, la estructura soportará cargas inferiores con esta hipótesis (como se puede
observar en la figura anterior, la pendiente para α=2.08 es mayor y por tanto el límite de
fallo se alcanzará antes).
Para finalizar este estudio, se estudiará la plastificación cuando sólo se consideran las
cargas externas. En esta situación, la tensión efectiva es igual a la tensión (𝜎 ′ = 𝜎), ya
que los términos hidráulicos han sido considerados como nulos (el segundo término de
la relación del Bisho será igual a cero).
Después de lanzar la simulación, los resultados muestran que ahora la estructura puede
soportar cargas inferiores a los fijados al comienzo de esta sección (4).
Las cargas máximas que la estructura puede soportar ahora son: 88.5 𝑁/𝑚2 en la
dirección horizontal y 482 𝑁/𝑚2 en la dirección vertical por encima de las losas. Estos
valores son 150 veces más bajos que cuando α = 2,08.
Figura 8.52: Valores del parámetro V cuando solo se consideran las cargas externas.

La figura 8.53 muestra un esquema de la trayectoria que sigue las tensiones

(compresiones) en ambos casos. (1) corresponde a la situación donde sólo se aplican las
cargas mecánicas (α=0) y (2) teniendo en cuenta también las condiciones hidráulicas
(α≠ 0). En la segunda situación, el segundo término de la relación de Bishop siempre
conllevará a un aumento de la tensión efectiva (también antes de que el punto de fallo).
Figura 8.53: Diferencia entre el caso mecánico e hidráulico.
Como conclusión, a medida que aumenta el parámetro α, los resultados de las

simulaciones de la máxima carga aplicable aumentarán. El fallo de la estructura siempre
ocurre primero en las partes críticas, es decir, en las esquinas de la tierra compactada,
donde es más fácil que los esfuerzos se concentren.
6 CONCLUSIÓN
La construcción con tierra compactada tiene altos beneficios en comparación con otros
tipos de construcciones. Su bajo consumo de energía y su bajo coste han sido los
elementos motivadores para que, en este proyecto, se analice si este tipo de
construcción puede ser usado del mismo modo que el cemento o el hormigón.
Este material tiene también algunos inconvenientes, los cuales han sido estudiados en
este proyecto. Estas construcciones están habitualmente expuestas a las condiciones
ambientales, dado que este tipo de material es altamente sensible a estas condiciones, en
este proyecto se ha estudiado su relación con la resistencia de la estructura.
Tras este estudio podemos concluir que el efecto hidráulico es considerablemente

elevado en comparación con el efecto mecánico producido por las cargas exteriores.
Cuando ambas condiciones se aplican es posible despreciar las tensiones producidas por
cargas exteriores. Estas tensiones afectarán a la estructura una vez dichas cargas hayan
sido elevadas.
Debido a la relación de Bishop, cuando solamente se consideran las cargas exteriores, la

estructura plastifica ante menores solicitaciones que cuando se consideran las
condiciones ambientales. Cuando se acoplan ambas condiciones se puede apreciar que
la estructura colapsa con una carga máxima mucho más elevada que en el caso anterior.

Resumen
Por ello, a pesar de que las condiciones climáticas causen mayores tensiones y
deformaciones, la estructura puede soportar mayores cargas exteriores.
Como conclusión desde el punto de vista hidráulico, la disminución de la humedad

relativa conlleva a un aumento de la succión (y por ello a un incremento del valor
absoluto de presión del agua 𝑠 = −𝑢𝑤 ). Entonces el grado de saturación decrecerá
debido a la ecuación de Van Genuchten para la curva de retención del agua. Como la
relación de Bishop ha sido utilizada, altas succiones producen altos valores de las
tensiones efectivas y en consecuencia de los desplazamientos.
El objetivo de este proyecto también es analizar la hipótesis correcta de la ecuación de

Bishop. El parámetro alfa de dicha ecuación es el más influyente en las tensiones
inducidas en la estructura. Como el segundo término de la ecuación es 𝑆𝑟𝛼 𝑠, cuando α
aumenta la tensión efectiva disminuye ya que el grado de saturación tiene siempre un
valor comprendido entre 0 y 1. Tras analizar los resultados con los diferentes valores de
α, se puede concluir que el valor de este que conlleva a una situación más próxima a la
realidad es α=2.08. El máximo valor del desplazamiento en el eje vertical utilizando
esta hipótesis será de 6cm aproximadamente, siendo este valor considerado aceptable
para una estructura de estas características. Sin embargo, con esta hipótesis se alcanzará
el colapso de la estructura con valores de cargas exteriores menores en que la otra
hipótesis considerada (α=1).
Finalmente se concluye que este tipo de construcciones son comparables en resistencia

con aquellas hechas con cemento u hormigón. La estructura es capaz de soportar las
cargas típicas que se le aplicarían a dicha construcción y sería necesario el considerable
incremento de estas para alcanzar el colapso de la estructura.

RAMMED EARTH
CONSTRUCTION:
EFFECT OF THE
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
ON THE STABILITY AND
RESISTANCE OF EARTH
WALL
Thanks
First I would like to thank this job to my promoter, Professor Bertrand FRANCOIS, and
also to Professor Pierre GERARD for teaching and helping me to carry out this Master
thesis. I am grateful for all the patience and time that they had to spend on this work.
I also want to thank my family for supporting me all the time. I would like to thank
specially to Alberto who always believed in me. Finally, I dedicate my gratitude to
Beatriz and Marta for their unconditional support during this Master thesis.
Lucía Palazón
i
ii
Abstract
Nowadays, earth constructions are being considered as a potential substitute of the

cement constructions due to its reduced power consumption and its recyclability. There
are many ways to construct with earth but here only one will be studied: Rammed earth
construction. These types of constructions are more sensitive to climatic conditions than
others. Therefore, the aim of this thesis will be to study the hydro-mechanical behavior
of a rammed earth structure.
The variation of the relative humidity leads to changes in the suction which causes a
transfer of moisture producing changes in the mechanical properties of the material. The
retention curve depending on the suction was used to obtain the degree of saturation; the
Kelvin’s law between suction and relative humidity was implemented in order to have
the variation of the water pressure in the edges of the wall. Several tests will be done to
analyze the behavior of the coupling conditions between external loads and climatic
conditions by using the Bishop’s relation for the effective stresses.
The climatic conditions used are the evolution of the relative humidity in Belgium and
the typical indoor relative humidity of a house during a year. The external loads
assumed are the wind effect on the front of the building and the vertical loads of the
upper floors. Both effects will be tested individually in order to observe their own
contributions to the stresses and therefore the displacements. The importance of the
parameter α used in the Bishop’s expression will be discussed.
Finally, the failure of the structure will be analyzed when both conditions are applied.
Key words: hydro.mechanical coupling, water pressure, degree of saturation, effective

stress, suction, relative humidity, failure.
iii
iv
Résumé
De nos jours, les constructions en terre sont considérées comme un substitut potentiel
des constructions de ciment en raison de sa consommation d'énergie réduite et sa
recyclabilité. Il existe de nombreuses façons de construire avec de la terre, mais ici un
seul sera étudié: le pisé. Ces types de constructions sont plus sensibles aux conditions
climatiques que d'autres. Par conséquent, l'objectif de cette thèse sera d'étudier le
comportement hydro-mécanique d'une structure de terre battue.
La variation de l'humidité relative entraîne des changements dans la succion qui

provoque un transfert d'humidité, produisant des variations des propriétés mécaniques
du matériau. La courbe de rétention en fonction de la succion a été utilisée pour obtenir
le degré de saturation; La loi de Kelvin entre la succion et l'humidité relative a été mise
en place pour avoir la variation de la pression d'eau dans les bords de la paroi. Plusieurs
tests seront effectués pour analyser le comportement des conditions de couplage entre
les charges externes et les conditions climatiques en utilisant la relation de Bishop pour
les contraintes effectives.
Les conditions climatiques utilisées sont l'évolution de l'humidité relative en Belgique et

l'humidité relative intérieure typique d'une maison au cours d'une année. Les charges
extérieures pris en compte sont l'effet du vent sur la façade de l'immeuble et des charges
verticales dans les étages supérieurs. Les deux effets seront testés individuellement afin
d'observer leurs propres contributions aux contraintes et donc les déplacements.
L'importance du paramètre α utilisés dans l'expression de Bishop sera discuté.
Finalement, la défaillance de la structure sera analysée lorsque les deux conditions sont
appliquées.
Mots clés: couplage hydro.mechanical, pression de l'eau, le degré de saturation,

contraintes effectives, suction, humidité relative, défaillance.
v
vi
Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
2. Objectives ................................................................................................................... 3
3. Rammed earth ............................................................................................................. 5
3.1 History ................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 The technique ....................................................................................................... 5
3.3 Advantages of using rammed earth construction ................................................ 5
3.4 The problematic .................................................................................................... 6
4 Soil structure and characteristics ................................................................................. 7
4.1 Soil ......................................................................................................................... 7
4.2 Soils characteristics: a three phase material ........................................................ 7
4.3 Structure of the soil............................................................................................... 8
4.3.1 Granular soils ..................................................................................................... 8
4.3.2 Fine-grained soils ............................................................................................... 9
4.4 Soil-water interaction ........................................................................................... 9
4.5 Grain size distribution ......................................................................................... 11
4.6 Soil compaction ................................................................................................... 11
4.6 Shrinkage ............................................................................................................. 12
5 Laws .......................................................................................................................... 15
5.1 Hydraulic head .................................................................................................... 15
5.2 Darcy’s law .......................................................................................................... 15
5.3 Suction................................................................................................................. 16
5.3.1 The matric suction: .......................................................................................... 16
5.3.2 The osmotic suction ......................................................................................... 18
5.3.3 The total suction ............................................................................................... 18
5.4 Relation between relative humidity and suction ................................................ 18
5.5 The water retention curve .................................................................................. 19
5.6 Relative permeability .......................................................................................... 20
5.7 Effective stress for unsaturated soil ................................................................... 21
6 Materials characterization ......................................................................................... 23
6.1 The soil ................................................................................................................ 23
6.1.1 Elastic parameters of the soil ......................................................................... 25
vii
6.1.1.1 Young’s modulus..................................................................................... 25
6.1.1.2 Poisson’s ratio ....................................................................................... 26
6.1.2 Plastic parameters of the soil .......................................................................... 26
6.1.3 Permeability coefficient ................................................................................. 27
6.1.3.1 Parameters of the water permeability curve .......................................... 27
6.1.4 Parameters of the water retention curve ....................................................... 28
6.1.5 Effective stress of the soil ............................................................................... 28
6.2 Summary of the parameters used in the simulation .......................................... 29
6.3 Wood and concrete properties ........................................................................... 30
7 Boundary conditions .................................................................................................. 31
7.1 Hydraulic conditions............................................................................................ 31
7.1.2 Outdoor relative humidity............................................................................... 31
7.1.2 Indoor relative humidity ................................................................................. 32
7.2 Mechanical conditions ........................................................................................ 34
8 Results ....................................................................................................................... 35
8.1 First geometry: wall ............................................................................................ 35
8.1.1 Mechanical analysis......................................................................................... 36
8.1.2 Hydraulic analysis ........................................................................................... 37
8.1.3 Hydro-mechanical analysis ............................................................................ 41
8.2 Second geometry: wall with slabs....................................................................... 42
8.2.1 Mechanic analysis ............................................................................................ 43
8.3 Third geometry: realistic structure with two slabs ............................................. 52
8.3.1 Mechanical analysis......................................................................................... 53
8.3.3.1 Failure of the strucutre ............................................................................. 59
8.4 Summary of the results ....................................................................................... 63
9 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 65
10 Sustainability, planning and budget .......................................................................... 67
10.1 Sustainability ....................................................................................................... 67
10.2 Planning ............................................................................................................. 67
viii
10.3 Budget ................................................................................................................. 69
11 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 71
12 Annexes ................................................................................................................... 73
ix
x
List of figures
Figure 4.1: three phase soil [1]...................................................................................................... 7

Figure 4.2: Packing of granular material. [1] ................................................................................. 9
Figure 4.3: Soil fabrics of fined-grained soil. ................................................................................. 9
Figure 4.4: Interaction water-soil [2] .......................................................................................... 10
Figure 4.5: International and Belgian grain size classification. ................................................... 11
Figure 5.1: a) Molecule in the interface air-water. b) Molecule surrounded by water. [4] [6] .. 17
Figure 5.2: Capillarity [4]. ............................................................................................................ 17
Figure 5.3: Relation between relative humidity and suction [10]............................................... 19
Figure 5.4: Retention curve with the state of saturation [2] ...................................................... 20
Figure 6.1: a) Characteristics and identification table of MLD soil used for testing [14]. b) Grain
size distribution curve of MLD soil. [14]...................................................................................... 23
Figure 6.2: Normal proctor compaction test for MLD soil [14] ................................................... 24
Figure 6.3: Compressive strength of the MLD [14] ..................................................................... 25
Figure 6.4: Graphic stress-deformation for S=2.4MPa................................................................ 25
Figure 6.5: Elastic perfectly plastic model where𝑞 = 𝜎1 − 𝜎3 .................................................. 26
Figure 6.6: Table of the results of the permeameter test. [2] .................................................... 27
Figure 6.7: Table of the initial effective stress 𝜎0′ in function of α ............................................ 28
Figure 6.8: Table of the parameters of the soil in the FEM ........................................................ 30
Figure 6.9: Table of wood and concrete properties [18] [19] [20].............................................. 30
Figure 7.1: Evolution of the relative humidity during 2014 collected in the observatory of Uccle
(Belgium). [2] ............................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 7.2: Link between exterior temperature and interior HR. [2] .......................................... 32
Figure 7.3: Graph of the evolution of the temperature and relative humidity in function of
time. [2] ....................................................................................................................................... 32
Figure 7.4: Graph of the water pressure (𝑃𝑤) in function of time for several positions on an
entire wall of 39cm of thickness [2] ............................................................................................ 33
Figure 7.5: Simplified graph of the water pressure (𝑃𝑤) in function of time for the left and right
sides of the structure. ................................................................................................................. 34
xi
Figure 8.1: Geometry of the first structure. ................................................................................ 35
Figure 8.3: a) Deformed on the wall. b) Displacements of the wall in X direction. c)
Displacements in Y direction. ...................................................................................................... 36
Figure 8.4: a)Stresses in X direction. B) stresses in Y direction [Pa]........................................... 37
Figure 8.5: Deformed structure: a) in summer. b) in winter. ...................................................... 37
Figure 8.6: Displacements in X direction: a) in sumer. b) in winter. [m]..................................... 38
Figure 8.7: Displacements in Y direction: a) in summer. b) in winter. [m] ................................. 38
Figure 8.8: Water pressure: a) in summer. b) in winter.[Pa] ...................................................... 38
Figure 8.9: Water pressure over the position in the cross-section. ............................................ 39
Figure 8.10: Water pressure in the middle if ther wall over years. ............................................ 39
Figure 8.11: Graph of the evolution of the degree of saturation over the years. ...................... 40
Figure 8.12: Stresses in winter of the sixth year: a) in X direction. b) in Y direction.[Pa] ........... 40
Figure 8.13: Deformed structure : a) in summer. b) in winter. ................................................... 41
Figure 8.14: Displacements in winter in: a) X direction b) Y direction. [m] ................................ 41
Figure 8.15: Stresses in winter in: a) X direction. b) Y direcition. [Pa] ........................................ 42
Figure 8.16: Geometry of the second structure. [m] .................................................................. 42
Figure 8.17: a) Deformed structure after mechanical load. b) Displacements in X direction. c)
Displacements in the Y direction. [m] ......................................................................................... 43
Figure 8.18: Stresses in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa] ........................................................ 44
Figure 8.20: a) Displacements in a) X direction. b) Y direction ................................................... 45
Figure 8.21: Graph of the displacements on the left part of the structure during 6 years. ....... 45
Figure 8.22: Stresses in winter of the sixth year in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. .................... 46
Figure 8.24: Graph of the water pressure in the middle of the wall. ......................................... 47
Figure 8.25: Water pressure in winter of the sixth. .................................................................... 47
Figure 8.26: a) Deformed of the second geometry. b) Displacement on the X direction. c)
Displacements in Y direction with 𝛼 = 2.08. ( in winter of the sixth year) ................................ 48
Figure 8.27: Stresses in winter of the sixth year for α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. .. 48
Figure 8.28: water pressure for the cross section for the fifth year in summer. (α=2.08) ......... 49
Figure 8.29: Graph of the water pressure in the middle of the cross section for α=1 and α=2.08.
..................................................................................................................................................... 49
Figure 8.30: Displacements for α=1 in : a) X direction. b) Y direction. ....................................... 50
Figure 8.31: Displacements for α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m] ............................. 50
Figure 8.32: Stresses in: a) X direction. b) Y direction [Pa] ......................................................... 51
Figure 8.33: Stresses for α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa] ...................................... 51
Figure 8.34: Scheme of the stresses in the 3 situations. ............................................................. 52
xii
Figure 8.35: Design of the third geometry. [cm] ......................................................................... 52
Figure 8.36: Design of the position of the loads. ........................................................................ 53
Figure 8.37: a) Deformed of the structure. b) Schematic design of the deformation. ............... 54
Figure 8.38: a) Displacements in X direction. b) Displacements in Y direction. .......................... 54
Figure 8.39: a) Stresses in X direction. b) Stresses in Y direction. ............................................... 54
Figure 8.40: Evolution of the water in the soil wall over the positon for the third structure. ... 55
Figure 8.41: Evolution of the degree of saturation for the third structure. ............................... 55
Figure 8.42: Deformed of the structure. ..................................................................................... 56
Figure 8.43: a) Displacement in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m] ............................................ 56
Figure 8.44: Displacement (in the X direction) in the middle of the left edge of the upper soil
wall. ............................................................................................................................................. 56
Figure 8.45: Stresses for α=1 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa]............................................ 57
Figure 8.46: Stresses with α=1 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. ................................................ 58
Figure 8.47: Design the parameter involved in V. ....................................................................... 59
Figure 8.48: Values of V in winter of the sixth year. ................................................................... 60
Figure 8.49: Values of V in the moment of total failure for α=1. ................................................ 60
Figure 8.50: Value of V in the moment of total failure for α=2.08. ............................................ 61
Figure 8.51: Scheme of the stresses in the case where the structure fails in the first step. ...... 61
Figure 8.52: Values of V when the external loads are isolated. .................................................. 62
Figure 8.53: Difference between the mechanical and hydraulic case. ....................................... 62
Figure 8.54: Summary of all the values obtained in the simulations. ......................................... 63
Figure 10.1: Gantt diagram ......................................................................................................... 68

Figure 10.2: Table of the Budget of the project .......................................................................... 69
Figure 12.1: Water pressure in the sixth year in the coupled hydro-mechanical situation (8.1.3)
in: a) summer. b) winter. [Pa] ..................................................................................................... 73
Figure 12.2: Water pressure over position for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
hydraulic conditions are applied. ................................................................................................ 73
Figure 12.3: Degree of saturation over position for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
Figure 12.4: Water pressure on the sixth year for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
Figure 12.5: Displacement in the Y direction for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
Figure 12.6: Water pressure in the third structure in winter of the sixth year. [Pa] .................. 75
xiii
Figure 12.7: Water pressure for α=2.08 for the third geometry................................................. 75
Figure 12.8: Degree of saturation for α=2.08 for the third geometry. ....................................... 75
Figure 12.9: Displacements for the third geometry with α=2.08, without external loads in: a) X
direction. b) Y direction. [m] ....................................................................................................... 76
Figure 12.10: Stresses for the third geometry with α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa]
..................................................................................................................................................... 76
Figure 12.11: Displacements of the third geometry with α=1 (when the hydraulic condition and
the loads are applied) in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m] ....................................................... 77
Figure 12.12: Displacements for α=2.08 when the external loads and the enviromental
conditions is applied in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m] ......................................................... 78
xiv
1. Introduction
Earth construction is an ancient technique first appeared in the Neolithic. Nowadays
more countries are developing studies to improve it and use it as a main technique of
construction. There are many ways to construct with earth; in total it has been found 12
different types during all these decades. The most commonly used are these 7 different
methods to construct: Rammed earth, adobe, straw clay, wattle and daub, compressed
earth, direct shaping, Cob. [2]
People nowadays are incrementing their investigations in these kinds of techniques due
to their high number of benefits over the industrials constructions as it could be the ones
with cement. Soil is a widely available, low-cost and sustainable resource, and using it
in construction has minimal environmental impact, having almost no energetic activity
compared with the cement. This makes earth construction highly affordable and viable
for low-income builders. [14]
One of the most developed techniques is the rammed earth, and it will be the aim of this
project. Rammed-earth constructions are found on every continent except Antarctica, in
a range of environments that include temperate and wet regions, semiarid deserts,
mountain areas and the tropics. Building a rammed-earth wall involves compressing a
damp mixture of earth that has suitable proportions of sand, gravel and clay (sometimes
with an added stabilizer) into an externally supported frame or mold called formwork,
creating either a solid wall of earth or individual blocks. It has a good compressive
strength of approximately 4MPa; it is less than that of concrete, but more than strong
enough to use in domestic buildings [14]. Indeed, properly built rammed earth can
withstand loads for thousands of years, as many still-standing ancient structures around
the world attest. Rammed earth buildings usually have low embodied energy and there
is very little waste during the construction phase, including low use of timber as the
formwork that can be removed and reused. There are no flammable components in a
rammed earth wall and its fire resistance is thus fairly high, also it has excellent sound
reverberation characteristics and does not generate the harsh echoes characteristic of
many conventional wall materials. For all these reasons, this method has seen a revival
in recent years. [14]
Such constructions require special attention since they are more sensitive to climate and
environmental condition, the resistance of the building depends on the relative humidity
of the air. Its variation leads directly to a change in the water pressure that causes the
transfer of moisture in the structure. Therefore it is important to make a full study of the
hydro-mechanical behavior depending on the area where construction it is going to be
built. It can be used in wetter climates but in some cases it must be protected from
heavy rain.
1
2
2. Objectives
This Master thesis is part of a study that has been developing in the department of
GeoMechanics in the ULB since 2013, whose main objective is to analyze the behavior
of a rammed earth structure. There are three previous investigations done on this type of
technique that mainly show the characteristics that must have the soil which is going to
be used as well as the hydro-mechanical behavior of the construction.
The purpose here is to continue the researches done by Bujar Hajdinaj in 2015. In his
project shows how a wall made by Belgian soil reacts to the hydrological conditions of
the country. A full investigation of a more realistic case is going to be done in this thesis
by coupling the hydro-mechanical behavior of a domestic wall with two floors.
First, an explanation of the soil characteristic will be made and also the laws upon
which the investigations have been based on. Then the study continues by simulating
the wall in different cases. First the mechanical behavior will be tested by simulating the
horizontal wind as well as vertical loads on the floors. Afterwards, only considering the
hydraulic approach, the transfer of moisture as well as the pore water pressure will be
analyzed. Once completed those steps, a coupling of both approaches will be done, the
hydro-mechanical behavior will be discussed. The external forces will be increased until
plasticity occurs and a comparison of both cases (mechanical and hydro-mechanical)
hypothesis will be held. The objective followed in this case was to understand the
effects of the environmental conditions on a typical house wall.
As mentioned, a study of the relative humidity of Belgium is going to be shown during

the different seasons of the year, as well as the typical internal conditions that a house is
used to have. The study of the hydro-mechanical behavior will be done until at least 6
years mainly to observe the transfer of moisture throughout the wall and see how this
affect to their strength.
In conclusion, the principal goal of the investigation is to analyze the repartition of

stresses through a house wall once it is consider a hydro-mechanical approach, as well
as provide an approximation of the maximum values of loads that it is able to bear.
3
4
3. Rammed earth
3.1 History
Rammed earth is an ancient technique that has been dated back to at least 7000 BC in
Pakistan [22]. It is a technique used to construct building walls, foundations, and floors
using natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime or gravel. This technique is
usually found in arid climates where the soil is drier, however it is possible to construct
using this method in wet regions, mountain areas and the tropics. Examples of rammed
earth buildings are all over Europe. French and German immigrants brought this style of
building with them to the United States, and now churches, homes and other buildings
made of rammed earth can be found from New York to Florida. Nowadays rammed
earth construction is also extremely popular in Australia, where wood for construction is
limited and expensive [23].
3.2 The technique
The technique consists of compacting successive layers of approximately 13 cm of soil

inside a formwork. Rammed earth requires a cross-grade of soils, but the mix should not
have too much clay; excess of clay will cause the walls to shrink and crack. The
compaction may be done manually with a hammer-like device, mechanically with a
lever-operated brick-making press, or pneumatically with an air-driven tamping tool.
Afterwards a drying process is obligatory. [24]
3.3 Advantages of using rammed earth construction
The principal reason to select this type of technique is because of their reduced
environmental impact comparing it with the main techniques of construction as it could
be ones with cement. Earth building has the lowest amount of embodied energy of any
masonry material. Most of the energy used in rammed earth is in quarrying and
transportation. Cement production accounts for 5% of global CO2 emissions in the
world which makes the rammed earth construction a possible substitute [25].
Furthermore, when the drying process is finished, rammed earth is about as strong as
concrete.
5
The materials used in the construction of rammed earth buildings are consider as low
cost as well as recyclable. It is possible to use the same formwork in multiples
constructions.
Houses built of rammed earth have several advantages over wood-frame construction. It
is considered as an inert material and is classified as non-combustible. The walls are
fireproof, rot resistant, and impervious to termites. Tests by CSIRO have given it a four-
hour fire resistance rating, which is very favorable. [14]
On the other hand, rammed earth walls contain excellent thermal mass. There is a
natural thermal regulation during summer as walls cool during the night and absorb the
heat during the day. This is due to the thermal flywheel effect, which is a property of the
mass of a building which enables it to store heat, providing inertia against temperature
fluctuations [8].
3.4 The problematic
Since all the constructions made by rammed earth have different proportions of the
materials, it is necessary to identify the intrinsic characteristics of the wall. As it is
already mentioned, rammed earth constructions are sensitive to climate and
environmental condition; furthermore the transfer of moisture is directly related with the
micro-structure therefore the hydro-mechanical behavior of the structure must be
studied considering the composition and the interaction between different phases.
Alexandre Robert, Mohamed Mahdad and Bujar Hajdinaj have investigated about these
interactions between soils and how the multiple phases of the structure affect to the
hydraulic behavior. These works will be used to conclude with a full study of the
structure strength and behavior when it is combined the mechanical effect with the
hydraulic.
6
4 Soil structure and characteristics
4.1 Soil
The earth crust materials can be divided in two main categories: soil and rock. Soil
refers generally to material located at the upper part of the earth crust that is soft and
loose. Soils are composed of minerals, by definition, minerals are inorganic chemical
compounds formed in nature. It is mainly composed of sand, silt, clay, colloidal oxides
and organic matter. Soil is the result of the alteration of the rock, depending on the
weathering of the rock there is a difference between their textures and grain size among
others. Therefore the delimitations between soil and rock are not well-defined. The
variety of the grain size makes the soil susceptible to deformation, produced by the
relative displacement between particles. [1]
The study of the mechanical behavior of soil implies the determination, the
understanding and the quantification of the deformation and strength properties of the
soil.
4.2 Soils characteristics: a three phase material
Soil is mainly composed of solid particles but in between them it is possible to find
voids that can contain air as well as water. The rearrangement of the particles lead to
deformation, therefore the proportions of these three phases must be analyzed.
Figure 4.1: three phase soil [1]
When the three phases coexist the soil is unsaturated. On the contrary if the pores are
filled with water the soil is considered saturated (bi-phase situation: solid particles and
water)
7
4.3 Structure of the soil
The properties of the soil that are observed in the field are governed directly by the
particle characteristics, their arrangements and the forces between them. There is
usually a distinction between two main categories of soils that have opposite
mechanical behavior: the granular soils and the fine grained soils. The first ones are
made of coarse particles (sand or gravel) while the second ones are made of thin
particles (clay or small silt). In practice, the structure of soils is very complicate and it is
a combination between contact forces (in granular material) and adhesion forces (in fine
materials).
The mechanical behavior of a soil is directly related with it relative density Dr [1]:
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒
𝐷𝑟 = 𝑥100[%]
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛
The relative density gives an indication of the soil density as a function of its maximum
and minimum void ratio values (𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛 ):
𝑒=
𝑉𝑠
Where 𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 and 𝑉𝑠 are the volume of voids and the volume of solid particles [1].
4.3.1 Granular soils

The structure of granular materials depends on the void ratio. They can be
loose (high void ratio, low density) or dense (low void ratio, high density).
Moreover, a granular soil with high relative density (dense soil) has larger
rigidity and strength than for a soil with a lower relative density soil (loose soil).
8
Figure 4.2: Packing of granular material. [1]
The void ratio is not enough to estimate their behavior; it is also necessary to
the take into account how the grains are structured. Two soils with the same
void ratio could have different properties depending on their shapes. [1]
4.3.2 Fine-grained soils

Fined grained soils are made of thin particles, the volumetric gravimetric forces
are less significant compared to the forces at the surface of the clay platelets; the
inter-particular forces are relatively intense. Concerning the particles
arrangement, it is possible to classify them into dispersed (figure 3a) and
aggregated fabric (figure 3b). [1]
(a)
(b)
Figure 4.3: Soil fabrics of fined-grained soil.
4.4 Soil-water interaction
Water has different properties in minerals depending on its location: [2], [3]
9
- Constitutive water: The water takes part of the chemical composition of the soil.
This kind of water doesn’t influence much the soil behavior.
- Interstitial water: Present in the soil pores. The physico-chemical characteristics
of the soil and its interactions with others phases influences much more the
mechanical properties as the wall resistance, its plasticity, soil consistency…
This water can be divided in two others:

 Absorbed water: Present in the vicinity of the particles, strongly linked to
the clay platelets (figure 4). [1]
Figure 4.4: Interaction water-soil [2]
 Non-absorbed water: Flowable, making the soil partially saturated.

Divided in two categories:
o Free water: This kind of water is subjected to the Darcy’s law. Its
main effect is the physical efforts on the particles. The water
pressure is a capital factor for the stresses-deformations relations
in a soil.
o Capillary water: Associated to the capillary pressure. Its effect
will be defined later on this thesis.
When the soil reaches high temperatures is it possible to find water vapor in the voids,
which movement will cause the modification of the mechanical behavior.
Soil has two important parameters to define the water inside the material: [1]
- Degree of saturation 𝑆𝑟 [-]:
𝑉𝑤 𝑉𝑤
𝑆𝑟 = =
𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡 − 𝑉𝑠
Where 𝑉𝑊 is the volume of water, 𝑉𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 is the volume occupied by the pores, 𝑉𝑠
is the volume of the solid particles and 𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡 is the total volume of the soil.
The degree of saturation of a soil may vary between 0 and 1, where 𝑆𝑟 = 0

corresponds to a totally dried soil and 𝑆𝑟 = 1 is for a saturated soil (no air in
voids).
In practice when a soil is dried, it remains moisture in the meniscus of the soil
particles, therefore 𝑆𝑟 is not exactly 0, it exists a residual degree of saturation.
10
- Water content w [-]:
𝑀𝑤
𝑤=
𝑀𝑠
Where 𝑀𝑤 and 𝑀𝑠 are the mass of the water and the mass of the solid particles.
Both parameters can easily be connected by the following equation:
𝑆𝑟 𝑒
𝑤=
𝐺𝑠
Where e is the void ratio defined in 2.3.2 and 𝐺𝑠 correspond to the specific density of
𝜌
solid grains (𝐺𝑠 = 𝜌 𝑠 ).
𝑤
In this thesis, it is mainly going to be used the first parameter (𝑆𝑟 ).
4.5 Grain size distribution
As it is mentioned before the soil is composed of particles of various size, shape and
quantities. According to their grain dimensions it is possible to classify them into
gravel, sand, silt and clay. The international and Belgian classifications are shown in
Figure 5 which are slightly different but the principle is the same. [1]
Figure 4.5: International and Belgian grain size classification.
4.6 Soil compaction
It consists of closely packing the soil particles together, thus increasing the soil dry unit
weight 𝛾𝑑 [kN/𝑚3 ]: [1]
11
𝛾𝑑 = 𝜌𝑑 𝑔
Where 𝜌𝑑 [kg/𝑚3 ] is the dry density defined as:
𝑀𝑠
𝜌𝑑 =
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡
g is the gravitational constant, 𝑀𝑠 is the mass of the solid phase and 𝑉𝑡 the total volume.
The mechanical behavior of a compacted soil depends on the following characteristic:

[1]
- The material (type of soil, grain size distribution, clay content…). Under
loose conditions, soils have usually poor mechanical properties.
- The water content
- The energy of compaction
- The kind of compaction (dynamic blows, static loading, mixing, vibration…)
- The timing of compaction
In rammed earth construction, the process of compaction is generally done dynamically.
The water content value to obtain the optimal strength properties in a compacted soil
can easily be tested in laboratory using the Proctor compaction test. It determines the
relationship between water content of the soil and the dry unit weight obtained after a
controlled and standardized compaction [1]. An increment of this value will lead to
better mechanical behavior. Therefore it is important to know which water content value
causes this optimal situation (this value is called optimum water content).
At low water content, capillary effect tends to link particles together during the
compaction. Consequently, aggregates are form with the water that is enclosed inside
the aggregate and air occupies the large voids between aggregates. On the contrary,
when water is high, water pushes the grains apart during compaction producing a
disperse structure. [1]
More details of the proctor test will be shown in section 6.1, once the soil properties are
defined.
4.6 Shrinkage
The soil shrinkage is defined as the specific volume change of soil upon drying relative
to its water content decrease and is mainly due to clay properties. It can be measured in
most soils with more than 10% clay content. This process is not always perfectly
reversible, if the process starts from a very wet material, shrinkage will be very
important while the subsequent swelling will be much more limited. [13]
12
As the soil dries, it will shrink until it reaches the shrinkage limit. It is crucial for soil
used in rammed earth construction to be under the shrinkage limit or cracks or even
stability problems will occur during the drying process of the structure. [14]
13
14
5 Laws
In this section the laws and assumptions used to carry out the study of this project will
be mentioned and explained.
5.1 Hydraulic head
The hydraulic head, also called the hydraulic potential governs the flowing of water
through the soil. Water flows from high to low potentials. The Bernoulli’s equation
defines the hydraulic head h [m]: [1]
𝑢𝑤 𝑣 2
ℎ=𝑧+ +
𝛾𝑤 2𝑔
Where z is the height from an arbitrary reference [m], uw is the pore water pressure
[kN/m2 ], 𝛾𝑤 is the unit weight of water (a commonly used value is 10 kN/m3 ), v is the
velocity of the water [m/s] and g is the gravitational acceleration [m/s 2 ].
Last term of the equation could be neglected due to the low velocity that has the water
which flows through the soil.
Pore water pressure refers to the pressure of water held within a soil or rock, in gaps
between particles (pores). In the unsaturated zone, the pore pressure is determined by
capillarity and is also referred to as tension, suction, or matric pressure; it will be shown
later on the thesis chapter 5.3.
The hydraulic gradient is a vector gradient between two hydraulic head measurements
over the length of the flow path:
𝑑ℎ
𝑖=
𝑑𝑥
5.2 Darcy’s law
The flow of water or any other fluid moving through soil is governed by an empirical
law, derived from experimental observation, not from theory. This expression for
ground water flow is known as Darcy’s Law.
15
Darcy noticed that fluid flow (in one direction) was directly proportional to the
hydraulic gradient, resulting in the following equation:
ℎ2 − ℎ1
𝑞 = 𝑘𝐴
𝑙
Where q represents the volumetric flow rate of water through a sample with a cross-
sectional area A and height l; h1 and h2 are the hydraulic head of points located at the
input and output of the sample respectively, and k is the coefficient of permeability
[m/s].
Therefore, the velocity of water flow is defined as:

𝑞
𝑣= = 𝑘𝑖
𝐴
The coefficient of permeability k measures the capability of a fluid to pass through the
soil. Soil is permeable when k has high values. On the contrary, for low values of k the
soil is defined impermeable. K is a function of the degree of saturation (𝑆𝑟 ), this will be
explained later in section 5.7.
5.3 Suction
In reality, cohesion is not only made by clay particles. Suction is a measure of the
attraction between water and soil. It can be defined as the force that, by a pressure
differential, attracts the water to the region of lower pressure. More the soil is dry,
greater will be the suction. In addition, the soil suction can vary in a very wide range,
from 0 GPa for a saturated soil to 10 GPa for a dried soil. [3][4]
Suction has several components that we will describe as follows: [4]
5.3.1 The matric suction:

Matric suction expresses the capacity of water retention of the soil grains. It
depends on the capillary medium properties and absorption properties by soil
particles.
- Capillary suction [6]: capillary phenomena occurs at the interface

between two fluids, because the molecules are subjected to a set of
unbalanced forces of interaction in contrast with a molecule located
within the fluid. A molecule of water within a body of water is subjected
to similar actions (figure 5.1(b)), whereas at the interface between two
fluids, water-air, for example, is subjected to various actions: actions due
16
to water and actions due to air (figure 5.1(a)). The water molecules at the
water-air interface are therefore attracted to the water mass and the water
surface is subjected to a force perpendicular to the free surface. This
attraction causes surface tension 𝜎𝑠 .
Figure 5.1: a) Molecule in the interface air-water. b) Molecule surrounded by water. [4] [6]
Capillarity is illustrated by the diagram of Figure 5.2, describing

capillary rise h of water in a small tube of radius r immersed in a
container filled with water. The relationship between the radius of
curvature of the spherical water-air meniscus in the tube and the pressure
difference between air and water is given by Jurin’s law: [6]
2𝜎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝑆𝑐 = 𝑢𝑎 − 𝑢𝑤 =
𝑟
Where:
 𝑆𝑐 is the capillarity suction
 𝑢𝑎 and 𝑢𝑤 are respectively the air and the water pressure
 𝜎𝑠 is the tension water-air
 r is the radius of meniscus
 θ is the angle between the solid and the meniscus
The height of capillary rise is defined by:
2σs cosθ
ℎ𝑐 =
rγw
For water: 𝜎𝑠 = 72.75 ∗ 103 𝑁/𝑚. [4]
Figure 5.2: Capillarity [4].
17
- The adsorption suction: in unsaturated soils, the water attraction action
by the soil is not only due to the capillary action, but also to the physico-
chemical adsorption action since clays are negatively charged particles.
Therefore, they tend to adsorb water on their surface which generates a
suction adsorption. [4]
5.3.2 The osmotic suction

The osmotic suction is the same than the osmotic pressure. It is created by the
force related to the osmotic repulsion when soluble salts are present in the
water. It depends on their concentration. If the salt concentration is low, this
component can be neglected and the total suction reduces to matric suction.
[3] [4]
5.3.3 The total suction

The total soil suction S can be seen as the sum of two components: matric
suction and osmotic suction [6] [7], [3]. As part of this work, it is taken the
hypothesis proposed by [F. Geiser 1999], in the silt, the adsorption suction is
neglected. Also the osmotic suction we will neglect, because the water used in
this project is demineralized. Therefore, the total suction will be reduced to
matric suction (capillary suction) →s = ua − uw . [4]
5.4 Relation between relative humidity and suction
Relative humidity is defined as the partial pressure of water vapor relative to the
saturated water vapor. It is expressed as a percentage (%) [6].
Because of the large surfaces of earth walls exposed to air, the effect of relative
humidity is particularly important on the behavior of these structures. The total suction
is related to the relative humidity of air through one of the fundamentals of
thermodynamics which is the Kelvin’s law, whose expression is: [6]
𝑅𝑇
𝑆= ln(𝑅𝐻)
𝑀𝑔
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒

𝑅𝐻 = 100%
𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒
Where:
18
- S: the total suction [Pa]
- R: the molar gas constant (R=8.314 J/molK)
- T: thermodynamic temperature (K)
- RH: relative humidity (between 0 and 1).
- 𝑀: The molar mass of water (M= 18,016 g/mol)
- 𝑔: Acceleration due to gravity (g=9.81 𝑚/𝑠 2 )
The Kelvin’s law is shown in Figure 5.3 for a temperature of 20 ° C.
Figure 5.3: Relation between relative humidity and suction [10]
5.5 The water retention curve
The relation between the amount of water presents in pore space of soil (quantified by
the degree of saturation or the water content) and the soil suction is usually referred to
as the water retention curve which is a characteristic of the soil in a given state.
Evaporation from a soil brings the soil to a drier state. As the soil dries, the degree of
saturation, or alternatively the water content, decreases as the suction increases.
However the process of desaturation occurs only at suction values greater than the air
entry-suction, when the meniscus formed in the larger pores can no more sustain the
difference between air and water pressures. Below this limit, the soil remains saturated
while suction is positive. Above this limit, desaturation occurs until it reaches a residual
saturation state. [1]
The shape of water retention curves can be characterized by several models, one of
them known as the Van Genuchten model, [11].
19
1 − 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠
𝑆𝑟,𝑤 = 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠 +
𝛼𝑠 𝑛 𝑚
(1 + (𝛾 ) )
𝑤
Where:
- 𝑆𝑟 is the degree of saturation [-]

- 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠 is the residual degree of saturation [-]
- 𝑠 the suction [Pa]
- 𝛾𝑤 the volumetric force of water (𝛾𝑤 =9.81𝑘𝑁⁄𝑚3 )
- 𝛼 is related to the inverse of the air entry suction [ 𝑚−1]
- 𝑛 is a measure of the pore-size distribution [-]
1
- 𝑚 = 1 − 𝑛 [-]
-
- Figure 5.4: Retention curve with the state of saturation [2]
5.6 Relative permeability
In order to model the change in the permeability with the degree of saturation, it is
common to express the water permeability as the product of permeability in saturated
conditions and a relative permeability depending on the degree of saturation: [12]
𝐾𝑤 (𝑆𝑟,𝑤 ) = 𝐾𝑤𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑘𝑟,𝑤
Where:
- K w is the permeability [m/s]
- Sr,w the degree of saturation [-]
- K sat
w the permeability in saturated conditions [m/s]
- k r,w the relative permeability depending on the degree of saturation [-]
Van Genuchten (1980) obtained the following analytic expression that relates the
relative permeability with the degree of saturation [11]:
20
1 𝑚 2
𝑘𝑟,𝑤 (𝑆𝑟,𝑤 ) = √𝑆𝑟,𝑤 (1 − (1 − 𝑆𝑟,𝑤 ) )
𝑚
Where all the parameters included in this expression has been previously defined. That
it is why this law is convenient to be used; it does not require any additional parameters
with respect to the parameter of water retention curve.
5.7 Effective stress for unsaturated soil
As it is seen before, soil is considered as a multi-phase material. At the micro-scale each

phase is submitted to its own stress state. The main question is how to describe the
stress state in a relatively simple manner that allows relating that stress state to the
corresponding strain state. The main idea is to consider the medium at one level
sufficiently large such as soil could be describe as any other continuum material. At that
macroscopic level, we can obtain a single stress state that is responsible of the
mechanical behavior of the soil [1].
With the aim to use a single stress to describe the mechanical behavior of unsaturated
soils, combinations between mechanical stress and fluid pressures are assessed in the
approaches using an effective stress for unsaturated soils [1].
Bishop (1959) first attempted to extend the concept of effective stress to unsaturated
porous media [1]:
𝜎 ′ = 𝜎 − 𝑢𝑎 + (𝑢𝑎 − 𝑢𝑤 )𝜒
Where:
- σ′ is the effective stress [Pa]

- σ the stress [Pa]
- ua the pore air pressure [Pa]
- (ua − uw ) the suction (s) [Pa]
- 𝜒 the effective stress parameter [-]
The pore air pressure ua could be neglected compared with the other terms of the
equation. It leads to the following expression:
𝜎 ′ = 𝜎 + 𝜒𝑠
Where: s = −uw .
The effective stress parameter 𝜒 varies with the degree of saturation, from zero for dry
soil to unity for fully saturated conditions. In this project, the assumption 𝜒 = 𝑆𝑟𝛼 is
going to be made. So at the end, the expression is the one below:
21
𝜎 ′ = 𝜎 + 𝑆𝑟𝛼 𝑠
Where α is a soil parameter.
Upon zero external stress (=0), the material is submitted to an effective stress that
depends on the hydraulic conditions:
The effective stress σ′ can be either horizontal or vertical, the relation between both of
them is governed by a coefficient called the coefficient of earth pressure 𝐾0 , and it is
shown as follows:
𝜎ℎ′ = 𝐾0 𝜎𝑣′
22
6 Materials characterization
The characteristics of the soil used in the hydro-mechanical study of the structure are
going to be shown in this part of the project as well as the parameter used in the
simulation program. Most of the following explanations are taken for the results
obtained in the studies made by Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2], Mohamed Mahdah (2014)
[4] and Alexandre Robert McCormark (2013) [14].
The composition of the soil will be defined as well as the strength parameters. The tests
implemented in the previous works are going to be useful to a faster characterization of
the material.
Other materials such as wood and concrete will be used in the construction to obtain a
better resistance of the structure. Their elastic parameters also will be presented in this
section.
6.1 The soil
The soil used throughout the whole study was originated from Marche-les-Dame
(MLD) in the province of Namur, Belgium. It is composed mostly of silt (58%) [14].
Various tests were performed to obtain the following parameters: [14]
a) b)
Figure 6.1: a) Characteristics and identification table of MLD soil used for testing [14]. b) Grain
size distribution curve of MLD soil. [14]
According to the thesis of Mohamed Mahdah (2014) [4], the residual water content is
𝑤 = 1.1%, therefore it is possible to obtain the residual degree of saturation if the
porosity is known.
The materials used for rammed earth construction tend to have high porosity (30%-
50%, commonly over 35%), and are consequently classed as very porous materials [17].
In this thesis the value choosen for the simulation is 𝑛 = 33.6% obtained from the value
23
of unit weight after compaction (shown in later in this section). The porosity n is
defined as the fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume:
𝑛=
𝑉𝑇
Knowing that the water content is 1.1%, the dry density of the soil after compaction is
2000 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 , as it will be seen after in this same chapter, and the density of the water is
𝜌 = 1000 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3, the residual degree of saturation could be calculated as:
0.011𝑥2000
𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠 = 1000 = 0.0653
0.336
1
𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑠 = 6.53%
Also a normal proctor test was performed by [Robert A., 2013] to determine the optimal
water content with its respective dry density of the soil. The results are shown on figure
6.2.
Figure 6.2: Normal proctor compaction test for MLD soil [14]
Where the optimal water content is 𝑊𝑜𝑝𝑡 = 14.7% and the maximum dry density is
𝛾𝑑 = 18.4 𝑘𝑁/𝑚3.
The compressive strength and the dry density of compacted MLD soil depend on the
water content and unit weight, the following figure (6.3) show this dependency.
The figure 6.3 shows that the maximum strength to compressive loads is achieved at a
water content of 8% with a dry density around 2000 kg/m3 [1]. This higher value is not
obtained from the optimal proctor conditions; it is reached due to higher compaction
energy. Therefore, these two parameters will be taken as initial conditions throughout
this work.
24
Figure 6.3: Compressive strength of the MLD [14]
6.1.1 Elastic parameters of the soil
6.1.1.1 Young’s modulus

It defines the relationship between stress (force per unit area) and strain
(proportional deformation) in a material. A solid body deforms when a load is
applied to it. If the material is elastic, the body returns to its original shape after
the load is removed. The Young's modulus is a measure of the stiffness of a
solid material. Young's modulus has units of pressure [Pa].
To obtain this parameter, Mohamed Mahdad [4] had tested the soil for different
suctions and degree of saturation. He has applied compression force to the
material and then recorded the deformations. In this project his graphs are going
to be used, in particular, the one with the suction equal to 2.4MPa, which
correspond to the initial suction in our case as Mohamed Mahdad [4] had
studied.
Figure 6.4: Graphic stress-deformation for S=2.4MPa
25
Young's modulus is represented by the tangent to the curve at each point. To
obtain experimentally the young modulus the slope (m) of the linear part of the
curve must be calculated. For that, two points are chosen (A and B).
 Point A: 𝑥1 = 0.01 𝑦1 = 0.6 𝑀𝑃𝑎

 Point B: 𝑥2 = 0.016 𝑦2 = 1.4 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝑦2 − 𝑦1 1.4 − 0.6
𝐸=𝑚= = 𝑀𝑃𝑎 = 133.3 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝑥2 − 𝑥1 0.016 − 0.01
𝐸 = 133.3𝑀𝑃𝑎
6.1.1.2 Poisson’s ratio

When a material is compressed in one direction, it usually tends to expand in
the other two directions perpendicular to the direction of compression. This
phenomenon is called the Poisson effect. Poisson's ratio is a measure of this
effect. The Poisson ratio is the fraction of expansion divided by the fraction (or
percent) of compression, for small values of these changes.
In this thesis, the poisson ratio for rammed earth is considered to be 𝜈 = 0.22
according to the investigations of Bui and Ali (2014) [16].
6.1.2 Plastic parameters of the soil

In this project the Drucker-Prager criterion will be used, it is a pressure-dependent
model for determining whether a material has failed or undergone plastic yielding. The
soil used in the simulation is going to be considered as an elastic-perfectly plastic
material although it is known that plastic behavior in soils is caused primarily by the
rearrangement of clusters of adjacent grains. That means that after the yield limit is
reached no hardening or softening will occur under extra loading, the yield limit is equal
to the stress failure.
Figure 6.5: Elastic perfectly plastic model where𝑞 = 𝜎1 − 𝜎3
The values to determine the plasticity of the soil are going to be assumed following the
work of Mohamed Mahdah (2014) [4]: [5]
26
- Initial and final friction angle 𝜙 = 36.5 ̊
- Initial and final cohesion 𝑐 = 6.2 𝑘𝑃𝑎
- Dilatancy angle 𝜓 = 0 ̊
6.1.3 Permeability coefficient

Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2] had measured the permeability coefficient of soil of MLD.
The soil must content 8% water and must have a dry unit weight of 2000N/m3. The test
was performed in laboratory thanks permeameter.
The hydraulic head permeameter was done for three soil samples, three times each
sample. Then the average of all the measures is done.
The finite element code used in this thesis requires the intrinsic permeability expressed
in m2 thanks to the following relation [2]:
𝜇
𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟 = 𝐾𝑠𝑎𝑡
𝑔𝜌
Figure 6.6: Table of the results of the permeameter test. [2]
According to the relation above, the intrinsic permeability is k intr = 5.54 10−16 m2 .
6.1.3.1 Parameters of the water permeability curve

As it is seen in chapter 5.7, the permeability depends on the degree of
saturation according to Van Genuchten’s (1980) expression. In this relation
some parameters (m and n) must be defined a priori. In accordance with the
thesis made by Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2], the parameter needed is the
following:
1 1
𝑚 =1− =1− = 0.245
𝑛 1.325
27
6.1.4 Parameters of the water retention curve
Some of the parameters of the Van Genuchten’s (1980) expression for the water
retention curve are the same as the ones of the water permeability curve. In this case, to
implement the Van Genuchten model, the program needs to know the information
below:
𝛾𝑤
𝛼 = 0.022 [-] 𝐶𝑆𝑅1 = = 454545.455 [Pa]
𝛼
𝛾𝑤 = 9.81𝑘𝑁/𝑚3
𝐶𝑆𝑅2 = 𝑛 = 1.325
Where 𝛼 and 𝑛 are taken from the study made by Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2], and CSR1
and CSR2 are the parameters that the code needs.
Once these parameters are known, it is possible to obtain the initial degree of saturation
for a suction of s=2.4 MPa by applying the expression mentioned before. The residual
degree of saturation has been calculated in chapter 6.1 of this thesis. With all the
parameters defined, the initial degree of saturation is:
1 − 0.653
𝑆𝑟,0 = 0.0653 + 1 = 0.582
1.325 1−1.325
2.4 106
((1 + ) )
454545.455
𝑆𝑟,0 = 58.2%
6.1.5 Effective stress of the soil

The model used in this project for χ is the one mentioned in chapter 5.8:
𝜒 = 𝑆𝑟𝛼
For the simulations, two different α are chosen, for each one correspond an initial
effective stress according to the initial suction 𝑠 = −𝑢𝑤 = 2.4 𝑀𝑃𝑎 :
α[-] 𝜎0′ (with 𝑆𝑟 = 0.572)

[Pa]
1 −1.373 106
2.08 −7.509 105
Figure 6.7: Table of the initial effective stress 𝜎0′ in function of α
A minus sign must be put in order to fulfill the sign convention of the code (compression is
negative).
28
Where α=1 is the value taken by default. α=2.08 is the parameter of the effective stress
as deduced from the study of Mohamed Madhad (2014) [4], which gives a better
approximation to reality in the simulations.
6.2 Summary of the parameters used in the simulation
The program used in this thesis is called Lagraprogs, it is based on the finite element
method (FEM). The FEM is a numerical technique for finding approximate solutions
to boundary value problems for partial differential equations that are not going to be
discussed in this project.
The table of figure 6.8 shows all the parameters described before in this chapter that the
program needs to carry out the simulations.
The parameters that have not being explained before are taken either from the study
made by Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2], either from the explanations made by Bertrand
François.
Names Values
Initial porosity [-] 0.5
Tortuosity [-] 0.5
Temperature [ ̊F] 293
Intrinsic permeability [𝑚2 ] 5.54 10−16
Liquid dynamic viscosity [Pa] 0.001
Liquid specific mass [𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ] 1,000
Liquid specific heat [𝐽/𝐾] 1,000,000
Liquid thermal conductivity [𝑊/𝑚𝐾] 2.3
Liquid compressibility [𝑃𝑎−1 ] 1𝑥10−10
Reference water pressure [Pa] 100,000
Reference gas pressure [Pa] 100,000
Gas specific mass [𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ] 1.18
Gas dynamic viscosity [Pa] 1,000
Gas specific heat [𝐽/𝐾] 100,000
Gas thermal conductivity [𝑊/𝑚𝐾] 2.3
Solid thermal dilatancy 3.4𝑥10−5
Solid thermal conductivity [𝑊/𝑚𝐾] 2.3
Solid specific heat [𝐽/𝐾] 1,000,000
m-Van Genuchten parameter [-] 0.245
n-Van Genuchten parameter [-] 1.325
α-Van Genuchten parameter [-] 0.022
Initial and final friction angle [ ̊] 36.5
Initial and final cohesion [Pa] 6,200
Dilatancy angle [ ̊] 0
Young modulus [Pa] 1.333𝑥108
29
Poisson rate [-] 0.22
Biot coefficient [-] 1
Coefficient of earth pressure 𝐾0 [-] 1
Initial water pressure [Pa] -2.4𝑥106
Figure 6.8: Table of the parameters of the soil in the FEM
All the parameters mentioned that are related to the temperature effect are useless in the
simulations made in this thesis.
6.3 Wood and concrete properties
To add strength and consistency to the structure, other materials, as wood and concrete,
are going to be used in the simulation. The wood will be present in the slabs, and
concrete is used to retain them, as it will be seen in chapter 8.3.
As this project focuses more on the behavior of rammed earth construction, the
properties of wood and concrete will have less importance when being described.
Therefore, the wood, as well as the concrete, are going to be considered as perfectly
elastics.
Elastic Properties Wood Concrete

Young’s modulus [Pa] 11𝑥109 20𝑥109
Poisson ratio [-] 0.25 0.15
Specific mass [𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ] 500 2400
Figure 6.9: Table of wood and concrete properties [18] [19] [20]
30
7 Boundary conditions
7.1 Hydraulic conditions
As it is seen in chapter 6.1.2.1 the initial suction of the wall depends on the initial water
content. Those data (the water content and density) will be used to determine the initial
suction in the wall that is equal to 2.4MPa as it has been seen before [2].
The temperature in the simulation is considered constant and equal to the ambient
temperature: 20 ̊C. [2]
Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2] made a study of the pore water pressure in a wall with a
thickness of 39cm for the same soil used in this thesis (𝑘 = 5.54𝑥10−16 𝑚2 ). On figure
7.4 can be seen the water pressure along the wall. What it is going to be used in this
project are the values reached for 0cm and for 39cm, that is, the conditions on the left
(outdoor relative humidity) and on the right (indoor relative humidity) side of the wall
respectively. In order to obtain the moisture evolution, the relative humidity was applied
on the edges of the wall (on the nodes). This relative humidity produces a flux of
moisture that propagates through the wall [2].
7.1.2 Outdoor relative humidity

Here below (figure 7.1), the evolution of the relative humidity in Belgium during
the year 2014. Those data come from the “Institut Royal Meteorologique”
(IRM). To simulate the variation of the relative humidity during 1 year, only one
value per week was taken.
Figure 7.1: Evolution of the relative humidity during 2014 collected in the observatory of Uccle
(Belgium). [2]
31
7.1.2 Indoor relative humidity
To model the indoor humidity that will be applied on the right side wall, the
evolution of temperature is known thanks the “Institut Royal Meteorologique”
following the observatory of Uccle. The following relation (figure 17) between
external temperature and internal relative humidity will be applied to obtain
the indoor relative humidity.
Figure 7.2: Link between exterior temperature and interior HR. [2]
It must be taken into account that this simplified method for indoor humidity is
based in data from buildings without air-conditioning. While the standards
allows use this method for air-conditioning buildings, it should be understood
that humidity conditions in air conditioned buildings tend to be lower. [2]
Figure 7.3: Graph of the evolution of the temperature and relative humidity in function of time.
[2]
32
The study of the relative humidity was made only for one year. As the simulation is
going to be made for at least 6 years, these values will be repeated over the years.
The different conditions of humidity were imposed on both sides of the wall. This
relative humidity was imposed thanks the Kelvin’s law explained in chapter 5.5, which
relates the suction with the relative humidity.
𝑅𝑇
𝑆= ln(𝑅𝐻)
𝑀𝑔
The calculation was launched by Bujar Hajdinaj (2015) [2] during a period of 10 years.
One of the goals was to know if the evolution of the moisture becomes dangerous for
the construction in function of time.
The following graph (figure 7.4) has been obtained when the wall is subjected to the
external and internal relative humidity (HR) seen before. As it is mentioned, the
conditions are different on the left (0cm) and the right (39cm). On the left part the
values obtained in figure 7.1 were taken (external environment) while on the right side
the conditions correspond to figure 7.3 (indoor conditions).
Figure 7.4: Graph of the water pressure (𝑃𝑤 ) in function of time for several positions on an
entire wall of 39cm of thickness [2]
As first observation, the parts of the wall in the edges are very sensitive to the relative
humidity imposed. The curve of 0cm and the 39cm follow the conditions that are
imposed.
It can be seen that the reaction in the wall to climate conditions begin to be repetitive
from a period of 5 years. The inner part of the wall takes 5 years to become insensitive
to the external conditions. That is the reason why in this thesis only a period of 6 years
is going to be considered.
Figure 7.4 also shows the irregularities of the sinewave for the conditions applied on
both sides of the wall. In this thesis the environmental conditions are going to be
simplified in as the following graph shows.
33
0
-10
Water pressure (MPa)
-20
-30 external
environment
-40
-50 internal
-60 condition
-70
-80
-90
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (years)
Figure 7.5: Simplified graph of the water pressure (𝑃𝑤 ) in function of time for the left and right
sides of the structure.
The boundary conditions have been simplified in order to:
 Remove the shift at the transition between two years.

 Make the implementation of the boundary conditions in the program easier.
 Avoid fast variation of boundary conditions that could produce numerical
problems in the computation.
 Facilitate the interpretation of results.
These are the values of the indoor and outdoor conditions that are going to be used in
the following simulations of this project.
For the indoor conditions it can be seen that the values of the water pressure are in
between -85MPa and -53MPa while the ones of the external environment are between -
70MPa and -15MPa.
7.2 Mechanical conditions
In this case two main loads are considered in the following simulations:
1. Load caused by the wind. A value of 1𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 is going to be applied

horizontally on the external side of the wall as it is shown on 8.1.1.
2. Loads caused by the human activity and furniture. When the structure with slabs
is considered, it must be taken into account the loads above each slab that could
be caused for example by humans and furniture weight. In this case an initial
assumption of 10𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 applied vertically on each slab is going to be
considered.
Later on the project, these loads values will be incremented in order to see the ultimate
capacity of the structure.
34
8 Results
In this part, three different structures will be analyzed. The first is considered as the
simplest one, while the last one is the most realistic and complex. Each structure will be
submitted separately to the hydraulic and mechanical conditions mentioned on chapter
7, and afterwards both effects will be applied together to study the coupling between
moisture transfer and mechanical behavior.
It is important to analyze the eventual collapse of the structure when the coupling of
both effects is applied. For that, only on the third structure, the loads will be increased
until the structures start to plasticize. Later on, the results will be compared with those
in which only the external loads are considered
On this section, it is also shown the behavior when changing the soil parameter α from
𝛼 = 1 to 𝛼 = 2.08. The plasticity will also be compared in both cases.
All the laws explained in chapter 5 and the material properties shown in chapter 6 will
be applied from now on.
8.1 First geometry: wall
The geometry considered for the first analysis is a wall of 1 meter height and a
thickness of 39cm . The base is fixed in X and Y direction . As a first simulation, it will
be submitted to hydraulic conditions on both sides and also to the wind effect only in
the left side.
Figure 8.1: Geometry of the first structure.
35
8.1.1 Mechanical analysis
Figure 8.2: Scheme of the structure with the load.
Once launched the simulation by only applying the external loads, the results
show that for a load of 1𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 applied on the left side of the wall, the
maximum displacement is 0.021𝑐𝑚 in the X direction, situated on the top of the
wall. The maximum displacements in the vertical directions have a value of
0.0052cm. As this displacement can be considered small, it is necessary to
amplify 100 times the effect of the deformation in order to observe the reaction.
a) b) c)
Figure 8.3: a) Deformed on the wall. b) Displacements of the wall in X direction. c)

Displacements in Y direction.
On figure 8.4, the stresses in X and Y directions are shown, as it is supposed to

be, the maximum stresses occur on the fixed based. In this thesis, the positive
values of the stress correspond to tension while the negative to compression. On
the left corner of the base appears the maximum tensile stress (in Y direction)
(18.5kPa), while on the right corner, the maximum compression stress have the
same value but with opposite sign. This stress gradient in the cross-section
varying symmetrically from tension to compression allows carrying the bending
moment at the base. This is consistent with conventional structural mechanics.
36
a) b)
Figure 8.4: a)Stresses in X direction. B) stresses in Y direction [Pa]
8.1.2 Hydraulic analysis

As it is seen in chapter 6, the left side of the wall will be submitted to
environmental conditions while the right part will do it to indoor conditions. All
the deformations are due to the fact that the environmental conditions are drier
than the initial conditions of the wall. This effect is shown on figures below;
where the displacement oscillates in the X direction between 2.58cm (in
summer) to 5.96𝑐𝑚 (in winter) once the structure has been stabilized (from the
fifth year). The displacements are bigger in winter due to the higher difference
between the values of relative humidity applied on the left and right side. In
summer the values on both sides are high but similar, so the displacements on
the right and left sides are compensated. As the wall is not fixed on the top, it
has free movement on both sides; if the structure was fixed on the right side (as
it occurs on the following structures), almost all the displacements will occur
only in the positive direction of X and the right edge will stay almost immobile.
The wall has also displacements in the vertical axis; as the structure is submitted
to relative humidity which causes contraction in the wall, the displacements are
in the negative direction of Y; it oscillates in between 6.8cm (in summer) and
7.68cm (in winter).
a) b)
Figure 8.5: Deformed structure: a) in summer. b) in winter.
37
a) b)
Figure 8.6: Displacements in X direction: a) in sumer. b) in winter. [m]
a) b)
Figure 8.7: Displacements in Y direction: a) in summer. b) in winter. [m]
The evolution of the water pressure is now analyzed. As Bujar Hajdinaj (2015)
[2] has studied, the reaction to climatic condition begin to be repetitive from a
period of 5 years, the values of the water pressure in summer of the fifth year
and in winter of the sixth year will be analysed. It can be supposed that from this
period on, the structure will behaves the same as the figures below show.
a) b)
Figure 8.8: Water pressure: a) in summer. b) in winter.[Pa]
38
The cross section will be analyzed pretending that it is the same in all the
structure.
The following graph shows the way the moisture propagates through the wall
according for a period of 6 years. Only two dates per year were chosen, one in
sumer (ie 0.5 years) and another one in winter (ie 1 year).
0.00 0
-10.00 0.5
1
-20.00 1.5
-30.00 2
2.5
-40.00
3
-50.00 3.5
-60.00 4
4.5
-70.00 5
-80.00 5.5
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 6
Position (m)
Figure 8.9: Water pressure over the position in the cross-section.
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
time (years)
Figure 8.10: Water pressure in the middle if ther wall over years.
As figure 8.9 shows, the edges behaves in the same way it was imposed in
chapter 6, this ghaph can be put in parallel with figure 7.4. The extremes are
more sensitives to the propagation of moisture, while the middle of the wall
needs more time to get stabilized. The propagation of the water pressure is
directly related with the coefficient of permeability (𝑘 = 5.54𝑥10−16 𝑚2 ); if it
increases, the profile will become rapidely linear between the two imposed
boundary conditions.
Figure 8.10 corroborates the previous interpretations made by Bujar Hajdinaj

(2015) [2] about the evolution of the water pressure, from the fifth year the
39
reaction to the climatic conditions imposed begin to be ciclycal, the values
oscillate between -45MPa and -41MPa.
The following graph can only show the values of the degree of saturation until
36 cm because they are taken at the integration points of the elements and not at
the node. At the right edge of the wall, all the values of the different years must
be the same for winter and the same for summer as it happens on the left edge.
0.45 0.5
1
0.40 1.5
2
0.35 2.5
Sr [-]
3
0.30 3.5
4
0.25 4.5
5
0.20 5.5
6
position (m)
Figure 8.11: Graph of the evolution of the degree of saturation over the years.
For the evolution of the degree of saturation, the same observations can be done
about the fact that the profile of the transfer of moisture becomes more and more
linear: the curve attenuate in function of time denoting a behavior more and
more insensitive to the external conditions.
The stresses produced by the relative humidity are all compression stresses due
to the Bishop’s equation of effective stress. The stresses in both directions are in
the same order, the maximums are -17.9MPa in Y direction and -15.8MPa in X
direction, both reached in winter once the situation has been stabilized.
a) b)
Figure 8.12: Stresses in winter of the sixth year: a) in X direction. b) in Y direction.[Pa]
When focusing on the magnitude of the displacements and stresses, it is possible

to conclude that the hydraulic effect is much stronger than the mechanical one.
40
8.1.3 Hydro-mechanical analysis
A hydro-mechanical analysis will be performed on the same wall, the results will
be commented after seen the diagrams.
a) b)
Figure 8.13: Deformed structure : a) in summer. b) in winter.
a) b)
Figure 8.14: Displacements in winter in: a) X direction b) Y direction. [m]
As in the previous case, the maximum displacements in X direction in winter

(5.98𝑐𝑚) are bigger than in summer (2.59𝑐𝑚). The values now have increased
only 0.02cm due to the external loads. The structure is not affected by the loads
in comparison with the climatic conditions. In Y direction the maximum
displacements range from -6.8cm (summer) and -7.68cm (winter). It is
interesting to observe that these displacements are the same from those obtained
by considering only the environmental condition.
For the stresses, the same conclusions can be done; the force does not really
affect to the behavior of the wall when the hydraulic conditions are imposed.
The compression stresses have almost the same values (-15.82MPa and -
41
17.91MPa). Much load must be applied to observe changes in the behavior of
the wall.
a) b)
Figure 8.15: Stresses in winter in: a) X direction. b) Y direcition. [Pa]
The water pressure and the degree of saturation are not affected by the
application of mechanical loads, therefore it can be considered the same graphs
that were done for the hydraulic analysis.
8.2 Second geometry: wall with slabs
The same analysis is going to be carried out to a more complex geometry; in this case
the structure simulates the left part of a building with two slabs that will not be designed
in this simulation but they will act as attachments on the x axis. The structure in this
case is made completely of MLD soil. The structure data are express in meter.
Figure 8.16: Geometry of the second structure. [m]
42
8.2.1 Mechanic analysis
After applying 1 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 on the left side of the wall, the

structure deforms in the way it shows figure 8.17(a). As the
maximum displacement is very small, with a value of
0.03198𝑐𝑚 in the X direction, the structure in figure 8.17 (a) is
amplified 200 times more than its original shape in order to
observe the effect. In the vertical direction the displacements
are 10 times fewer than in the horizontal direction (≃0.007cm).
As it is shown in figure 8.17 (b), the maximum displacement
occurs on the middle part of the wall above. It occurs in this
way because the wall below has also the fixed base in X and Y
direction which restricts the movement of the wall compared
with the wall above. The three parts where the slabs are
supposed to be are almost immobile.
Figure 8.18 (b) shows the stresses in X and Y direction. Both main walls are
subjected to compression stress (in the vertical direction) on the left part while
their right sides are submitted to tension. This is consistent with the bending
moment induced in the wall. On the other hand, the small brown walls behave
on the other way, the right part correspond to compression while the left side to
tension.
The maximum compression stress in the vertical direction is equal to −22.6𝑘𝑃𝑎

and it is located on the right side of the middle little part of the wall, at
approximately 2.9 meters high. On the other hand, the maximum tension stress is
19.4𝑘𝑃𝑎 and it is situated in the same part as the compression stress but on the
left side as it is seen on figure 8.18(b).
a) b) c)
Figure 8.17: a) Deformed structure after mechanical load. b) Displacements in X direction. c)

Displacements in the Y direction. [m]
43
a) b)
Figure 8.18: Stresses in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa]

Now, the hydraulic behavior will be analyzed; on the left side the Belgium
environmental conditions are imposed, while on the right side the typical indoor
conditions for a building are considered.
The results are shown in the figures bellow. The deformed of the structure is
amplified 2 times in figure 8.19 (a). As the wall has fixations on the horizontal
direction, the way it deforms is different as in the previous case (chapter 8.1.2).
Figure 8.19(b) shows a clearer diagram of the deformation of the structure.
The maximum value of the displacement in the horizontal direction is 2.5𝑐𝑚

(almost 80 times higher than when only external loads are applied), and it
corresponds to the winter of the sixth year. It is located on the middle part of the
wall situated below. During the year, the variation of the relative humidity (as
figure 7.4 shows) leads to a change of the displacements.
In the vertical direction the wall has bigger displacements, due to the higher
dimensions of the wall in this direction; the maximum displacement is almost
28cm. This value is considered unacceptable for a building. This value also
shows that the Bishop hypothesis used in the simulation (with α=1, which is the
value chosen by default) is not the most realistic. Later in this section, the wall
will be tested for α=2.08, which is the parameter proposed by Mohamed Mahdad
(2014) [4].
The displacements are higher than the case where only external loads were
applied due to the Bishop expression. The second part of the equation makes the
effective stress increase; therefore the displacements will also increase.
44
a) b)
Figure 8.19: a) Deformed of the second structure. b) Clearer deformed of the structure
a) b)
Figure 8.20: a) Displacements in a) X direction. b) Y direction
Figure 8.21 shows the small changes on the displacement on the left part of the
wall (x=0cm) at 1.4 meters height, depending on the season during 6 years due
to shrinkage; This displacement will increase over the years until the situation
stabilizes (from 4-5 year); where the reaction of the structure to climatic
conditions tends to be sinusoidal.
0.03
Displacement (m)
0.02
0.01
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Years
Figure 8.21: Graph of the displacements on the left part of the structure during 6 years.
45
a) b)
Figure 8.22: Stresses in winter of the sixth year in: a) X direction. b) Y direction.
Figure 8.22 shows the stresses in X and Y direction. The stresses of the structure
are due to the second term of the bishop expression. Therefore the wall is all
submitted to compression stress in both directions the values are in the same
order of magnitude (-19.6MPa in the X direction and -15.4MPa in the Y
direction). The stresses on the structere are now higher than when only the
exteral loads are considered (almost 1000 times bigger).
The following graph shows the water pressure of the cross section obtained
when the wall is subjected to external environmental conditions (left) and
internal conditions (right) for different steps of time during 6 years.
As it is possible to observe, the structure behaves in the same way as the first
geometry. Therefore, the same conclusions can be made for this structure.
0
0.00
0.5
-10.00
Water pressure [MPa]
1
-20.00 1.5
-30.00 2
-40.00 2.5
-50.00 3
3.5
-60.00
4
-70.00
4.5
-80.00 5
5.5
6
Position x [cm]
Figure 8.23: Graph of water pressure in function of position.
46
0
-10
Water pressure (Mpa) -20

-30
-40
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
time (years)
Figure 8.24: Graph of the water pressure in the middle of the wall.
In the middle of the wall, as the ambient is dryer than the soil, the degree of
saturation decreases over the time until it reaches a point where the value
oscillates between 0.262 (corresponding to summer) and 0.258 (corresponding to
winter). This cyclic behavior may be considered from the 4-5 year.
Figure 8.25: Water pressure in winter of the sixth.
Now, the same simulations will be performed by changing the parameter α from
the Bishop relation. The value of α will be now 2.08 as it is mentioned on
chapter 6.1.6. With the modified Bishop’s equation:
𝜎0′ = 𝑆𝑟𝛼 𝑠 = −7.509𝑥105 𝑃𝑎
Once launched the simulation, it can be appreciated that the structure deforms in
a similar way, as it can be seen on figure 8.26 where the effect of the
deformation has been incremented 10 times in order to appreciate the
displacement; the maximum displacement on the positive direction of X is
0.485𝑐𝑚 which is located on the red part of figure 86 (b). This value is much
lower than in the previous case (2.5𝑐𝑚).
47
In the vertical direction, the maximum displacement has been reduced to 5.7cm
which is much realistic than 28cm.
a) b) c)
Figure 8.26: a) Deformed of the second geometry. b) Displacement on the X direction. c)

Displacements in Y direction with 𝛼 = 2.08. ( in winter of the sixth year)
While parameters like the water pressure and the degree of saturation do not
seem to experiment big changes in their values with respect to the ones with
α=1, the stresses have fewer values than before; the maximum compression
stress in X direction is −3.8MPa and -3.2MPa in Y direction.
The reduction of the stress is due to the expression of effective stress:

The second term of this expression is smaller when the parameter α is equal to
2.08, as the degree of saturation has always values in between 0 and 1.
a) b)
Figure 8.27: Stresses in winter of the sixth year for α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction.
48
The water pressure evolves and propagates in the same way than the case with
α=1 because the permeability coefficient stays same (𝑘 = 5.54𝑥10−16 𝑚2 ). In
order to show this phenomenon, a evaluation of middle of the cross section has
been compared to the one with α=1 (figure 8.29) and in both cases the values on
each step are approximately the same.
On the apendix it is possible to see the rest of the graph related to α=2.08 (water
presure over position and degree of saturation).
Figure 8.28: water pressure for the cross section for the fifth year in summer. (α=2.08)
0
Water pressure
-10
(Mpa)
-20
-30 alpha 2.08
-40 alpha 1
-50
time (years)
Figure 8.29: Graph of the water pressure in the middle of the cross section for α=1 and α=2.08.
As a conclusion, the hydraulic behavior of the structure does not depend on the
parameter α, it mainly affect to the stresses and the deformations produced in the
wall. With α=1 the structure reaches much higher stresses and displacements
compared to α=2.08.

Now both conditions will be applied, the external load and the hydraulic
condition on the edges. The results for α=1 and α=2.08 will also be compared.
49
In this case the wall behaves exactly the same in terms of propagation of
moisture; the water pressures and the degree of saturation evolve in the same
way as when there was no load. Therefore, this part will be focused on the
stresses and displacements of the structure.
Because of the big difference between the reactions of the wall to external loads
and to climatic conditions, the stresses and therefore the displacements will be in
the same order as before (8.2.2).
Now the maximum displacements in X and Y directions are 2.58cm and 29cm
respectively.
a) b)
Figure 8.30: Displacements for α=1 in : a) X direction. b) Y direction.
By changing α to 2.08, the displacements have decreased almost 5 times. As

figure 8.31 shows, in the horizontal direction the maximum displacement is
0.511cm while on the vertical direction is 5.8cm.
a) b)
Figure 8.31: Displacements for α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m]
50
The maximum compression stress (with α=1) is equal to −19.62𝑀𝑃𝑎 in X
direction and −15.47𝑀𝑃𝑎 in Y direction. These values hardly differ from ones
obtained in the previous case (8.2.2). The stresses of the structure, as well as the
displacements, experiment also a sinusoidal evolution once it has been stabilized
(from the fifth year).
a) b)
Figure 8.32: Stresses in: a) X direction. b) Y direction [Pa]
For α=2.08 the maximum values in X and Y direction are -3.807MPa and -
3.2MPa respectively. Comparing these values with the ones in section 8.2.2 (-
3.8Mpa and -3.2MPa) the same conclusion taken for the displacements can be
done for the stresses (because the stress and displacement are directly related).
a) b)
Figure 8.33: Stresses for α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa]
The structure is purely submitted to compression stresses. When applying load,

tensile stresses could appear, but the effect of the second term of the Bishop’s
relation is much bigger than the one produced by the loads, that all the structure
is submitted then to compression. In figure 8.34 is possible to visualize how vary
51
the stresses with respect to α. Here, the compression stresses are considered
positive. Situation (1) is the case where no climatic conditions are applied, (2) is
the situation with α=2.08 and (3) with α=1. The stresses p’ and q will be
explained clearly in section 8.3.3.1.
Figure 8.34: Scheme of the stresses in the 3 situations.
As a conclusion, with only applying 1𝑘𝑁/𝑚2, the behavior of the structure, with
respect to the situation without loads, does not experiment big changes due to
the strong effect produced by the climatic conditions.
The results of the simulation are highly related with the hypothesis chosen (α);
being the most realistic the one with α=2.08.
8.3 Third geometry: realistic structure with two slabs
In this part a structure with real slabs will be analyzed.
Figure 8.35: Design of the third geometry. [cm]
52
Now, the width of the wall is 45cm; the minimum thickness of rammed earth walls in
single-storey structures should be taken as 30cm, while with a second storey it should
be 45cm [21].
The brown parts of figure 51 correspond to wood, while the grey ones simulate
concrete; the middle yellow walls are made of rammed earth. With this configuration,
the structure is supposed to resist better to vertical loads applied above the slabs.
The wooden slabs enter until the middle of the wall section.
8.3.1 Mechanical analysis

For the mechanical analysis, vertical and horizontal loads will be taken into
account:
Figure 8.36: Design of the position of the loads.
As the vertical loads are higher than the horizontal ones, the main walls bend
outwards (to the left), while the slabs bend downwards, even though there are
also horizontal forces applied. In figure 8.37 (a), the effect of the deformation is
been amplified 10 times. Figure 8.37 (b) is a schematic design of how the
structure may deform.
53
a) b)
Figure 8.37: a) Deformed of the structure. b) Schematic design of the deformation.
a) b)
Figure 8.38: a) Displacements in X direction. b) Displacements in Y direction.
As it is possible to observe, the displacements are in the order of millimeters in

the X direction, while in the Y direction they are in the order of centimeter (-
2.03cm).
a) b)
Figure 8.39: a) Stresses in X direction. b) Stresses in Y direction.
54
The maximum stresses in the X direction are produced in the wood (-3.77MPa),
where it is possible to observe the same values for compresion than for tension
due to the bending produced by the vertical loads. In the Y direction the
maximum stresses are located in the concrete corner below the slabs (their
values are half of the ones in the X direction). In the soil, the maximum
compression stress are 0.6MPa and 0.2MPa in X and Y direction respectively.

As rammed earth constructions are more sensitive to climatic conditions than
concrete or wood, only this part of the structure (yellow) will be submitted to the
variation of the relative humidity.
After looking at the results, it is possible to observe that the behavior is always
the same (for the three geometries) when talking about the propagation of water
pressure and degree of saturation. Therefore, the conclusions will be the same as
in section 3.1.2.
0.00 0
0.5
-10.00
1
-20.00 1.5
-30.00 2
-40.00 2.5
-50.00 3
3.5
-60.00 4
-70.00 4.5
-80.00 5
-90.00 5.5
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 6
Position (m)
Figure 8.40: Evolution of the water in the soil wall over the positon for the third structure.
0.45 0.5
1
0.40 1.5
2
0.35 2.5
Sr (-)
3
0.30 3.5
4
0.25 4.5
5
0.20 5.5
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 6
Position (m)
Figure 8.41: Evolution of the degree of saturation for the third structure.
55
Because of the different geometry, the displacements and stresses will behave in
a different way.
Figure 8.42: Deformed of the structure.
a) b)
Figure 8.43: a) Displacement in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m]
0.00
-0.01
Displacement (m)
-0.01
-0.02
-0.02
-0.03
-0.03
-0.04
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Time (years)
Figure 8.44: Displacement (in the X direction) in the middle of the left edge of the upper soil
wall.
56
Figure 8.44 corroborates the sinusoidal evolution of the displacements over the
years. The maximum displacements are produced in winter, with a value of -
3.02cm in the horizontal direction (for α=1).
In the vertical direction, the results show that the maximum displacement occurs
on the top of the structure with a value of -27.9cm. While the values of the
displacements have increased (with respect to the second structure) in the
horizontal direction, the ones in the vertical direction have slightly decreased.
With this geometry it is possible to observe tensile stresses in the wood and
concrete; the shrinkage of the soil makes these parts of the structure displace and
therefore stress appears. The maximum values of compression for the soil are -
15.5MPa (in X direction) and -16.8MPa (in Y direction).
As wood and concrete are not submitted to the climatic conditions, these
materials experiment fever values of the stresses in both directions.
a) b)
Figure 8.45: Stresses for α=1 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa]
If the simulation is launched now with α=2.08, it is possible to observe a

decrease on the values of the displacements and stresses as it happened in
section 8.2.2. For the same period of time than before, the maximum
displacement in X direction is −0.56𝑐𝑚 and in the Y direction is -5.4cm.
The maximum values of the stress are -2.9MPa in the X direction and – 6.5MPa
in the Y direction, which are almost 10 times fewer than with α=1.
As it is seen in section 8.2.2, the parameter α does not affect to the propagation
of water pressure and the evolution of the degree of saturation.
All the figures related to α=2.08 are shown in the appendix.
57
Here also, the hydraulic behavior will not be analyzed because the application of
external loads does not affect the propagation of moisture, it only affects to the
stresses and displacements.
As it is mentioned on chapter 8.3.1 (only mechanical loads applied), the vertical

load produce a bending outwards in the walls, this combined with the reactions
caused by climatic conditions, cause a maximum displacement in the X direction
of -3.3cm (almost the same value than in the case where only relative humidity
was applied).
The displacement on the top of the structure in the vertical direction has now a
value of 29.4 cm which is slightly higher due to the vertical load. The simulation
of the displacements is shown in the annexes.
The displacements have not increase significantly in comparison with the

previous case (8.3.2).
The tensile stresses now have increased considerably due to the vertical load.
Only the wood slabs and part of the concrete are submitted to tension because
they are in bending; the rest of the structure is in compression. In the horizontal
direction the highest value reached is -15.6MPa while on the vertical, -16.9MPa.
The corner of the soil next to the first slab is submitted to -30MPa which is the
double of the rest of soil.
a) b)
Figure 8.46: Stresses with α=1 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction.
The reaction of the structure to the load is almost negligible compared with the
reaction to climatic condition.
The same situation will occur when changing α to 2.08; the stresses and
displacements will not suffer significant changes in their values. The maximum
displacements in X and Y direction are -0.87cm and -7.46cm respectively (the
figures corresponding to this simulation are shown in the annexes). Therefore
must loads must be applied to appreciate variations due to the external forces.
58
A good approximation of reality corresponds to the hypothesis where α=2.08,
proposed by Mohamed Mahdah (2014) [4]. The maximum displaces of the
structure after considering the typical external loads and the climatic conditions
is around -7cm in the vertical direction located in the top of the structure. In the
horizontal direction the maximum value is around -0.8cm. These values can be
considered acceptable for such a construction.
8.3.3.1 Failure of the strucutre

To observe how far is the structure from failure, a new variable must be defined
(V). The failure of the structure, in our case, occurs when it begings to plasticize.
First, some parameters have to be determined:
- Deviatoric stress q [Pa]:

𝑞 = 𝜎1′ − 𝜎3′
- Mean effective stress 𝑝′ [Pa]:
𝜎1′ + 𝜎2′ + 𝜎3′
𝑝′ =
3
- Degree of strength mobilization:
𝑞
𝑉= [-]
This variable gives in any point of the structure how far this point is from failure.
If V=1 means that the material has plasticized at the failure limit at the
considered point.
Figure 8.47: Design the parameter involved in V.
Where: 𝜎1′ , 𝜎2′ , 𝜎3′ are the principal effective stresses. In this figure, the
compression stresses are considered positive
The parameter V of the structure (when climate conditions and the external loads
mentioned before are applied) using the hypothesis with α=1 is shown in figure
8.48. The maximum value is reached in the little part of soil places to the left of
the first slab; it has a value of 0.9924 which indicates that the material in this
part has almost plasticized. In this point the maximum compression stress was
reached (figure 8.46 (b)).
59
Figure 8.48: Values of V in winter of the sixth year.
Now the load will be increased until total failure; until the material has
plasticized in a large zone. After testing with higher loads, the conclusion is that
the structure will plasticize faster if the vertical load is increased (instead of the
horizontal).
The maximum vertical load the structure can withstand before part of it
plasticized is 187.935𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 , which is almost 20 times more than in the original
case. This failure of the structure will be produced at the first step of the
simulation, in summer of the first year. The program makes the load increase
progressively (from 0 to 187.935𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 in this case) until it reached the first
step when the entire load is applied. That is why the failure of the structure is
produced in this first year and not in the end of the simulation (this phenomenon
will be explained in figure 8.51). The red parts of the following figure are the
failure points, with V=1.
Figure 8.49: Values of V in the moment of total failure for α=1.
When α=2.08 the maximum load that the structure can bear before the total
collapse is 74.589𝑘𝑁/𝑚2 . This loads is 10 times less than when α=1. The
explanation is below.
60
Figure 8.50: Value of V in the moment of total failure for α=2.08.
This figure is exactly the same as the obtained with α=1; the only difference is
that this one is due to lower vertical loads.
Figure 8.51: Scheme of the stresses in the case where the structure fails in the first step.
In figure 8.51, point (1) and (2) represents the moment of failure of the structure
when α=2.08 and 1 respectively. The load is increased until this point (half of
the first year of the simulation), and then it stays invariable. After this point, the
stresses continue increasing in the way it shows the figure due to the Bishop’s
relation. As the relative humidity still decreases from this point, the second term
of the Bishop’s expression then increases (because of the increment of the
suction).
As the second term of the Bishop’s equations is lower in the case where α=2.08,
the structure will bear lower loads with this hypothesis.
To finalize this study, the failure when only the external loads are considered
will be analyzed. In this situation the effective stress is equal to the stress (
61
𝜎 ′ = 𝜎) because the hydraulic parameters are being neglected (the second term
of the Bishop’s relation is equal to zero).
After launching the simulation, the results show that now the structure can bear
lower loads than those specified at the beginning of this section (8.3.1).
The maximum loads that the structure can bear now are: 88.5𝑁/𝑚2 in the
horizontal direction and 482𝑁/𝑚2 in the vertical direction over de slabs. This
values are 150 times lower than when α=2.08.
Figure 8.52: Values of V when the external loads are isolated.
Figure 8.52 shows a scheme of the path that follows the stresses in both cases. (1)
corresponds to the situation with only mechanical forces and (2) considering the
hydraulic conditions (α ≠ 0). On the second situation, the second term of the Bishop’s
relation always makes the effective stress increase (also before the failure point).
Figure 8.53: Difference between the mechanical and hydraulic case.
As a conclusion, the higher is the parameter α, the higher loads the structure will
bear. The failure of the structure always occur first in the critical parts, that is, in
the corners of the soil where is easier for the stresses to concentrate.
62
8.4 Summary of the results
The table below includes all the values for the stresses and displacements for the
different simulations. The cases where only the external loads are applied are situated in
the cell corresponding to α=1 although for those tests no α has been used. The cells that
do not include any value is either because the test have not been performed for this
situation, or because it is a purely mechanical simulation that does not need that test.
Stresses [Mpa] Displacements [cm]
X Y X Y
α=1 α=2.08 α=1 α=2.08 α=1 α=2.08 α=1 α=2.08
external loads 3.12E-03 - 1.85E-02 - 0.021 - 0.0052 -
First geometry Climatic conditions -15.8 - -17.9 - 5.96 - 7.68 -
Coupled -15.82 - -17.91 - 5.98 - 7.68 -
external loads -2.24E-02 - -2.26E-02 - 0.032 - 0.007 -
Second geometry Climatic conditions -19.6 -3.8 -15.4 -3.2 2.5 0.485 28 -5.7
Coupled -19.63 -3.807 -15.47 -3.2 2.58 0.511 -29 -5.8
external loads -0.6 - 0.2 - -0.372 - -2.03 -
Third geometry Climatic conditions -15.5 -2.9 -16.8 -6.5 -3.02 -0.56 -27.9 -5.4
Coupled -15.6 -4.5 -16.9 -5.4 -3.33 -0.87 -29.4 -7.46
Figure 8.54: Summary of all the values obtained in the simulations.
63
64
9 Conclusions
Rammed earth constructions have high benefits compared with other kind of
construction materials as it could be the cement. Its low energy consumption, its
characteristics of recyclability, its contribution of thermal mass and isolation make it a
promising material for the constructions of nowadays.
This material has also some drawbacks that must be analyzed; these constructions are
usually exposed to the ambient conditions. Due to the high sensibility of the material to
the climate conditions, the behavior has been analyzed. The coupling with the
mechanical effect and the relative humidity was tested.
After submitting the structure to the typical ambient conditions of Belgium outdoors,
and the indoor climate conditions, the results show that the main factor which affects
the structure is the hydraulic condition compared to the mechanical reaction produced
by the external loads. When the climate conditions are applied, the construction has
higher stresses and therefore higher displacements than when only the external forces
are considered.
After applying the vertical and horizontal loads, the wall is submitted to tensile and
compression stresses, while when the hydraulic conditions are applied, the structure is
only submitted to compression. The higher values of these last stresses compensate the
tensile stresses produced by the external loads thanks to the Bishop’s relation. Therefore
when the coupling is done, all the structure is submitted to compression.
Due to this Bishop’s relation, when only the external loads are considered the structure
fails before. When coupling the effects of the external forces and the climate conditions,
the structure can bear higher loads until the total failure is produced. Therefore,
although the climate conditions induce bigger stresses and displacements, the structure
can bear higher external loads. The climatic condition makes the structure stronger;
despite this, the stresses will decrease if the environment is more arid.
As a conclusion, from the hydraulic point of view, the decrease of the relative humidity
leads to an increment of the suction (and therefore to an increment of the absolute value
of the water pressure: 𝑠 = −𝑢𝑤 ). Then the degree of saturation decreases due to the
expression of Van Genuchten for the water retention curve. As the Bishop’s expression
for the effective stress has been applied, higher suctions lead to higher effective stresses,
and therefore higher displacements.
The parameter α from the Bishop’s is the most influent in the stresses induced on the
structure. As the second term of the equation is 𝑆𝑟𝛼 𝑠, when α increases, the effective
stress decreases because of the degree of saturation (it is in between 0 and 1). As a
conclusion, α=2.08 gives a more realistic approximation of the situation. The maximum
displacements in the vertical direction are around 6cm, which can be considered
65
acceptable. Nevertheless, with this hypothesis the failure of the structure is reached for
lower loads than for α=1.
66
10 Sustainability, planning and budget
10.1 Sustainability
The environmental awareness exists nowadays and it extends to all areas including the
ones related to the engineering projects. Therefore, this study also supports this
commitment environmental.
The construction is one of the economic activities with greater environmental impact
since buildings can consume up to half of the natural environmental resources and it
contribute to the increased of emissions. Therefore, building must be constructed
ensuring that the utilization of the natural resources is sustainable and the materials used
are compatible from an environmental point of view.
This Thesis focusses on the study of rammed earth, one of the materials used in a more
sustainable construction. It is a material widely used in building because of its
interesting features, but also has effects beneficial to an environmental protection. It is
an inert material that does not release air emissions also being 100% recyclable.
On the other hand, the obtaining of a finite element model for rammed earth structures
facilitates the design, analyzing and optimization through simulations, reducing the
number of trials needed.
With all this, this study attempts to minimize the damage caused to environment and
ensures respect of the environment.
10.2 Planning
This project was planned to be developed approximately in 10 months, from early

September to July; performing one one-week break in December and around two weeks
in January and in June due to exam periods. The dates of start and end of the Thesis are
presented below:
 Date of start: 14 September 2015

 Date of end: 22 July 2016
To show the planning carried out, a Gantt diagram where it is possible to observe the division
of tasks and the time needed in each of them.
67
Figure 10.1: Gantt diagram
68
10.3 Budget
Here below is shown the Budget of the work done.
Budget
Concept Nº of units Unit price Amount
Junior engineer author of the
440 h 20 €/h 8800 €
project
Professor in charge of the
88 h 60 €/h 5280 €
project
Others (computer equipment
documentation, equipment 5 meses 20 €/mes 100 €
depreciation...)
SUBTOTAL 14180 €
+
I.V.A. (21%) 2978 €
TOTAL BUDGET 17157 €
Figure 10.2: Table of the Budget of the project
The hours dedicated to the professor in charge have been estimated as 20% of the hours
dedicated by the author of the project
69
70
11 Bibliography
[1]: François B. Soil mechanics course notes. Université Libre de Bruxelles. Belgium.,
2015-2016.
[2]: Hajdinaj B. Modelling of heat and moisture transfers and mechanical behavior of
rammed earth construction. Master thesis, ULB, Belgium., 2015.
[3]: Xiang-Ling Li. Comportement Hydromécanique des Sols Fins: de l’etat saturé à
l’etat non saturé. Université de Liège, Faculté des Sciences Appliquées. Université de
Liège, Faculté des Sciences Appliquées. PhD Thesis. Belgique, 1999.
[4]: Mahdad M. Caractérisation de comportement hydromécanique des máteriaux à la

base des constructions en terre. Master thesis, ULB, Belgium, 2014.
[5]: Gerard et al. Construction and Building materials. 2015.
[6]: Delage P., Yu-Jun CUI. TECHNIQUE DE L’INGÉNIEUR, L’eau dans les sols non
saturés, (C301), France. 2000
[7]: Masekanya, J-P. Stabilité des pentes et saturation partielle : Etude expérimentale et
modélisation numérique. PhD Thesis, Université de Liège, Faculté des Sciences
Appliquées. Belgique., 2008.
[8]: Chiras, D. The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling. Chelsea Green
Publishing Company; 2002
[9]: Geiser F. Comportement mécanique d’un limon non saturé. Thèse de doctorat,
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Suisse., 1999.
[10]: Jaquin, P. A. Analysis of historic rammed earth construction. PhD Thesis, Durham
University., 2008.
[11]: Van Genuchten. A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity
of unsaturated soils (PDF). Soil Science Society of America Journal., 1980.
[12]: Gerard P. Impact des transferts de gaz sur le comportement poro-mécanique des
matériaux argileux. Université de Liège, Facult,e des sciences appliquées., 2011.
[13]: Boivin P. Shrinkage and Swelling Phenomena in Soils. Encyclopedia of

Agrophysics., 2014.
[14]: Robert McCormack A. Non stabilised rammed earth constructions (Material

characteristics and application to urban Co-Housing in Brussels). Master thesis, ULB,
Belgium., 2013.
71
[15]: Liang Cheng, Scott Draper and Hongwei. Scour and erosion. University of
Western Australia., 2014.
[16]: Tan Trung Bui, Quoc-Bao Bui, Ali Limam, Sandrine Maximilien. Failure of
rammed earth walls: from observations to quantifications. Construction and Building
Materials. Elsevier., 2014.
[17]: C. Mileto, F. Vegas, V. Cristini. Rammed earth conservation,. 2012.
[18]: S. Gil. Introducción a la Elasticidad. Física 1. UNSAM., 2009.
[19]: Herrera Martinez. Ingeniería e Investigación, Vol 29, No 3., 2009.
[20] McGraw-Hill. Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 2012
[21] Houben H. and Guillard H. EARTH CONSTRUCTION, A comprehensive guide.

2014.
[22]: Earth Building Association of New Zeland, Rammed earth. Available at:
http://www.earthbuilding.org.nz/?page_id=56 (accessed 3/4/2016)
[23]: How Rammed Earth Homes Work. Available at:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/rammed-earth-home.htm (accessed 5/4/2016)
[24]: Easton D. The Rammed Earth House. Chelsea Green Publishing Company., 1996.
[25]: The Cement Sustainability Initiative: Our agenda for action, World Business
Council for Sustainable Development., 2002.
72
12 Annexes
Annexes A: Coupled hydro-mechanical behavior for the first structure (8.1.3):
a) b)
Figure 12.1: Water pressure in the sixth year in the coupled hydro-mechanical situation (8.1.3)
in: a) summer. b) winter. [Pa]
Annexes B: Hydraulic behavior for the second geometry when α=2.08
0.00
-10.00 0.5
1
-20.00
1.5
-30.00
2
-40.00
2.5
-50.00
3
-60.00
3.5
-70.00 4
-80.00 4.5
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40
5
Position (m)
Figure 12.2: Water pressure over position for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
hydraulic conditions are applied.
73
0.45 0.5
1
0.40 1.5
2
0.35 2.5
Sr [-]
3
0.30 3.5
4
0.25 4.5
5
0.20 5.5
6
position (m)
Figure 12.3: Degree of saturation over position for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
Figure 12.4: Water pressure on the sixth year for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
Figure 12.5: Displacement in the Y direction for α=2.08 for the second geometry when the
74
Annexes C: Hydraulic behavior for α=2.08 for the third geometry. (8.3.2)
Figure 12.6: Water pressure in the third structure in winter of the sixth year. [Pa]
0.00 0
0.5
-20.00 1
1.5
-40.00 2
2.5
-60.00 3
3.5
-80.00 4
4.5
-100.00 5
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 5.5
Position (m)
Figure 12.7: Water pressure for α=2.08 for the third geometry.
0.45
0.5
1
0.40
1.5
2
0.35 2.5
Sr (-)
3
0.30 3.5
4
0.25 4.5
5
0.20 5.5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 6
Position (m)
Figure 12.8: Degree of saturation for α=2.08 for the third geometry.
75
a) b)
Figure 12.9: Displacements for the third geometry with α=2.08, without external loads in: a) X
direction. b) Y direction. [m]
a) b)
Figure 12.10: Stresses for the third geometry with α=2.08 in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [Pa]
Annexes D: Behavior of the third structure when both conditions are applied and α=1.
(8.3.3)
76
a) b)
Figure 12.11: Displacements of the third geometry with α=1 (when the hydraulic condition and
the loads are applied) in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m]
Annexes E: Behavior of the third structure when external loads and climatic conditions
are applied with α=2.08. (8.3.3)
77
a) b)
Figure 12.12: Displacements for α=2.08 when the external loads and the enviromental
conditions is applied in: a) X direction. b) Y direction. [m]
78

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RAMMED EARTH CONSTRUCTION :

EFFECT OF THE RELATIVE

Lucía Palazón Juncos

TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO PARA Lucía Palazón Juncos

TECNOLOGÍAS INDUSTRIALES Ignacio del Rey

La humedad relativa exterior e interior de una vivienda en Bélgica respectivamente son

Figura 7.1: Evolución de la humedad relativa de Bélgica en el año 2014. [2]

El estudio se hará para un periodo de análisis de al menos 6 años, ya que en

Tras este estudio podemos concluir que el efecto hidráulico es considerablemente

Cuando se aplican únicamente las cargas exteriores, la estructura final sufre un

Figura 8.9: Presión del agua frente a la posición a lo largo de 6 años.

El objetivo de este proyecto también es analizar la hipótesis correcta de la ecuación de

El trabajo se complementa con una investigación sobre la plasticidad de la estructura,

Figura 8.47: Diseño para explicar el parámetro V.

Analizando el parámetro V tras aplicar las cargas exteriores y las condiciones

Figure 8.48: Valores de V en invierno del quinto año para α=1.

A continuación el valor de la carga vertical aplicada sobre los forjados se incrementará

Palabras clave: suelo, humedad relativa, grado de saturación, relación de Bishop,

Códigos UNESCO: 220509 Mecánica de Sólidos, 220506 Teoría de N Cuerpos, 251108

La principal motivación para estudiar e investigar acerca de esta técnica de construcción

Diversas investigaciones existentes ([Alexandre Robert, 2013], [Mohamed Mahdah,

Así, partiendo de dichos estudios, el proyecto pretende aportar una investigación

Lucía Palazón Juncos 9

El estudio del comportamiento hidro-mecánica se hará para un periodo de análisis de al

El trabajo se complementa con una investigación sobre la plasticidad de la estructura.

En conclusión, el objetivo principal de la investigación es analizar la distribución de

2. ESTRUCTURA Y CARACTERÍSTICAS DEL SUELO

La compactación del suelo consiste en agrupar o compactar las partículas aumentando

10 Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (UPM)

3.1 POTENCIAL HIDRÁULICO

3.2 LEY DE DARCY

Lucía Palazón Juncos 11

La succión tiene varios componentes, pero el que más afecta al comportamiento de la

3.4 RELACIÓN ENTRE LA HUMEDAD RELATIVA Y LA SUCCIÓN

Debido a las grandes superficies expuestas al aire, el efecto de la humedad relativa es

𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒

Figura 5.3: Relación entre humedad relativa y succión.

3.5 LACURVA DE RETENCIÓN DEL AGUA

12 Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (UPM)

 𝑆𝑟 es el grado de saturación [-]

Figura 5.4: Curva de retención.

3.6 PERMEABILIDAD RELATIVA

𝐾𝑤 (𝑆𝑟,𝑤 ) = 𝐾𝑤𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑘𝑟,𝑤

Van Genuchten (1980) obtuvo la siguiente expresión analítica que relaciona la

Lucía Palazón Juncos 13

3.7 TENSIÓN EFECTIVA PARA SUELOS NO SATURADOS

- σ′ es la tensión efectiva [Pa]

14 Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (UPM)

4 CARACTERIZACIÓN DEL MATERIAL

4.1.1 PARÁMETROS ELÁSTICOS

Figura 6.4: Grafico tensión- deformación para s=2.4MPa. [4]

Lucía Palazón Juncos 15

 Point A: 𝑥1 = 0.01 𝑦1 = 0.6 𝑀𝑃𝑎

En este proyecto, se considera la relación de Poisson para la tierra compactada ν = 0,22

4.1.2 PARÁMETROS PLASTICOS

- Ángulo de fricción inicial y final 𝜙 = 36.5 ̊

4.1.3 COEFICIENTE DE PERMEABILIDAD

El código de elementos finitos utilizado en este proyecto requiere la permeabilidad

Como se ha mencionado anteriormente, el coeficiente de permeabilidad depende del

16 Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (UPM)

4.1.4 PARÁMETROS DE LA CURVA DE RETENCIÓN DEL AGUA

4.1.5 TENSIÓN EFECTIVA DEL MATERIAL