Evaluación de tapial estabilizado con cemento ante la adición de aditivos comerciales

Abstract

In the Andean zone of Ecuador there are constructions made of earth because the raw material is abundant and accessible. The deterioration that the buildings of earth present forces to give constant answers to improve the element of those traditional systems. One of the earth constructive technique is rammed earth. This technique is characterized by having bearing walls of compacted earth. There are several advances that have shown that the material could be improved by the addition of different materials. This research proposes that additives conventionally used to modify mechanical properties of concrete, can vary the compressive strength and density of cement-stabilized rammed earth. From a regular rammed earth, three types of cement-stabilized rammed earth were made, varying their percentages of cement (6%, 8% and 10%). These mixtures were used as a base to add the different additives (superplasticizer, air inclusor and accelerator). The research carried out 16 different rammed earth mixtures and a total of 192 samples elaborated under the Peruvian standard “NORMA E.080”. All samples were subjected to the compression strength test. The samples with air inclusor and accelerator tended to present an increase, while in the mixtures with superplasticizer this value tended to decrease. All of the samples significantly outperform the simple rammed earth. On the other hand, there were no significant changes in the samples’ density. Based on the results, the research showed that the addition of additives in cement-stabilized rammed earth modifies its compressive strength and density.