El tapial alivianado

Abstract

In the last years in the world many projects have been built based on raw earth rammed, demonstrating the high architectural interest in the use of the land. This technique is known in Latin America as “tapial”, which has a vernacular origin and functions as a bearing wall of great thermal mass. Earth as construction material is used in the five continents in the temperate and cold zones, with great cultural features and expectations, which can be used in contemporary architecture. Little by little the raw material around the world is running out, for this reason it is necessary to encourage the search of other resources to make responsible architecture and because it can not be done by using materials and techniques that have already been tested by our ancestors. Earth must be studied from ancestral experiences and make investigations to propose use it at present; the research exposes the results of a program that tries to address tries to approach the subject of the alleviation of the rammed earth. The research begins with the revision of global standards on rammed earth and soil determination suitable for use in the construction of rammed earth walls using ancestral techniques and scientific laboratory tests such as granulometry, humidity, Atterberg boundaries, density, Proctor, compressive strength, bending, diagonal compression, among others.

Then the research compares the traditional technique with 9 variations that we experimented with the purpose of reducing the weight of the material. Around 116 samples with different sizes and shapes were elaborated. Which 50 samples have different materials, compositions and shapes including "Vinyl Polychloride", "Expanded Polystyrene", and "Cabuya". There are also 30 additional examples that include walls and test tubes to deeply determine the physical and mechanical characteristics of the technique. The results offer a clear comparison between ancestral trials and scientific methods, which give an innovative proposal to rescue the rammed earth technique while it saves materials, proposing the lightening of the walls with the combination of new materials.