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Rammed earth : A complex medium
Rammed earth is a complex material which is attractive nowadays in construction because of its small environmental footprint. However, this material has specific characteristics, especially : its sensitivity to water, its low mechanical static capacity but a fairly good seismic performance, its high thermal conductivity which cannot guarantee sufficient winter comfort, its high heterogeneity which makes it a size effect material….. In short, a complex, unsaturated heterogeneous material with numerous couplings.
In this presentation I will try to show the complexity of the material and how physics helps us to understand for a better use in construction.