Estudio de variables geométricas y disposición de elementos estructurales en muros de bahareque

Abstract

Building with earth has existed from the begging of mankind. These techniques have continued through the years and have become attractive due to its low environmental impact. One of these techniques is known as bahareque, which consist of a load-bearing wall system with a built-in frame made out of wood or bamboo. The frame contains wood or cane sticks tied from side to side. This forms a shape which is filled with raw-earth and finally it’s covered with clay and manure.

The bahareque system, also known as quincha, when used as construction frames shows high ductility properties. This property makes it resistant to earthquakes due to its lightweight compared to other systems with raw-earth. This solution is sustainable ecologically and it is attractive because of its resistance to earthquakes.

The traditional bahareque system has several variables, two of which will be implemented in this research. The first corresponds to the structure that has to do with the separation of studs in the load-bearing walls, proposing 4 different variables in this work and the second one depends on the available reed in the split-bamboo lath which also proposes 4 variables In the lab, 28 load bearing walls were built to scale to test axial compression. Another 28 load bearing walls were built for testing diagonal compression.

The results of the tests were analyzed in depth for each variable. At the same time, it wascompared with different variables such as: building properties, amount of construction material used, weight, deformation, mechanical resistence. This allows us to determine an absolute grade for each proposed variable, with properties that could influence in the construction of bahareque walls