Abstract EN:

Rammed earth construction is an ancient technique which is attracting renewed interest throughout the world today, thanks to the energy performance of this material throughout the lifecycle of a building: construction, occupation and demolition phases. Although rammed earth is currently regarded as a promising material in the construction sector in the context of sustainable development, it is still difficult to quantify its durability, as well as its mechanical and thermal performances, which discourages people from using it. This thesis is devoted to the study of these problems, especially the two first ones. The study of the durability of rammed earth was carried out on rammed earth walls exposed for 20 years to natural weathering, in a wet continental climate. A method to measure the rammed earth walls erosion by stereo-photogrammetry has been developed. The result shows a lifetime longer than 60 years in the case of the unstabilised rammed earth wall. This shows a potential for the use of unstabilised rammed earth in the similar climatic conditions with this study. The method of stereo-photogrammetry used to measure the erosion of rammed earth walls on site may also help to calibrate and develop more pertinent laboratory test to assess the durability of rammed earth wall. The study of the mechanical characteristics of rammed earth in compression was carried out on three different scales. The first is the scale of in-situ walls. Dynamic measurements were carried out on site to determine the Eigen frequencies of the walls. The elastic modulus was determined from the frequencies measured by using a finite element model. The second is the scale of a representative volume element (RVE). Rammed earth RVE samples with dimensions similar to those of the walls on site were manufactured and tested in the laboratory. Finally, at the last scale, called the micro-mechanical scale, tests were performed on equivalent compressed earth blocks (CEBs), which can replace the rammed earth RVE samples to facilitate laboratory tests. An exploratory study of seismic characteristics of rammed earth houses has also been established. The comparison of Eigen periods of rammed earth houses obtained from in-situ measurements and those of empirical formula proposed by seismic standards has been done. The strengthening techniques to improve the seismic capacity of rammed earth houses were also discussed.