Research on the factors affecting the development of shrinkage cracks of rammed earth buildings

Rammed earth (RE) buildings have existed all over the world for thousands of years, and have gained increasing attention because of its sustainable advantages, however, the shrinkage cracks reduce its bearing capacity and seriously affect its durability and applicability. In this study, the shrinkage cracks test was carried out to investigate the effects of initial water content, proportion of sand and gravel, compaction degree, thickness and the additives (polypropylene fiber, cement and sodium silicate) of shrinkage cracks in RE buildings, ten groups of RE samples were prepared and dried outdoors to crack. Four quantitative parameters of geometrical structure of crack patterns were used to evaluate the development of cracks. The results show that the specimens cracking behavior and the geometrical structure of crack patterns are significantly influenced by these considered factors. The formation of crack can be accelerated with the increase of initial water content and thickness of specimen, while restricted with the increase of the compaction degree and the proportion of sand and gravel. Moreover, the addition of 1% polypropylene fiber, 10% cement and 0.5 volume ratio sodium silicate can significantly restrain the form and development of cracks. In RE construction, these factors should be considered comprehensively to prevent the harm caused by shrinkage cracks. Further works should be carried out to obtain the optimum dosage of the additives, which can benefit the construction of RE buildings in future.