Hi All,
With regard to pre-compression, creep, pre plastering post plastering and cyclic vertical loading (snow loads) you might want to look at that part of the test we did as EBNet. Go to www.ecobuildnetwork.org and click on the straw bale testing program link in the upper left hand corner. This will take you to some of the reports from the tests that we conducted. The test to which I am referring is title "load-bearing and Creep".
Best of luck as we all discover how best to build plastered straw bale structures,
Tim
Tim Owen-kennedy
Vital Systems, Natural Building & Design, Inc.
888.859.6336 PO Box 751, Ukiah, CA 95482
-----Original Message-----
From: strawbale-admin@amper....muni.cz [mailto:strawbale-admin@amper.ped.muni.cz] On Behalf Of Stewart Hargrave
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 4:02 AM
To: strawbale@amper....muni.cz
Subject: Re: [Strawbale]Some loadbearing compression ideas/questions
On 27 Apr 2005 at 11:15, rikki nitzkin wrote:
> HI all,
>
> Some thoughts about compression for you tecnical people. I have been
> thinking about these techiniques that are popping up as ways to reduce
> compression on loadbearing walls. Specifically the techniques like those
> used by Tom Rijven, or the man in ávila: they use clay paster on the walls
> before or during the wall-raising. This solidifies the walls and they don´t
> compress. This has obvious advantages because it protects the wall at once,
> and you don´t have to leave gaps above or below the windows and doors, and
> if you build the wall well you don´t have to worry about uneven compression,
> etc. SOunds good, huh? But the other day I was thinking (I do that once in
> a while) and I thought to question: A compressed wall is sure to be
> stronger, no? it may be more comfortable avoiding compression, but will it
> not make the walls weaker and capable of bearing less weight? On my
> load-bearing walls I have a clay-tile roof, I don´t know if I could
> recommend putting a heavy roof on an "uncompressed" loadbearing wall . .
> .But in the testing people have done they say that the plaster bears more
> weight than the bales themselves, some maybe my doubts are irrelevant . .
> .What do you all think?
I was reflecting the other day about the construction of a Formula 1 car. These
are made out of thin carbon fibre - the strongest parts of the car are made from
two thin layers of carbon fibre separated by a weak core material a few mm thick,
making the whole very much stronger than the sum of the parts. The essential
element is the gap between the two thin layers - on their own the thin layers will
bear much less compressive and shearing forces, but as long as a stable gap
can be maintained between them, their combined strength is very much greater.
It seems to me that in some respects, this is not so different to a load-bearing SB
structure - two thin layers of stucco separated by a core of straw. Now carbon
fibre is much stronger under tension that stucco, but that may not be an issue
under load-bearing conditions.
The point is, much evidence suggests that the stucco takes most of the load,
rather than the straw, so once two layers of stucco are applied, the tendency for
the straw to settle down may not be as much of a factor as you may first think,
and the two layers of stucco acting in conjunction with the straw core provides a
strong enough support.
I should point out that this is not an expert opinion, just an idea I had.
--
Stewart H.
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