BRUNO A. W.

This paper presents an empirical model that predicts the thermal conductivity of soils by accounting for the effect of both the degree of saturation and void ratio on the heat exchange capacity of shallow geothermal reservoirs. The model is generated by the product of two terms: the former accounts for the effect of void ratio on the dry...

This paper presents an empirical model that predicts the thermal conductivity of soils by accounting for the effect of both the degree of saturation and void ratio on the heat exchange capacity of shallow geothermal reservoirs. The model is generated by the product of two terms: the former accounts for the effect of void ratio on the dry...

This paper presents a novel approach to soil–water retention modelling that is based on the analysis of the material pore network. The approach postulates the existence of a differential coupling function, which relates the variation of water ratio to the variation of void ratio at constant suction. Distinct differential coupling functions have...

The paper presents a bounding surface model that describes the gradual yielding of unsaturated soils subjected to isotropic loads. The model originates from consideration of the capillary bonding between soil grains, which leads to the definition of a 'unified normal compression line' that is valid in both saturated and unsaturated conditions....

This paper presents a bounding surface model to predict the hydromechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils under isotropic stress states. The model combines the hydraulic law of Gallipoli et al. [8] with the mechanical law of Gallipoli and Bruno [9]. The hydraulic law relates the degree of saturation to the single variable scaled suction, which...

No description

This paper presents an analytical method to predict the horizontal capacity of piles in unsaturated soils. The method extends the well-known Broms approach to account for the combined effect of the groundwater table and the apparent cohesion of the unsaturated soil above it. Similar to the original formulation of Broms, the present method...

Earth is a building material with low carbon emissions compared to conventional concrete or fired bricks. Earthen materials have an excellent capacity to regulate indoor hygrothermal conditions allowing for a better comfort with reduced heating and cooling needs during the life cycle of the building. The present paper presents a theoretical...

The use of raw earth as construction material can save embodied and operational energy because of low processing costs and passive regulation of indoor ambient conditions. Raw earth must however be mechanically and/or chemically stabilised to enhance stiffness, strength and water durability. In this work, stiffness and strength are enhanced by...

This paper presents an innovative method for the production of masonry bricks, which combines earth compaction and quick firing at low temperatures. Earth bricks were manufactured according to three different methods, i.e. extrusion, standard Proctor compaction and hypercompaction to 100 MPa. All bricks were fired inside an electrical furnace...

This paper investigates the mechanical behaviour of a hypercompacted unstabilized earth material manufactured by compressing a moist soil to very high pressures up to 100 MPa. The hypercompaction procedure increases material density, which in turn improves mechanical characteristics. Samples were manufactured at the scale of both small...

The paper presents a soil water retention model that takes into account the effects of void ratio and hydraulic hysteresis on the variation of degree of saturation. Based on a modified form of the van Genuchten equation, the model defines two bounding surfaces, namely a main drying surface and a main wetting surface, which delimit the region of...

This paper investigates the effect of stabilisation by alkaline activation and silicon based admixture on the mechanical properties, moisture buffering capacity and durability of an earthen material for building construction. The stiffness and strength of both unstabilised and stabilised cylindrical samples were measured, under different...

Much research has been devoted over the past 30 years to the development of construction materials that can lower the environmental and economic costs of buildings over their entire life by reducing embodied energy, minimizing air conditioning needs and cutting down demolition waste. In this respect, raw earth is an attractive material because...

The paper presents the results from a series of thermal tests on five wall samples made of four types of unfired and one type of fired earth bricks. The unfired earth bricks were manufactured in the present work and consisted of Proctor compacted full bricks, hypercompacted full bricks, hypercompacted full bricks with hemp fibres and...

This paper investigates the mechanical behaviour of a hypercompacted unstabilized earth material manufactured by compressing a moist soil to very high pressures up to 100 MPa. The hypercompaction procedure increases material density, which in turn improves mechanical characteristics. Samples were manufactured at the scale of both small...

The paper presents a soil water retention model that takes into account the effects of void ratio and hydraulic hysteresis on the variation of degree of saturation. Based on a modified form of van Genuchten equation, the model defines two bounding surfaces, i.e. a main drying surface and a main wetting surface, which delimit the region of...

This paper extends the modified Cam-Clay model to describe the behaviour of unsaturated soils by replacing the effective stress with the scaled stress. The scaled stress accounts for the mechanical effect of capillarity by factoring Bishop's stress with a power function of degree of saturation. The extendedmodified Cam-Clay model postulates the...

The in-situ monitoring of soil suction and water content is important for a range of applications from civil engineering (e.g. estimation of groundwater infiltration) to agriculture (e.g. optimization of irrigation). The efficiency of field monitoring systems has recently improved thanks to the development of sensors that continuously record...

This paper presents a bounding surface model predicting the combined effects of cementation and partial saturation on the mechanical behaviour of soils subjected to isotropic loading. The loss of cementation caused by loading, wetting or drying of a normally consolidated soil is described by a "cementation bonding function". This states that,...

This paper presents a model that describes the gradual yielding of unsaturated cemented soils subjected to isotropic loading. The model relies on the definition of a "cementation bonding function" which accounts for the progressive breakage of inter-granular cementation caused by loading. The combination of this cementing bonding function with...

Raw (unfired) earth represents a sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional construction materials but its dissemination into building practice has been hindered by a relatively high vulnerability to water erosion. Enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) can improve the durability of earth materials without using traditional...

This paper presents an investigation of the mechanical properties of three different earth building materials manufactured by compacting two soils with distinct particle size distributions under two markedly different efforts. Multiple samples of each material have been equalised either inside a climatic chamber at different humidity levels or...

Stabilization is often necessary to improve the stiffness, strength and durability of both natural and compacted soils. Soils are typically stabilized via the addition of hydraulic binders, such as cement and lime, which present however relatively high carbon and energy footprints. Alternative stabilization techniques are therefore explored to...