This study investigates the structural behavior of bahareque earth walls, a traditional construction system commonly used in rural areas of northern South America. Bahareque (wattle and daub) walls, consisting of guadua (a bamboo-like material) or wooden frames filled with soil mixes, have demonstrated considerable resilience in seismic zones due to their lightweight and flexible nature. Despite their widespread use in these communities, limited scientific data exist on their seismic performance under in-plane pseudo-static horizontal loading. This research addresses this gap by experimentally evaluating the seismic behavior of five wall models with different combinations of guadua, wood, and earth filling materials. The methodology included four main phases, namely field visits to document traditional construction techniques, material characterization, prototype testing under pseudo-static loads, and an analysis of mechanical behavior. Key material properties, including compressive strength and Young’s modulus, were determined, alongside the mechanical and physical properties of the infill material, which incorporated natural fibers. Pseudo-static tests were conducted on five wall prototypes, featuring various configurations of guadua and wood frameworks, both with and without soil infill. The walls were subjected to horizontal in-plane loads to assess their deformation capacity, energy dissipation, and failure mechanisms. The results indicated that walls with soil mixture infill—specifically the GSHS (guadua frame with horizontal guadua strips and soil mixture infill) and TSHS (wood frame with horizontal guadua strips and soil mixture infill) configurations—demonstrated the best seismic performance, with maximum displacements reaching up to 166 mm and strengths ranging from 6.4 to 8.4 kN. The study concludes that bahareque walls, particularly those incorporating soil mixes and horizontal guadua strips, exhibit high resilience under seismic conditions and provide a sustainable construction alternative for rural regions. The scope of this study is limited by the exclusion of dynamic seismic simulations, which could offer additional insights into the behavior of bahareque walls under real earthquake conditions. The novelty of this research lies in the direct evaluation of the seismic performance of traditional bahareque configurations, specifically comparing walls constructed with guadua and wooden frameworks, while emphasizing the critical role of soil infill and guadua strips in structural performance.

El aumento de la población mundial ha tenido como consecuencia el crecimiento de la industria de la construcción. Lo anterior, implica la explotación de recursos naturales no renovables y por ende un mayor impacto ambiental por la contaminación del suelo, el agua y el aire. Así, el desarrollo sostenible se ha convertido en una prioridad en la industria, por ejemplo, por medio de la incorporación de residuos en la cadena productiva. El acero puede producirse por dos métodos: el alto horno (se funden minerales de hierro) y el horno de arco eléctrico (se funde chatarra metálica reciclada). En este último, el proceso más utilizado en Colombia, se forma la escoria horno de arco eléctrico (EHAE). Este residuo representa una oportunidad de aprovechamiento en la construcción. Varias investigaciones han estudiado el uso de este material como agregado y como materia prima del cemento. Así mismo, su utilización como sustituto de material granular en la construcción de terraplenes, bases, subbases y capas de rodadura, siendo en el área de pavimentos donde mayor aplicación puede darse a la escoria. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo realizar una revisión actualizada del estado del arte sobre el uso de la EHAE en la construcción, para promover la implementación correcta y segura de este residuo y aportar a la sostenibilidad de la industria siderúrgica.

Compacted soils are a common component of engineering structures worldwide. In tropical regions, lateritic soils exhibit distinct characteristics due to soil aggregation from iron and aluminum hydroxides and their bimodal structure. However, the compaction process can alter soil structure and mechanical behavior. This paper aims to assess the effects of soil structure on the saturated and unsaturated mechanical behavior of a lateritic soil under different compacted energies. The methodology involves porosimetry, retention curve and saturated and unsaturated triaxial tests, using appropriate standards and references. Under saturated conditions, these structural variations affected the volumetric behavior at the critical state, particularly in samples compacted on the dry side of the compaction curve. Additionally, a unique Critical State Line (CSL) could be traced for all samples in the p’ x q space. Under unsaturated conditions, the effects of soil structure were evident, with both the volumetric response and shear strength increase being influenced by suction. Samples molded with no compaction energy, or non-proctor energy, resulted in higher macropore void ratio leading to more pronounced volumetric contraction during shear and less gain in shear strength. Therefore, this work contributes to the understanding of the behavior of compacted laterite soils, providing valuable information for projects involving compacted laterite soils in the field, such as dams, embankments and pavement subgrade.

Generally, the effects of suction in fine sands can be evidenced by a stiffening of the material, as the capillary front advances in the granular skeleton. In geotechnical retention structures this effect can be translated in an increasing of earth pressure, which is not normally considered in geotechnical designs. This study analyzes the capillary effects by implementing a physical modelling in centrifuge and a numerical simulation, using different constitutive models that involve suction within the analysis. The modelling is based on a structure of retention in sheetpiles built on a real scale. Some factors that affect both physical and numerical modelling were taken into account and should be considered in the analysis of the results obtained and, in the comparisons, carried out by both methodologies. As a point of interest, numerical modelling showed less dispersion in the results obtained than physical modelling, these and other aspects are analyzed in the document