On Friday, a unique experiment to test the strength of the bridges made of clay was done at the Laboratory of Soil Physical and Mechanical Properties of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU).
The idea to construct a bridge of clay and test its properties at the “Makaronų tiltai“ (Bridges of Pasta) building competition that was organised last autumn came to Šarūnas Skuodis, a head of the Laboratory. Together with Tadas Tamošiūnas, Romas Girkontas and Andrius Savickas, 4th year students of Civil Engineering, he had the bridge constructed for the competition but it got cracked in the process of drying and therefore lost its entrance to the competition.
With the disappointment of the constructors having passed, they resumed their work in February. Having analysed the mistakes not previously noticed, they began to try the mixture of clay and other additives that would not crack in the process of drying.
According to the teacher of the Department of Geotechnical Engineering of VGTU Šarūnas Skuodis, the research of the students is applicable in practice: “The construction of houses using ecological natural materials has been gaining popularity. But usually the houses built of clay have to be repaired annually as there appear cracks in walls when clay shrinks and cracks. The students experimented with different composites in the Laboratory and they tried to find such a sample which would shrink least in the process of drying therefore not causing problems for the owners of such houses. Different technologies for drying have also been tested, starting from natural drying to covering by film and then opening it for just one hour a day.”
The teacher has noticed that the first bridge made of clay, the original length of which was one metre, has shrunk by 9 centimetres, i.e. by nearly 10 per cent, since October.
The test of the clay bridges has observed the rules set for the Makaronų tiltai competition: the length of a bridge could not exceed the length of one metre and the height of 60 centimetres. But the weight requirements were not applied for the bridge as clay is much heavier material as compared to pasta in the shape of spaghetti that is usually used in such competitions.
The bridges were weighed in the Laboratory and later tested in the special installation in the Department of Bridges and Special Structures by gradually increasing load. The clay bridge weighing 2.1 kilograms sustained the load of 5.1 kg, and the lighter bridge made of clay and straw and weighing 1.9 kg sustained the load of only half a kilo.
The constructors of the bridges have not lost their enthusiasm to further experiment with clay mixtures after the performed tests. The students will also present their tests and conclusions from them at the Science – Future of Lithuania. Construction conference for young researchers.
The idea to construct a bridge of clay and test its properties at the “Makaronų tiltai“ (Bridges of Pasta) building competition that was organised last autumn came to Šarūnas Skuodis, a head of the Laboratory. Together with Tadas Tamošiūnas, Romas Girkontas and Andrius Savickas, 4th year students of Civil Engineering, he had the bridge constructed for the competition but it got cracked in the process of drying and therefore lost its entrance to the competition.
With the disappointment of the constructors having passed, they resumed their work in February. Having analysed the mistakes not previously noticed, they began to try the mixture of clay and other additives that would not crack in the process of drying.
According to the teacher of the Department of Geotechnical Engineering of VGTU Šarūnas Skuodis, the research of the students is applicable in practice: “The construction of houses using ecological natural materials has been gaining popularity. But usually the houses built of clay have to be repaired annually as there appear cracks in walls when clay shrinks and cracks. The students experimented with different composites in the Laboratory and they tried to find such a sample which would shrink least in the process of drying therefore not causing problems for the owners of such houses. Different technologies for drying have also been tested, starting from natural drying to covering by film and then opening it for just one hour a day.”
The teacher has noticed that the first bridge made of clay, the original length of which was one metre, has shrunk by 9 centimetres, i.e. by nearly 10 per cent, since October.
The test of the clay bridges has observed the rules set for the Makaronų tiltai competition: the length of a bridge could not exceed the length of one metre and the height of 60 centimetres. But the weight requirements were not applied for the bridge as clay is much heavier material as compared to pasta in the shape of spaghetti that is usually used in such competitions.
The bridges were weighed in the Laboratory and later tested in the special installation in the Department of Bridges and Special Structures by gradually increasing load. The clay bridge weighing 2.1 kilograms sustained the load of 5.1 kg, and the lighter bridge made of clay and straw and weighing 1.9 kg sustained the load of only half a kilo.
The constructors of the bridges have not lost their enthusiasm to further experiment with clay mixtures after the performed tests. The students will also present their tests and conclusions from them at the Science – Future of Lithuania. Construction conference for young researchers.
