summaery2023: Projects

Project information

submitted by
Christopher Taube

Co-Authors
Zoé Vettermann

Mentors
Christopher Taube

Faculty:
Civil and Environmental Engineering

Degree programme:
Civil Engineering [Construction, Environment, Building Materials] (Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.))

Type of project presentation
Research project

Semester
Summer semester 2023

• Coudraystraße 4 - CIB
  (Versuchshalle der Versuchstechnischen Einrichtung)

Project description

Investigations into the load-bearing and deformation behaviour of straw bales as a construction material for load-bearing wall structures have been one of the main areas of research at the Chair of Modelling and Simulation of Structures at the Bauhaus-Univeristät Weimar for several years. On the basis of our own test data and that taken from the literature, we have already been able to develop the first computational models for describing the mechanical behaviour of square straw bales. The work concentrated mainly on large bales that can be sufficiently compacted by the use of powerful baling presses to exhibit suitable stiffness and time-dependent settlement properties for practical use in construction. A disadvantage, however, is the space requirement, which limits the application area of the construction method to suburban or rural areas. However, new technologies now allow the production of small straw bales in comparable bulk density classes, initially in the form of site-bound presses for "repressing" conventional straw bales.
The aim of this research work and associated bachelor theses is the conception, implementation and evaluation of a series of tests to determine the strength and stiffness properties of high-density small straw bales.