Study of the Consistency Limits of Ch’ampa Type Earth Block Masonry Compared to Traditional Materials

The study (in the Peruvian Andes) of new materials begins with the characterization of their most basic properties, so the present investigation presents a first study on the Consistency Limits (Liquid Limit and Plastic Limit) of the predominant material of the traditional construction blocks called Ch’ampa, taking into account that this vegetal block is extracted directly from the soil, and is used in the construction of rural houses, which has replaced Adobe and Tapial, mainly due to its cost, ease of extraction and above all durability over time. The results obtained for Ch’ampa have an average of \(42.33\%\) for LL and \(32.33\%\) for PL ( \(46.44\%\) for LL and \(35.73\%\) for PL in similar studies), resulting in a Plasticity Index (PI) of \(10\%\) ( \(10.71\%\) for PI in similar studies), which is ideally combined with the rooting of the grass, which is a characteristic of this construction material, giving it flexibility and adaptability due to its deformable capacity, compared to Adobe (similar studies), which has an average value of \(32.20\%\) (LL) and \(19.74\%\) (PL) making it not very workable compared to Ch’ampa. On the other hand, Tapial (similar studies) has a mean value of \(33.75\%\) (LL) and \(21.25\%\) (PL), which is statistically similar to Ch’ampa. As part of the final proposal of the study, a graph of recommended areas for the ideal selection of LL-PL is presented to adequately characterize the traditional earth block used in the Puno-Peru highlands.