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MMMS
7,2 Interaction analysis and optimal
design of composite action
of plastered straw bale
146
A.A. Adedeji
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
Received 19 September 2010
Revised 6 December 2010
Accepted 21 December 2010 Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of cement- and earth-plastered straw bale
walls against the appropriate vertical loads.
Design/methodology/approach – The effects of contact between two common types of plasters
and the stacked straw bale by the optimal design analysis have been assessed in this work with the
use of finite element method.
Findings – Cement- and earth-plastered straw bale walls have shown adequate resistance against the
appropriate vertical loads and showed that the earth-plaster can bear higher stress than the cement
plastered straw bale. There is the implication that the collapse or response of the earth-straw bale wall
will be significantly higher compared to that of cement-straw bale wall.
Practical implications – The stress stability obtained of the analytical walls is adequate after
using the best fit variables for the wall height and thickness.
Originality/value – The paper shows that the allowable stresses of 70.14 kN/m2 for cement
plastered straw bale wall and 73.14 kN/m2 for earth-plastered straw bale wall are higher than the
calculated stress values using SAP2000 of 18.836 and 64.2 kN/m2 for cement plastered straw bale wall,
respectively.
Keywords Plaster, Earth, Cements, Straw bale, Finite element method, Composite materials, Stress,
Construction materials, Walls
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Straw is a flexible (non-rigid) material that is sustainable, plentiful and non-expensive as
a building material which requires easy workability in construction and somewhat
differently than if it was rigid. Straws are originated from leftover stems of harvested
grains that are of different types depending on the types of grains they are derived from
such as rice, wheat, maize, millet, sorghum or grow wildly such as elephant grass, etc.
Dry and free from leaves, straws are baled together and compressed to bear loading
when being used as post and beam system or structural bale system. In a straw bale
wall, the relatively strong, stiff plasters play significant roles as they work together with
the ductile straw bale and come to function as stress skin panels. Plastering materials
used for straw bale structures are of different types like earth/laterite, clay-sand,
cement-lime and cement plaster. These plastering materials make the wall strong and
prevent the straw bale from fire (Michael, 2006; Otiki, 2004) when plastered on both
Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials interior and exterior parts, creating a wall system that is strong, resilient and very
and Structures attractive.
Vol. 7 No. 2, 2011
pp. 146-169
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1573-6105
The author wishes to acknowledge the efforts of Mr S.T. Ishola for producing most of the data
DOI 10.1108/15736101111157091 and his ability to key in the input parameters to run the programme appropriately.
 Wall design is an open-ended process, encompassing a wide range of problem-solving Analysis
types and approaches. It is therefore difficult to reduce all descriptions of the various of plastered
design approaches to a common model. A design can be subjected to evaluation based on
a viable and strong analytical approach such as using finite element method (FEM) and straw bale
finite difference method to find exact or approximate solutions and applied it to
optimization and search techniques. These methods are also used in design for both
empirical and theoretical method of analysis and which so far produced a tremendous 147
solution against the disastrous effects of loading on structures.
This finding shows the action of contact between straw bale and plaster
composition under appropriate loads. The atmosphere and environment we live is
becoming increasingly a matter of concern to designers alike. Living in a straw-like
structure has no harmful effects combined with plastering materials because it is built
with natural, local and breathable materials that are cheap, easy to obtain and work
with and reduce cost of living. The optimal design process with the use of FEM makes
the designer to identify explicitly the wall design variables.
This work involves the use of a maize straw bale plastered (rendered) with
earth-and cement-materials, each of the walls are analysed and optimized separately,
but with the same loading and the same dimensions in application. The purpose of this
work is to assess the cement- and earth-plastered straw bale walls against the
appropriate vertical loads. A continous models are often used for wall and its plaster
without considering the effects of contact between the composites. This assessment is
necessary because of different strength properties of the composite materials of
masonry element. Therefore, determination of the response of straw bale and mortar at
their surface contacts is very important for the aspect of design.

2. Properties of straw
.
Sustainability. Straw is an annually renewable natural product, grown by
photosynthesis. Approximately four million tonnes are produced surplus to
requirements each year (Jones, 2005a; Milutiene et al., 2010).
.
Sound insulation. There is an over whelming experimental evidences that straw
bale walls offer far more sound insulation than twentieth-century wall building
techniques according to Jones (2001, 2005a). Straw bale home are cozy, calm and
quite. They offer a feeling of peace and there are at least two sound studios in the
US built of straw because of its acoustic property as well as in several more
meditation centers. Sound insulation refers to the capacity of a barrier to prevent
the passage of sound energy from the air on the source side to that on the far side.
.
Thermal insulation. According to DuLithgow (2006), Nehemiah (2003) and
Adedeji (2002, 2007), a fiber glass has R-value (the resistance to the heat flow) of
0.05 W/mK while straw bale of 457 mm with three strings varies between 0.035
and 0.032 W/mK. Stone (1999) and Steen et al. (1994) estimated the insulation value
for the straw bale walls with R-value of 0.04 and 0.061 W/mK, respectively. In his
research work, Ashour (2003) reported that at the temperature of 20.78C and 34.28C
and at density ranging between 80 and 1408C kg/m3 the thermal conductivity,
K-value for the wheat bale, varies between 0.092 and 0.085 and 0.12 and
0.93 W/mK, respectively. Close results were obtained for barley bale of 0.092-0.073
and 0.099-0.081 at the same temperature and density ranges of wheat bale.
MMMS .
Pest resistance. Straw bale are thick and dense enough to keep out many kinds of
7,2 pests. The outer layer of plaster (DuLithgow, 2006) makes them unattractive or
impenetrable to animals and insects. Finally, because straw contains little
nutrient value to most animals and insects, it does not attract pests.
.
Fire resistance. Although loose straw is quite flammable, once packed in a bale it
is too dense to allow enough air combustion (DuLithgow, 2006; King, 1996). By
148 analogy, it is easy to light a piece of paper on fire, but difficult and time
consuming to burn an entire storey book. In a test, a gas flame blows on one side
of the wall at approximately 1,1008C, while the temperature of the wall is
continuously measured. The result of this test had no burn – through and a
maximum temperature rise of 33.38C for a 2-h fire resistant test was obtained.
Garas et al. (2009) presented a fire resistance test on different cement plaster
mixes applied on straw bales of thickness 450 mm for almost 2 h using direct
flame and a thermal sensor was installed on the sample side opposite to the flame
side to record the transmission of heat through the plastered bales. The results
showed that bales survived fire penetration in excess of 2 h after which the flame
was discontinued. It was concluded that mixes containing higher percentages of
cement content exhibit more fire resistance than those with less cement content.
.
Simplicity. Straw bale building utilizes locally available materials, and basic
construction techniques that require little specialized or proprietary materials
and equipment. Inexperience builders working on their own homes have often
successfully used it (Adedeji, 2007; Jones, 2001, 2005b).
.
Structural sound. Straw bale walls have passed load bearing tests both in the
laboratory and empirically and are used to build at least 2-storey building
(Vardy and MacDougall, 2006; Jones, 2001).
.
Durability. The key to durability of straw bale wall lies in good design and good
quality work.

2.1 Composite materials

A piece of wood is a composite material, with long fibers of cellulose held together by a
much weaker substance called lignin. Cellulose is also found in cotton and linen, but it
is the binding power of the lignin that makes a piece of timber much stronger than a
bundle of cotton fibers. A piece of straw, on the other hand, has a lot of strength when
you try to stretch it, but almost none when you crumple it up. If you embed pieces of
straw in a block of mud and let it dry hard, the resulting mud brick resists both
squeezing and tearing and makes an excellent building material. It has both good
compressive strength and tensile strength. The greatest advantage of composite
materials is strength and stiffness combined with lightness.

2.2 Structural stability

The bale assembly can do a number of things, depending upon the structural design of
the building. According to Bello (2010), factors to take into consideration while
constructing structural stability include: holding itself up and be self-supporting and
resist tipping; keeping out the wind, inhibiting air/moisture infiltration; resistance of heat
transfer; reducing water intrusion and migration; keeping the assembly from buckling
under a compressive load; keeping the assembly from bursting apart in earth quake;
holding the plaster at least while it is in curing stage; keeping the plaster from cracking Analysis
after its cured and transferring and absorbing loads to and from the plaster. of plastered
straw bale
2.3 Plaster and stucco/render
2.3.1 Plasters matter. According to Jones (2001, 2005a) and Bello (2010), plastered straw
bale construction has shown itself to be strong and durable in both load-bearing and
post and beam structures. In load-bearing straw bale systems, the relatively strong, 149
stiff plaster plays a significant role as it works together with the ductile straw bale core
to function as a stress skin panel, resisting compressive, in- and out-of plane loading.
In post and beam straw bale systems with properly detailed connections, the plaster can
act as a shear wall, resisting in-plane lateral loads. The final strength of these wall
systems depends both on plasters and straw bales. Plasters serve many functions in a
wall system. They protect the underlying surface, permit or prevent the migration of
vapor or liquid moisture (Ashour et al., 2011), prevent the migration of air currents and
carry structural loads. Plasters are composed of a binder (e.g. clay, cement, lime) and
fillers (sand, aggregate, fiber, etc.). Plasters can be divided into two main categories:
(1) those with a binder that undergoes a chemical reaction (such as cement, lime, or
gypsum); and
(2) those with a binder that does not react chemically (such as clay, laterite, etc.).

In structural terms, cement, lime, gypsum, and clay-based plasters form a continuum
from strong to weak and from brittle to ductile, respectively. Cement-based plasters are
very strong and resistant to erosion, but often crack near openings (windows, doors,
etc.) and corners because they are very brittle when compared to the straw bale wall
core. Clay-based plasters are weaker and erode easily, but their relative ductility makes
them a better structural match with straw bale walls and in general straw bale walls
with clay plasters have ultimate strengths of values ranging between 0.3 and 1.0 MPa
(Jones, 2005a). In addition and according to Ashour and Wu (2010), addition of various
fibers (straw of wheat and barley and wooden shavings), contents of fibers are found to
have remarkable effect on the erosion resistance of the plasters.
2.3.2 Function of plastered straw bales. Plasters serve many functions in a wall
system. According to Adedeji (2007), the functions include: protection of the underlying
surface, permission or prevention of the migration of vapour or liquid moisture and air
current, carrying structural loads, provision of fire resistance, sound and thermal
insulation, provision of smooth and hygienic surface and the resistance of surface
abrasion and accepts a decorative finishes.
2.3.3 Types of failure due to loading. Understanding the types of failure is important
because the relationship of the plaster to the straw bale is the key to structural strength
in a straw bale wall. Straw bale walls fail in four different ways as shown in Figure 1 in
relation to their plaster.
Figure 1 is shown as they are numbered and are as follows:
(1) Global buckling. The wall from floor to roof bends and eventually breaks. This is
a rare type of failure and may be attributed to plaster’s failure.
(2) Local buckling. Part of the plaster pulls away from the straw or the coats of
plaster delaminate. This is caused by poor plaster or mesh application and is a
common type of failure.
MMMS
7,2

150

Figure 1.
Failure modes for
a load-bearing 1 2 3 4
straw bale wall
Source: King (2003)

(3) Bearing. The plaster crushes at the roof or the floor because the wall is not
designed to sustain the stress at the joint. This is a common type of failure.
(4) Core crushing. The straw is crushed because the vertical load is not transferred
through the skin or plaster.
It is important to note that the experiments conducted by Vardy and MacDougall
(2007) of walls built using jigs which provided very consistent bale and plaster
dimensions and that, although in a construction setting, the plaster application and
bale dimensions have significant variability. The results and observations provide a
means for understanding the structural behaviour and failure mechanisms associated
with plastered straw bale construction. King (2006) found that an earthen rendered
straw bale wall with plastic mesh has low ductility, but it was shown to have similar
lateral-load resistance to that of a very lightly sheathed stud wall. It was also noted
that even after significant lateral deformations, the walls still managed to sustain
significant compressive loads, indicating an ability to avoid collapse even when
subjected to the lateral loading indicative of a major earthquake.

3. Methodology
3.1 Data collection
The material properties for the execution of this work were collected from various
sources as shown in Table I.

Elements Density (kN/m3) Modulus of elasticity, E (GPa) Poisson ratio, vc

Roof 24.00 24.82 0.20

Foundation 24.00 24.82 0.20
Straw bale 22.30 22.99 0.30
Cement plaster 19.00 20.25 0.20
Earth plaster 19.62 21.20 0.15
Table I.
Properties of materials Source: SAP7-A (1981), Fadil (2007), Bruce (2003), Ashour (2003) and Adedeji (2007)
3.2 Optimal design of a plastered straw bale Analysis
The optimal design problem formulation embarked upon was based on conduction,
convection, cost function and loadings. Figure 2 shows the cross-section of a straw bale
of plastered
wall of a building and the possible loadings applied to the wall. In Figure 2, h, height of straw bale
the straw bale wall, tsb, thickness of the straw bale (28tp mm), tp, thickness of the
plaster (15 mm each), t, total thickness of the plastered straw bale wall (28tp mm), b,
breadth of the wall (assumed value ¼ 1,000 mm), ww, wind load (0.33 kN/m height 151
(Asonibare, 2007; Adedeji, 2008)), Q, heat transfer through the plastered straw bale
wall, wf, foundation load, wr, roof load, u, earth pressure (upthrust).

3.3 Cost function

The cost functions are considered separately for cement- and earth-plastered straw
bale masonry. Cement-plastered straw bale weight is to be minimised as:
Zwgt ¼ rCP VCP þ rSB VSB ð1aÞ
¼ 1; 286:8 h tCP ð1bÞ
where rCP, rSB, VCP, VSB, densities, volumes of cement- and earth-plasters, respectively,
h, tCP, tSB ( ¼ 28tSB), height and thickness of plaster, straw bale, respectively.
Earth-plastered straw bale weight is to be minimised as:
Zwgt ¼ rEP VEP þ rSB VSB ð2aÞ
¼ 1; 288:04 h tEP ð2bÞ
Where tEP, thickness of earth plaster.

3.4 Design constraints

3.4.1 Conduction constraints.
Q ¼ kADTm ð3Þ

Straw bale

ww Plaster (earth)
h

wf

u
Figure 2.
Cross-section
tP tSB tP of a straw bale wall
t with applied loadings
MMMS The rate of heat flow (Q) through the wall can be expressed by:
7,2 KAðT wo 2 T wi Þ AðT wo 2 T wi Þ
Q¼ ¼ ð4Þ
x R
Where: A, area of wall (m2), t, thickness of wall (m). Text, outdoor surface temperature
(8C), Tint, indoor surface temperature (8C), R, the thermal resistance of the wall ¼ x/k
152 (m28C/W), Q is heat flow (W), k is the overall heat transfer ¼ 17.078 W/m28C at the area
A ¼ (3 £ 0.45 ¼ 1.35 m2) at the height 3 m and width of 0.45 m, DTm, the effective
mean temperature difference ( ¼ 2.5 8C), For cement/earth plaster straw bale,
Q ¼ 5.06 W. The heat flow through a straw bale wall can take weeks to achieve a
steady flow and the climate condition is indeterminate (Bruce, 2003), so time is
assumed at 60 s. Stress allowable sallowable ( ¼ W/A) is 0.22 kN/m2. Therefore,
sq 2 sallowable # 0 is:


0:3
2 0:22 # 0 ð5Þ
30tp £ h
3.4.2 Convection constraints. In like manner, at the convection surface (or film)
coefficient, h (3-7 W/m28C, value of 5 used, fluid bulk temperature Tf (26 8C) and is the
wall surface temperature Ts (22 8C), Tf ¼ 26 8C (air temperature), Ts ¼ 22 8C
(wall temperature) and the convection constraints is obtained as:
1:62
2 1:2 # 0 ð6Þ
30tp £ h


1:92
Total heat stress ¼ 2 3:2 kN=m2 # 0 ð7Þ
30tp £ h
3.4.3 Vertical stress constraints. For cement plastered straw bale wall stress
constraints: at the maximum roof/floor load of 40 kN/m (Bruce, 2003) and
upthrust ¼ 0.5ghl ¼ 10 kN/m width, sallowable ¼ 66.7 kN/m2 per metre width, the
constraint is obtained as:
90
2 66:7 # 0 ð8Þ
30tp £ h
For earth-plastered straw bale wall, the stress constraints:
94
2 69:6 # 0 ð9Þ
30tp £ h
3.4.4 Horizontal stress constraints (wind only). For both plastered straw bale wall, wind
load is estimated as 0.33 kN/m (Asonibare, 2007). The stress constraint is therefore
obtained as:
0:33
2 0:24 # 0 ð10Þ
30tp £ h
3.4.5 Other constraints.
0:012 m # tp # 0:015 m ð11Þ
 26tp # tsb # 28tp ð12Þ Analysis
28tp # t # 30tp ð13Þ of plastered
straw bale
1m # h # 5m ð14Þ

3.5 Optimization process 153

The constraints are varied and used to calculate the values of the variables t and h;
t is varied within the range (28tp # t # 30tp) to obtain the values of h using constraints
equations in chapter three. After what, various values of cost function, Z will be
obtained through the known values of t and h based on optimal design.
3.5.1 Stress constraint analyses. By referring to constraint equations
(equations (1)-(14)), the stress constraint are used both separately and combined
(composite) as shown in Tables II and III for a separate and combined stress constraints,
respectively.
3.5.2 Composite stress constraint. For cement-plastered straw bale wall:
92:22
# 70:14 ð15Þ
30tp £ h
For earth-plastered straw bale wall:
96:22
# 73:14 ð16Þ
30tp £ h
By varying the variables, the calculations are shown in Table III.

3.6 Finite element analysis and formulation of the wall optimal design
.
Step 1. Discretizing the wall into finite elements is shown in Figure 3.
.
Step 2. Generation of equations for the discrete elements.
The elements are higher order two-dimensional iso-parametric quadrilateral and
triangular elements. For the quadrilateral elements (Figure 4):
The coordinate interpolation for the element is:
9
x ¼ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 þ sÞx1 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 þ sÞx2 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 2 sÞx3 þ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 2 sÞx4 =
ð17Þ
y ¼ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 þ sÞy1 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 þ sÞy2 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 2 sÞy3 þ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 2 sÞy4 ;

and the displacement interpolation function is also given as:

9
u ¼ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 þ sÞu1 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 þ sÞu2 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 2 sÞu3 þ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 2 sÞu4 =
ð18Þ
v ¼ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 þ sÞv1 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 þ sÞv2 þ 14 ð1 2 rÞð1 2 sÞv3 þ 14 ð1 þ rÞð1 2 sÞv4 ;

Evaluating the displacement, it is necessary to evaluate:

› ›
¼J ð19Þ
›x ›x
 7,2

154

Table II.
MMMS

Separated stress

plaster composition
constraints for both
Plaster thickness, tp Total thickness, t Height, h Calculated stress, s Allowable stress, s Cost function, Z
(m) (m) (m) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (kN)

Constraints for cement plastered straw bale wall

Heat transfer 0.012 0.36 1.7 3.1 3.2 7.8
Heat transfer 0.015 0.45 1.3 3.2 3.2 7.4
Vertical loading 0.012 0.36 3.8 65.8 66.7 17.4
Vertical loading 0.015 0.45 3 66.7 66.7 17.2
Horizontal loading 0.012 0.36 3.8 0.24 0.24 17.4
Horizontal loading 0.015 0.45 3.1 0.24 0.24 17.7
Constraints for earth-plastered straw bale wall
Heat transfer 0.012 0.36 1.7 3.1 3.2 8.0
Heat transfer 0.015 0.45 1.3 3.2 3.2 7.7
Vertical loading 0.012 0.36 3.8 68.7 69.6 18.0
Vertical loading 0.015 0.45 3 69.6 69.6 17.7
Horizontal loading 0.012 0.36 3.8 0.24 0.24 18.0
Horizontal loading 0.015 0.45 3.1 0.24 0.24 18.3
 Plaster thickness, tp Total thickness, t Height, h Calculated stress, s Allowable stress, s Cost function, Z
(m) (m) (m) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (kN)

Constraints for cement plastered straw bale wall

Composite stresses 0.012 0.36 3.7 69.2 70.14 16.9
Composite stresses 0.015 0.45 3 68.3 70.14 17.2
Constraints for earth-plastered straw bale wall
Composite stresses 0.012 0.36 3.7 72.2 73.14 17.5
Composite stresses 0.015 0.45 2.9 73 73.14 17.1
of plastered
Analysis

plasters composition
straw bale

Combined stress
constraint for both
Table III.
155
MMMS y

7,2

1 2 3 4 5
3.0

156 1
9
2
s
3
7
4

2.7 10 7

8 7 6 5
12 13 14
2.4 11 15

9 10 11 12
19 18 17
2.1 20 16

16 15 14 16
1.8 22 23 24
21 25

17 18 19 20
29 28 27
1.5 30 26

24 23 22 21
32 33 34
1.2 31 35

25 26 27 22
39 38 37
0.9 40 36

32 31 38 29
42 43 44
0.6 41 45

35 34 35 36
49 48 47
0.3 50 46

40 39 38 37
52 53 54
0.0 51 55
Figure 3.
Discretization of the x
plastered straw bale wall
0.0 0.015 0.225 0.435 0.45

s
2 1

b r
Figure 4. 3 4
Element type a
where J is the Jacobian operator and the strain will be evaluated using: Analysis
 ›   ›u ›v   ›  of plastered
    
     straw bale
 ›x   › x › x   › u 
 ¼   ð20Þ
 ›   ›u ›v   › 
    
 ›s   › s › s   › v 
157
Hence at r ¼ ri and s ¼ sj, where i and j indicate that the strain displacement
transformation is evaluated at the point (ri and sj). The stiffness matrix is calculated from:
R 9
½k
¼ v ½B
T ½D
½B
dv =
ð21Þ
Or ½k
¼ ½B
T ½D
½B
tA ;

The element stress is given as:

8 9
> sx >
< >
> =
{s} ¼ ½C
{1} ¼ ½C
½B
{q} ¼ sy ð22Þ
> >
: txy >
> ;

E1x nE1y 9>

{s} ¼ þ >
12n 2 1 2 n2 >
>
>
>
>
nE1x E1y =
{s} ¼ þ ð23Þ
1 2 n2 1 2 n2 > >
>
>
E gxy >
>
{txy } ¼ >
2ð1 2 n Þ ;
2

Also:
 
1 n 0 
 
E  n 1 0 

{C} ¼ ð24Þ
1 2 n 2  
12n 
0 0 2 

3.7 Typical analytical example

To verify the capability of this numerical procedure, the following assumptions are
made for the earth- and cement-plastered straw bale wall and the properties in Table I
were also considered. With the use of SAP2000, the analytical example shown below
will be analyzed to shown the effect of contact between the straw bale and the
plastering composition. A particular value will be entered on a computer system, using
SAP2000, as the loadings applied and quantities of heat energies transferred by
conduction and convection, i.e. composite (combined) stress constraint values are
employed when the wall height, h ¼ 1 m and its total thickness, t ¼ 0.45 m (Figure 5).
3.7.1 Stability analyses. The loading on the straw bale structure used in this work is
basically the static loading for both vertical and horizontal loads. Load was applied as
the self-weight of the wall and the upthrust. Total vertical loading ¼ 40.01 (42.24) kN
for earth and cement, respectively. The total horizontal loading due to wind and heat
transfer is estimated as 2.25 kN. Sliding criteria by the factor of safety net vertical
MMMS 40(42) kN/m
7,2
Straw bale

158 2.25 kN/m Plaster (earth)

1m

40 (42) kN/m

10 kN/m
Figure 5.
Cross-section of cement tCP(EP) 0.42 m tCP(EP) = 0.015 m
(earth) plastered
straw bale wall 0.45 m

loading to net horizontal loading is satisfied for 18.23 (18.67) kN . 1.6. Hence, sliding
criteria is favorably satisfied.
3.7.2 Stresses analysis using sap2000. Figures 6-13 show the diagrammatic procedure
for the analytical example (combined loading) from SAP2000 on the structural analyses
for the cement- and earth-plastered straw bale prism masonry interfaces.
In Tables IV and V, partly shown are the stresses for the analytical example
(combined loading) from SAP2000 and the stresses between the plaster composition
and the straw bale as well as the stresses in the middle of the straw bale.

4. Discussion of results
Constraints are created in form of variables and are used to evaluate cost function and
stresses. They are then selected and their values are then arrived in form of variables.
Four constraints were produced and the best of the other constraints are determined for
the values of t and h. And the best fits are where the values of t and h are 0.45 and 1 m,
respectively, for both plaster compositions. It was observed that from the analysis the
minimum and maximum stresses between the plaster compositions and the straw bale
material show that the use of earth plaster can hold a straw bale from deflecting if
proper construction technology is employed than that of cement plaster. The adequacy
of this type of design can be measured in terms of the minimum acceptable drift of the
straw bale work system. The minimum acceptable drift by the constraint is that
1 m # H # 4 m and 0.36 m # t # 0.45 m at the maximum height (H) and thickness (t)
of the straw bale wall. The analysis showed that for the straw bale wall of 1 m and the
thickness of 0.45 m, the maximum stresses allowable calculated using SAP2000 are
shown in Tables VI and VII for both cement- and earth-plaster composition.

5. Conclusion and recommendation

The effects of contact between plaster composition and straw bale wall optimal design
have been carried out in this work. Both cement- and earth-plastered straw bale walls
 Analysis
of plastered
straw bale

159

Figure 6.
Bending moment diagram
of cement plastered
straw bale masonry
MMMS
7,2

160

Figure 7.
Bending moment
diagram of earth-plastered
straw bale masonry
 Analysis
of plastered
straw bale

161

Figure 8.
Shear force diagram
of cement plastered
straw bale masonry
MMMS
7,2

162

Figure 9.
Shear force diagram
of earth-plastered
straw bale masonry
 Analysis
of plastered
straw bale

163

Figure 10.
Minimum stress diagram
of cement plastered
straw bale masonry
straw bale wall
MMMS
7,2

164

Figure 11.
Minimum stress diagram
of earth-plastered
straw bale masonry
 Analysis
of plastered
straw bale

165

Figure 12.
Maximum stress diagram
of cement plastered straw
bale masonry
MMMS
7,2

166

Figure 13.
Maximum stress diagram
of earth-plastered straw
bale masonry
showed adequate resistance against vertical loading. In the same vein, the comparison Analysis
of the results between the earth- and cement-plastered straw bale walls indicated that of plastered
cement plastered straw bale is been stressed seven times the earth-plastered straw bale
wall. This implies that the collapse or response of the earth-based plastered straw straw bale
bale is significantly higher compared to that of cement plastered straw bale. Also
the allowable stresses of 70.14 and 73.14 kN/m2 for cement- and earth-plastered straw
167
Area AreaElem S11Top S22Top S12Top SMaxTop SMinTop SAngleTop SVMTop
(text) (text) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (degrees) (kN/m2)

16 1 2 2.48 210.05 1.16 22.31 2 10.22 8.525 9.28

16 1 2 2.98 26.35 0.49 22.91 2 6.42 8.18 5.57
16 1 2 6.59 4.43 0.49 4.46 2 6.61 87.437 9.65
16 1 2 0.42 9.47 1.16 9.6 2 0.55 83.396 9.89 Table IV.
17 2 2 2.47 20.77 1.56 0.15 2 3.39 59.319 3.47 Partly shown stresses
within the cement
Note: S – stress at nodes i j (11, 22) as in Figure 3 plastered straw bale wall

Area AreaElem S11Top S22Top SMaxTop SMinTop SAngleTop SVMTop

(text) (text) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (kN/m2) (degrees) (kN/m2)

12 1 1.91 44.56 47.09 20.62 276.682 47.4

12 1 29.38 14.4 16.7 211.68 273.456 24.7
12 1 3.77 215.52 6.49 218.24 219.387 22.21
12 1 21.32 244.44 1.19 246.95 213.191 47.55
13 2 24.58 260.78 2 1.23 264.13 13.344 63.53
13 2 2.51 221.78 6.69 225.96 20.962 29.87
13 2 210.84 20.12 23.57 214.3 72.414 33.12 Table V.
13 2 4.68 60.8 64.16 1.33 76.639 63.5 Partly shown stresses
within the earth-plastered
Note: S – stress at nodes i j (11, 22) as in Figure 3 straw bale wall

Outside plaster Inside plaster Table VI.

Plaster composition Minimum stress Maximum stress Minimum stress Maximum stress Minimum and maximum
stresses for each of the
Cement 2 9.8 9.6 219.3 18.3 plaster compositions and
Earth 2 60.4 64.2 2 6.3 6.8 the straw bale material

Maximum allowable Maximum calculated stress using Table VII.

Wall composition stress (kN/m2) SAP2000 (kN/m2) Differences between the
allowable and calculated
Cement-plastered straw bale wall 70.14 18.836 stresses for both plaster
Earth-plastered straw bale wall 73.14 67.452 composition
MMMS bale wall are higher than the calculated stresses using SAP2000, i.e. 18.836 and
7,2 64.2 kN/m2 for the cement- and earth-plastered straw bale walls, respectively. This
result favoured the earth-plastered straw bale wall and implies that its stress stability
is adequate. Further work commences on the use of other available and sustainable
plastering materials for straw bale walls for their optimum design.

168
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About the author

A.A. Adedeji, a Senior Lecturer, teaches at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. He is
a member of the International Association of Engineers and an active member of the Artificial
Intelligence Group in the Research Gate Organisation. A.A. Adedeji can be contacted at:
aaadeji@unilorin.edu.ng

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