Cob Re:cob codes & cob variabiity

[Otherfish at aol.com]

to mike at cobcrew
mike 
thanks for your message / thoughts

yes - the variable nature of cob is an important consideration & one of the
very important goals of writing a cob code will to do it so that the true
variablle nature of cob is a fundamental basis of the code

one way to do this will be to establish an easy, simple, low or no cost way to
test the cob on site  - there are some hard issues to face such as:
- cob will have a measurable strength
- cob will have an actual weight
- the natural forces of gravity, wind & earthquake will act on the combination
of this weight and strength
- if the natural forces are greater than the strength of the cob then the
building will fail
- if this happens & someone is in the building the......need I say more?

so if you do not want to make unsafe buildings then the above becomes a real
issue

you are probably a cob guru - the world however is not necessarily populated
with the same & fools & theives abound - one thing a cob code can do is to set
some realistic limits ( which take into consideration the variability of cob )
and make it possible for lots of people who otherwise would not go near cob to
build with it in a safe and reliable manner.   the trick will be to make it
accessible to all.

a worthwhile goal - not a simple one - but definitely worthwhile

You experience in testing for compressive strength is very important - please
post it on the coblist & tell us all in detail how you did your testing &
measurement:  sample size ? ; test mechanism ?; field or lab?; cost? what do
you thing really causes the variablity?  -   pleas tell as much as you can -
this is very important  - developing a reliadle way to field test cob and
relate it to load versus strength needs of cob structures is critical,
critical, critical !!!!

thanks & cob on
john fordice
THE COB CODE PROJECT
otherfish at aol.com