Performance of Rammed Earth Exposed to High Temperature and Direct Fire Using Destructive and Nondestructive Analysis
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 8
Abstract
The environmental friendliness, good thermal performance and sustainable development of rammed earth structures have attracted the attention of numerous researchers and engineers in recent years. Nevertheless, the fire safety of rammed structures has not been extensively studied. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the mechanical properties of stabilized and unstabilized rammed earth exposed to direct fire under short elapsed time and high temperatures using a kiln. Rammed earth specimens with various mix designs were prepared and then exposed to high temperatures. Afterward, destructive and nondestructive tests were performed. Additionally, microstructural analysis was preceded to evaluate the change in chemical composition and microstructural of rammed earth specimens. The majority of the stabilized specimens exhibited thermal instability at 700°C. These specimens lost up to 85% of their compressive strength and 15% of their weight and change in their chemical composition. Under direct fire exposure, the rammed earth’s mechanical properties were not greatly impacted due to the short elapsed time. Compressive strength was increased in unstabilized (clay) RE specimens. A correlation between destructive and nondestructive properties was proposed. This study can be considered in the mix design of RE that experiences high temperatures.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from thecorresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The author expresses gratitude to Ali Kadkhodaii for his contributions to this research. Additionally, we would like to thank Sharif High Performance Computing Center for providing the computational resources of this research, which was obtained with Grant No. GH140919.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 8 • August 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 28, 2023
Accepted: Dec 12, 2023
Published online: May 17, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 17, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Building materials
- Compressive strength
- Design (by type)
- Disaster risk management
- Disasters and hazards
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Fire resistance
- Fires
- Man-made disasters
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials engineering
- Measurement (by type)
- Mechanical properties
- Strength of materials
- Structural design
- Temperature effects
- Temperature measurement
- Thermal analysis
- Thermodynamics
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