TY - JOUR A1 - Strangfeld, Christoph A1 - Wiehle, Philipp T1 - Closure of "Quantification of moisture content in earth block masonry under natural climatic conditions" N2 - In January 2025, the research paper “Quantification of moisture content in earth block masonry under natural climatic conditions” was published in Construction and Building Materials. The central theme was the moisture monitoring of a masonry wall made of unstabilised earth blocks over a period of around 18 months. The experimental results were compared to WUFI simulations, and the moisture transport in layered wall constructions was eventually studied in WUFI. Prof. Janssen discussed this publication in Construction and Building Materials. He raised concerns about the experiments and modelling of moisture transport. In this closure, the capillary adsorption coefficient was recalculated, and deviations from the initial value were quantified. Sensitivity analyses were conducted in WUFI to evaluate the influence of different water vapour resistances and water adsorption coefficients. The resulting moisture transport was then compared to material moisture profiles measured using 1H NMR relaxometry. Finally, the water adsorption behaviour of different earth materials is discussed in respect to material moisture and corresponding relative humidity. KW - Earth masonry KW - Moisture transport KW - Capillary water absorption KW - Embedded humidity sensors KW - NMR KW - WUFI KW - Material moisture KW - Water vapour diffusion resistance KW - Sustainable building materials PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-637569 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.142552 SN - 0950-0618 VL - 491 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-63756 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wiehle, Philipp A1 - Härder, M. A1 - Strangfeld, Christoph T1 - Moisture behaviour of earth block masonry under natural climate conditions – experimental and numerical studies N2 - The compressive stength of unstabilised earth masonry depends on the moisture content. Knowledge of the moisture content is necessary in order to be able to account for the impact of moisture on the structural design of earth block masonry. For conventional building materials it is possible to precisely forecast the component moisture according to the layered structure on the basis of hygrothermal simulations. However , it is still not clear to what degree these numerical calculations can offer valid results for earth building materials. Earth building materials have a number of special properties related to moisture storage and moisture transport that differ significantly from the physical simplifications that are a component of existing material models. The swelling and shrinking of earth materials and their organic components results in changes to the pore space, the sorption behaviour exhibits a clear hysteresis, and the experimental determination of hygrothermal parameters in continuous contact with liquid water is almost impossible. To adequately forecast the moisture content of earth block masonry under natural climate conditions, extensive investigations of the moisture behaviour of load-bearing earth block masonry have been carried out within the framework of this project. These efforts began with the performance of magnetic resonance spectroscopic tests on two load-bearing earth blocks, in order to quantify the adsorption and desorption processes at relative humidities of between 50 % and 90 % under controlled, isothermal laboratory conditions. Once this had been done, a modified test setup was used to determine the water absorption coefficient , from which the liquid transport coefficients were derived. Based on the hygrothermal parameters values that were thus determined, the model was calibrated using the WUFI software program [7]. Finally, long-term moisture measurements were conducted on an earth block masonry wall that was ex-Increasing shortages of raw materials and rising energy prices are resulting in continuous growth in the demand for earth construction. In comparison to conventional building materials, earth building materials offer three significant advantages that have become even more important in light of the energy crisis in 2021 and the associated increase in the price of building supplies by approx. 40 percent [1]. Firstly, water solubility makes it possible to fully separate and recover all of the material components, and in particular the sand component. Secondly, energy-intensive firing processes, such as those required for cement production or brick manufacture, are eliminated. And thirdly, earth is a local raw material that is available in large quantities [1]. However, the load-bearing capacity of earth building materials is very much dependent on the moisture content. An increase in the relative humidity results in a reduction in the clay mineral cohesion , and this in turn results in a decline in both the compressive strength and the modulus of elasticity. In this regard, the mechanical properties of earth block masonry change in inverse proportion to the relative humidity. In other words, with every percentage point increase in relative humidity, both the compressive strength and the modulus of elasticity decline by one percent [2] [4]. The internal walls of heated living areas are generally only subject to relatively small fluctuations in relative humidity (between 40 % and 60 %) [5], and short periods in excess of these levels (such as in bathrooms or kitchens) only lead to a significant increase in the moisture content of the uppermost layers [6]. Exterior walls, on the other hand, are subject to large seasonal fluctuations in temperate climates, with a relative humidity in excess of 90 % in winter months. However, the exterior walls of heated living areas must be insulated in accordance with the German Buildings Energy Act (GEG), and with masonry this is generally done us T2 - LEHM 2024 – 9. Internationale Fachtagung für Lehmbau CY - Weimar, Germany DA - 27.09.2024 KW - Earth stone KW - Masonry KW - Material moisture KW - Moisture monitoring KW - Hygrothermal simulations PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 10 AN - OPUS4-61220 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Baier, Johanna T1 - Structural design of rammed earth considering the impact of moisture N2 - In March 2024, a research project was initiated at BAM with the aim of developing a design concept for rammed earth construction. It is based on experimental and numerical investigations into the mechanical load-bearing behaviour at both material and component level. As the mechanical parameters of earth building materials are strongly dependent on material moisture, the moisture behaviour of rammed earth is also being investigated in more detail. T2 - LEHM 2024 - 9. Internationale Fachtagung für Lehmbau CY - Weimar, Germany DA - 27.09.2024 KW - Rammed earth KW - Structral design KW - Material moisture PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62031 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Strangfeld, Christoph A1 - Stolpe, Heiko A1 - Wiehle, Philipp T1 - Moisture diffusion affected by the Knudsen effect in temporal changing pore networks N2 - Almost all building materials in civil engineering have an open porosity and interact with or are affected by the environmental conditions. Structures might suffer from effects such as moisture adsorption, carbonation, corrosion, penetration of salt ions and chemical substances, etc. In the hygroscopic range, these processes are mostly driven by diffusion. Due to the confinement of small pores (< 1 µm), the Knudsen effect reduces the molecular diffusion. This reduction can become more significant in case of temporal changing pore systems because of physisorption of water vapor, carbonation, or chemisorption. In this study, unstabilised earth blocks and earth masonry are investigated. In a first step, the pore size distribution of the blocks is measured and sorption isotherms are recorded in experiments. Besides the ordinary physisorption, the involved clay minerals undergo swelling or shrinking due to chemisorption. The following two effects must be considered: first, the reduction of the available pore space by the adsorbed water layer. For this, the Hillerborg sorption theory is used, which is a combination of the well-known Brunauer-Emmett-Teller sorption theory and the Kelvin equation. This allows the computation of adsorbed water layers even in curved pore geometries. Second, the variation of the initial pore size distribution due to chemisorption needs to be modelled. Based on these two models, the effective diffusion coefficient can be predicted. For validation, arrays of relative humidity sensors were embedded into a free-standing earth masonry wall. This monitoring was carried out over more than a year to have a broad variety of environmental conditions and was located in Berlin, Germany. The prediction of the effective diffusion coefficient can also be transferred to other processes and allows the investigation of materials having temporarily changing pore systems. Examples are the carbonation of cementitious materials, alkali silica reaction, calcium leaching of long-lasting structures, etc. This effect becomes most prominent in the meso-pore range and might alter the effective diffusion coefficient by more than 100 %. T2 - 4th International Congress on Materials & Structural Stability CY - Rabat, Morocco DA - 08.03.2023 KW - Earth masonry KW - Material moisture KW - Molecular diffusion KW - Chemisoprtion KW - Knudsen effect KW - Physisorption PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-571391 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - RILEM CY - Champs-sur-Marne AN - OPUS4-57139 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Strangfeld, Christoph A1 - Stolpe, Heiko A1 - Wiehle, Philipp T1 - Moisture diffusion affected by the Knudsen effect in temporal changing pore networks N2 - Almost all building materials in civil engineering have an open porosity and interact with or are affected by the environmental conditions. Structures might suffer from effects such as moisture adsorption, carbonation, corrosion, penetration of salt ions and chemical substances, etc. In the hygroscopic range, these processes are mostly driven by diffusion. Due to the confinement of small pores (less than1 µm), the Knudsen effect reduces the molecular diffusion. This reduction can become more significant in case of temporal changing pore systems because of physisorption of water vapor, carbonation, or chemisorption. In this study, unstabilised earth blocks and earth masonry are investigated. In a first step, the pore size distribution of the blocks is measured and sorption isotherms are recorded in experiments. Besides the ordinary physisorption, the involved clay minerals undergo swelling or shrinking due to chemisorption. The following two effects must be considered: first, the reduction of the available pore space by the adsorbed water layer. For this, the Hillerborg sorption theory is used, which is a combination of the well-known Brunauer-Emmett-Teller sorption theory and the Kelvin equation. This allows the computation of adsorbed water layers even in curved pore geometries. Second, the variation of the initial pore size distribution due to chemisorption needs to be modelled. Based on these two models, the effective diffusion coefficient can be predicted. For validation, arrays of relative humidity sensors were embedded into a free-standing earth masonry wall. This monitoring was carried out over more than a year to have a broad variety of environmental conditions and was located in Berlin, Germany. The prediction of the effective diffusion coefficient can also be transferred to other processes and allows the investigation of materials having temporarily changing pore systems. Examples are the carbonation of cementitious materials, alkali silica reaction, calcium leaching of long-lasting structures, etc. These effects are prominent in the meso-pore range and might significantly alter the effective diffusion coefficient. KW - Earth material KW - Material moisture KW - Physisoprtion KW - Chemisorption PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-583811 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.09.034 SN - 2214-7853 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Amsterdam, Niederlande AN - OPUS4-58381 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Strangfeld, Christoph T1 - Moisture diffusion affected by the Knudsen effect in temporal changing pore networks N2 - Almost all building materials in civil engineering have an open porosity and interact with or are affected by the environmental conditions. Structures might suffer from effects such as moisture adsorption, carbonation, corrosion, penetration of salt ions and chemical substances, etc. In the hygroscopic range, these processes are mostly driven by diffusion. Due to the confinement of small pores ( 1 m), the Knudsen effect reduces the molecular diffusion. This reduction can become more significant in case of temporal changing pore systems because of physisorption of water vapor, carbonation, or chemisorption. In this study, unstabilised earth blocks and earth masonry are investigated. In a first step, the pore size distribution of the blocks is measured and sorption isotherms are recorded in experiments. Besides the ordinary physisorption, the involved clay minerals undergo swelling or shrinking due to chemisorption. The following two effects must be considered: first, the reduction of the available pore space by the adsorbed water layer. For this, the Hillerborg sorption theory is used, which is a combination of the well-known Brunauer-Emmett-Teller sorption theory and the Kelvin equation. This allows the computation of adsorbed water layers even in curved pore geometries. Second, the variation of the initial pore size distribution due to chemisorption needs to be modelled. Based on these two models, the effective diffusion coefficient can be predicted. For validation, arrays of relative humidity sensors were embedded into a free-standing earth masonry wall. This monitoring was carried out over more than a year to have a broad variety of environmental conditions and was located in Berlin, Germany. The prediction of the effective diffusion coefficient can also be transferred to other processes and allows the investigation of materials having temporarily changing pore systems. Examples are the carbonation of cementitious materials, alkali silica reaction, calcium leaching of long-lasting structures, etc. This effect becomes most prominent in the meso-pore range and might alter the effective diffusion coefficient by more than 100 %. T2 - 4th International Congress on Materials & Structural Stability CY - Rabat, Morocco DA - 08.03.2023 KW - Earth masonry KW - Material moisture KW - Molecular diffusion KW - Chemisoprtion KW - Knudsen effect KW - Physisorption PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57140 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -