Open Access

Aim of this study is to provide information about moisture dependent material behaviour of unstabilised loadbearing earth blocks and mortars. Compressive strength and Young’s modulus were investigated after conditioning in varying relative humidity reaching from 40 % up to 95 %. The material composition and physical properties were investigated to understand the influence of relative humidity onto the mechanical properties. A normalisation of strength and stiffness by the values obtained at 23 ◦C and 50 % relative humidity reveals a linear dependence of compressive strength and Young’s modulus that is regardless of the material composition. Thus, it is possible to describe the influence of relative humidity onto the load-bearing behaviour of unstabilised earth masonry materials in a generally valid formulation.

block and mortar types is analysed with particular regard to the influence of varying relative humidity. The uniaxial compressive strength and deformation characteristics of unstabilised earth blocks and mortars as well as of unstabilised earth block masonry are studied in detail and compared to conventional masonry to evaluate whether the structural design can be made accordingly. An increase of 30 % points in relative humidity leads to a reduction of the masonry´s compressive strength between 33 % and 35 % whereas the Young´s modulus is reduced by 24–29 %. However, the ratio between the Young´s modulus and the characteristic compressive strength of earth block masonry ranges between E33/fk = 283–583 but is largely independent of the relative humidity. The results show that the mechanical properties of the investigated unstabilised earth block masonry are sufficient for load-bearing structures, yielding a masonry compressive strength between 2.3 MPa and 3.7 MPa throughout the range of moisture contents investigated. In general, the design concept of conventional masonry can be adapted for unstabilised earth masonry provided that the rather low Young´s modulus as well as the moisture dependence of both, compressive strength and Young´s modulus, are sufficiently taken into account.

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.

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

Druckfestigkeit und Elastizitätsmodul von Lehmsteinmauerwerk nehmen mit steigendem Feuchtegehalt ab, weswegen die Mauerwerksdruckfestigkeit bei der Bemessung gemäß DIN 18940 in Abhängigkeit der maximal zu erwartenden Ausgleichsfeuchte abgemindert wird. Da bisher allerdings keine Messdaten zum Feuchtegehalt von Lehmsteinmauerwerk unter natürlichen Klimabedingungen vorliegen, stellen die normativen Grenzwerte lediglich eine konservative Abschätzung dar. Um die Feuchtegehalte von Lehmsteinmauerwerk und somit die Tragfähigkeit realitätsnah einschätzen zu können, wurden im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit sowohl experimentelle als auch numerische Untersuchungen zum feuchtetechnischen Verhalten durchgeführt. Dabei wurden erstmalig magnetresonanzspektroskopische Untersuchungen an tragenden Lehmsteinen unterschiedlicher Herstellungsmethoden angewandt Weiterhin wurden Luftfeuchtesensoren in Lehmsteinmauerwerk eingebettet, um hygrische Langzeitfeuchtemessungen unter natürlichen Klimabedingungen durchzuführen. Auf Basis dieser Erkenntnisse wurde schließlich ein numerisches Modell kalibriert und Parameterstudien durchgeführt, um den unter realen Klimabedingungen tatsächlich auftretenden Feuchtegehalt im Lehmmauerwerk sowie dessen Verteilung über den Querschnitt einschätzen zu können und die normativen Grenzwerte zu überprüfen. Gezeigt wurde, dass die realitätsnahe instationäre Berechnung des Feuchtetransports mit üblichen hygrothermischen Simulationsprogrammen auf Basis einfacher feuchtetechnischer Kennwerte auch bei Lehmbaustoffen möglich ist. Der Einfluss des Quellens und Schwindens der enthaltenen Tonminerale und organischen Bestandteile wurde durch eine Modifikation bei der Ermittlung des Wasseraufnahmekoeffizienten explizit berücksichtigt und ist somit auch in den daraus abgeleiteten Transportkoeffizienten enthalten. Darüber hinaus wurde die Feuchtespeicherfunktion im überhygroskopischen Bereich auf Grundlage der Porenvolumenverteilung abgeschätzt. Die Approximation der Transportkoeffizienten und der Feuchtespeicherfunktion stellt dabei eine wesentliche Vereinfachung für Lehmbaustoffe dar, da ihre experimentelle Bestimmung aufgrund des Kontaktes mit Flüssigwasser kaum möglich ist. In Bezug auf das Feuchteverhalten üblicher Außenwandaufbauten von Wohnräumen konnte festgestellt werden, dass die Ausgleichsfeuchte im Lehmsteinmauerwerk stets unterhalb des in Nutzungsklasse 1 gemäß DIN 18940 zulässigen Grenzwertes von 65 % liegt. Je nach Putzsystem und Dämmstoff reduziert sich die Ausgleichsfeuchte auf Werte unter 60 %, wobei sich eine annähernd gleichmäßige Verteilung der Feuchte über den Mauerwerksquerschnitt hinweg einstellt. Bei Außenwänden von unbeheizten Räumen ergab sich eine maximale Ausgleichsfeuchte, die über weite Teile des Querschnitts unterhalb von 80 % lag. Der Ansatz einer maximalen Ausgleichsfeuchte von 90 % in Nutzungsklasse 2 ist folglich zu hoch angesetzt. Die zulässige Ausgleichsfeuchte bzw. der Umgebungsfeuchtefaktor in Nutzungsklasse 2 sollte dementsprechend angepasst werden