Monitoring the effect of age and drying on the fracture behavior of earth concrete

Hassan Fardoun; Jacqueline Saliba; Nadia Saiyouri

doi:10.26168/ajce.39.1.1

Hassan Fardoun Université de Bordeaux, UMR 5295, Institut de Mécanique et d’Ingénierie (I2M), CNRS, Esplanade des Arts et Métiers, 33405 Talence, France
Jacqueline Saliba
Nadia Saiyouri

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26168/ajce.39.1.1

Keywords: earth concrete, drying, acoustic emission, age effect, curing conditions

Abstract

This work aims to assess at days 14, 28 and 90 the effect of different curing conditions on earth concrete mixtures on the compressive strength and fracture energy. Moreover, the compression tests were monitored in parallel with AE technique and image processing. The results show the domination of suction effect at the age of 14 and 28 days in all mixtures. Nevertheless, its dominance reduces at later ages in the RS mixtures. Moreover, the fracture energy decreases with time indicating a more brittle behavior. The acoustic emission (AE) technique was able to reflect this brittleness by displaying fewer phases of AE activity during the fracture process, delay in crack formation and decrease in AE hits. In addition, the cameras’ photos revealed the occurrence of higher damage at 90 days.