Mechanical Deterioration by Weathering of the Adobe from the Tausa Chapel (Colombia)

Abstract

There is a significant number of structures in the world built with earth materials that deteriorate over time. Typically, this deterioration is neither quantified nor used as input for safety analysis of ancient infrastructure. The aim of this work is to propose a novel way to consider the influence of the weathering on the mechanical properties of adobe units. To achieve this objective, adobe samples recovered from a deteriorated sector (old adobe) of a colonial-style chapel built in adobe (Tausa, Colombia) and similar materials from a local soil deposit as a source for restoration of the chapel (new adobe) were studied. Samples using the new adobe were prepared by compaction under controlled moisture. Half of the samples of new adobe were exposed to ambient conditions while the other half and old adobe samples were subjected to accelerated ambient conditions by using a weathering machine (controlling UV radiation, temperature, and moisture). Samples were tested at different periods by unconfined and triaxial compression tests. Results show that old adobe is not sensitive to weathering while new adobe exhibit variations in strength and stiffness. It was observed that these properties in new adobe initially increase with exposure to weathering until reaching twice than those obtained in old adobe samples but tend to reduce with longer periods of exposure. Therefore, deterioration factors of up to two are proposed for vulnerability and safety analysis of new constructions in these materials. Deterioration factors are proposed to be used as a first approximation to quantify the climatic effect over the mechanical response of the adobe.