New insight into the craftsmanship of sucrose-modified rammed earth-lime materials

Abstract

In this work, the performance and mechanism of a Chinese traditional sucrose-modified rammed earth-lime were discussed in lab for its potential utilization in the restoration of rammed earth-lime architectural heritages. The results showed that the addition of sucrose would effectively improve compressive strength and wet-dry resistance of rammed earth-lime. The addition of sucrose would markedly increase the concentration of Ca 2+ in pore solution and prolong the duration of high temperature, thereby making the microstructures of the rammed earth-lime much more compact and improve the formation of C-S-H gel. These may be the reasons for the better performance of sucrose-modified rammed earth-lime. In general, the optimal amount of added sucrose was about 1-3 % by weight of the total mortar.