What Factors Contribute to High Mechanical Strength of Tabia? Case Study of the Tabia from Coastal Forts Sites at Zhejiang, China

Abstract

Tabia is one of the most widely used construction materials in ancient China. In this work, the tabia samples from three coastal defense fort sites at Zhejiang Province, China, we analyzed to determine their component composition and physiochemical properties. The results show that these tabia samples exhibited high compressive strength, which could be as high as 4–9 MPa. Furthermore, the systematic analysis demonstrated that the high compressive strength was related to the following factors: 1) a suitable mass ratio of sand, lime, and clay; 2) an appropriate sand particle size ratio; and 3) the formation of hydrated calcium silicate (C-S-H). Moreover, sticky rice was also detected in the tabia samples. These findings are fundamentally important, which could be beneficial to further study of the craftsmanship of the coastal defense forts and could further provide essential guidance for the protection and restoration of the tabia relics.

Characterization of archaeological lime mortars in a Ming dynasty tomb: A multi‐analytical approach

“…A varied proportion of quartz was detected in almost all the samples, with the highest amount found for sample S‐7. In addition to calcite and quartz, sample S‐3 was found to contain montmorillonite, K‐feldspar and chlorite, typical for a tabia mortar that has clay minerals (from the soil), sand and lime as part of its recipe (C. Zhang et al, 2020; K. Zhang et al, 2014).…”

“…Tabia mortar is called Sanhetu (三合土) in China, and consists of lime, soil and sand. It was found to play an important role in the building of ancient city walls, tombs and water conservancy facilities (Chen, 1993; Yuan et al, 2010; C. Zhang et al, 2020). Tung oil, glutinous rice, animal blood, brown sugar, egg white or other organic substances with a certain viscosity were usually added to improve the properties of tabia mortar in ancient China (Peng et al, 2010; X. Wang et al, 2021; Y. Zheng et al, 2016).…”

“…Tabia mortar is called Sanhetu (三合土) in China, and consists of lime, soil and sand. It was found to play an important role in the building of ancient city walls, tombs and water conservancy facilities (Chen, 1993;Yuan et al, 2010;C. Zhang et al, 2020).…”