Assessing and monitoring with ultrasonic pulse velocity testing the critical effects of hygrothermal actions on the infill masonry walls of the envelope of buildings with reinforced concrete structure

José Miranda  Dias

doi:10.18282/ice.v7i2.680

José Miranda Dias Department of Buildings, National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC), Lisboa 1700-066, Portugal

Article ID: 680

27 Views, 8 PDF Downloads

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18282/ice.v7i2.680

Keywords: hygrothermal actions; infill masonry walls; nondestructive evaluation; UPV testing

Abstract

The external envelope of buildings with reinforced concrete structures (RCS buildings) is usually subjected to various external environmental actions. Among these external environmental actions, hygrothermal actions are particularly relevant, mainly related to external temperature and humidity variations. These variations could negatively influence the hygrothermal behavior of that envelope and lead to problems related to an increased risk of material degradation of the external face of unreinforced masonry (URM) infill walls of the building envelope URM infill. In the survey of the degradation of these URM infill walls and of concrete elements, nondestructive evaluation (NDE), such as ultrasonic pulse velocity testing (UPV testing), had been used before. The main objective of the study is to assess the potential use of UPV testing in the evaluation of the influence of moisture content in the behavior of URM infill walls, and the methodology of the study consists, firstly, concerning the hygrothermal actions, which RCS buildings are subjected, which are here described summarily. An assessment is made of the most usual types of degradation of URM infill walls of the envelope of RCS buildings, mainly due to moisture and thermal effects in URM infill walls. UPV testing in the survey of the degradation of the external face of URM infill walls of the building envelope, essentially due to hygrothermal actions, is analyzed, based on an example of the use of UPV testing in a building façade. Subsequently, the potential use of UPV testing in evaluating the influence of moisture content in the behavior of URM infill wall is made, particularly with the use of UPV testing in a compression test of a masonry specimen with variable moisture content during the test. Their results are presented, followed by a discussion of these results, and finally by the conclusions of the study.

References

Baker MC. Thermal and Moisture Deformations in Building Materials. Semantic scholar; 1964.

Grimm CT, Fowler DW. Differential Movement in Composite Load-Bearing Masonry Walls. Journal of the Structural Division. 1979; 105(7): 1277-1288. doi: 10.1061/jsdeag.0005190

Miranda Dias JL, Matias L, Henriques MJ. Deformations and volume changes due to moisture variations in heritage buildings—Use of NDT techniques. In: Proceedings of 18th International Flow Measurement Conference (Flomeko2019). LNEC; 2019.

Chung HW, Law KS. Diagnosing in situ concrete by ultrasonic pulse technique. International Concrete Abstracts Portal. 1983; 5(10): 42-49.

Naik TR, Malhotra VM. The ultrasonic pulse velocity method. Handbook on non-destructive testing of concrete. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 1991. pp. 169-88.

Schuller MP, Atkinson RH, Noland JL. Structural Evaluation of Historic Masonry Buildings. APT Bulletin. 1995; 26(2/3): 51. doi: 10.2307/1504485

Komlos K, Popovics S, Nṻrnbergerová T, et al. Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Test of Concrete Properties as Specified in Various Standards. Cement and Concrete Composites. 1996; 18(5): 357-364. doi: 10.1016/0958-9465(96)00026-1

Liang MT, Wu J. Theoretical elucidation on the empirical formulae for the ultrasonic testing method for concrete structures. Cement and Concrete Research. 2002; 32(11): 1763-1769. doi: 10.1016/S0008-8846(02)00866-9

Binda L and Saisi A. Application of NDTs to the diagnosis of Historic Structures. NDTnet; 2009.

Popovics S. Analysis of the concrete strength versus ultrasonic pulse velocity relationship. The American Society for Non-Destructive Testing (ASNT); 2010.

Aggelis DG, Kordatos EZ, Soulioti DV, et al. Combined use of thermography and ultrasound for the characterization of subsurface cracks in concrete. Construction and Building Materials. 2010; 24(10): 1888-1897. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.04.014

Vasanelli E, Colangiuli D, Calia A, et al. Ultrasonic pulse velocity for the evaluation of physical and mechanical properties of a highly porous building limestone. Ultrasonics. 2015; 60: 33-40. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2015.02.010

Chandrappa AK, Biligiri KP. Influence of mix parameters on pore properties and modulus of pervious concrete: an application of ultrasonic pulse velocity. Materials and Structures. 2016; 49(12): 5255-5271. doi: 10.1617/s11527-016-0858-9

Noor-E-Khuda S, Albermani F. Mechanical properties of clay masonry units: Destructive and ultrasonic testing. Construction and Building Materials. 2019; 219: 111-120. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.05.166

Kasinikota P, Tripura DD. Prediction of physical-mechanical properties of hollow interlocking compressed unstabilized and stabilized earth blocks at different moisture conditions using ultrasonic pulse velocity. Journal of Building Engineering. 2022; 48: 103961. doi: 10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103961

Dias JM. Ultrasonic pulse velocity testing for monitoring the degradation of infill masonry walls and access their impact on the durability of the envelope of buildings with reinforced concrete structure. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development. 2023; 19: 917-943.

Lacasse MA, Gaur A, Moore TV. Durability and Climate Change—Implications for Service Life Prediction and the Maintainability of Buildings. Buildings. 2020; 10(3): 53. doi: 10.3390/buildings10030053

Dias JM. Mutual Effect Between Moisture Transfer and Mechanical Response in Infill Masonry Walls of Reinforced Concrete Building Envelope. International Journal on Applied Physics and Engineering. 2023; 2: 177-193. doi: 10.37394/232030.2023.2.17

Abuku M, Janssen H, Roels S. Impact of wind-driven rain on historic brick wall buildings in a moderately cold and humid climate: Numerical analyses of mould growth risk, indoor climate and energy consumption. Energy and Buildings. 2009; 41(1): 101-110. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2008.07.011

Erkal A, D’Ayala D, Sequeira L. Assessment of wind-driven rain impact, related surface erosion and surface strength reduction of historic building materials. Building and Environment. 2012; 57: 336-348. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.05.004

Pérez-Bella JM, Domínguez-Hernández J, Rodríguez-Soria B, et al. Combined use of wind-driven rain and wind pressure to define water penetration risk into building façades: The Spanish case. Building and Environment. 2013; 64: 46-56. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2013.03.004

Pereira C, de Brito J, Silvestre JD. Contribution of humidity to the degradation of façade claddings in current buildings. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2018; 90: 103-115. doi: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2018.03.028

CEN. Eurocode 1 (EN 1991-1-5): Actions on structures. Part 1-5: General actions - Thermal actions. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, Belgium; 2003.

CEN. Eurocode (EN 1990)—Basis of structural design. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, Belgium; 2002.

Pel l, Brocken H, Kopinga K. Determination of moisture diffusivity in porous media using moisture concentration profiles. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 39(6): 1273-1280. doi: 10.1016/0017-9310(95)00201-4

Xiaochuan Qiu, Haghighat F, Kumaran MK. Moisture Transport Across Interfaces Between Autoclaved Aerated Concrete and Mortar. Journal of Thermal Envelope and Building Science. 2003; 26(3): 213-236. doi: 10.1177/109719603032804

Derluyn H, Janssen H, Carmeliet J. Influence of the nature of interfaces on the capillary transport in layered materials. Construction and Building Materials. 2011; 25(9): 3685-3693. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.03.063

Janssen H, Derluyn H, Carmeliet J. Moisture transfer through mortar joints: A sharp-front analysis. Cement and Concrete Research. 2012; 42(8): 1105-1112. doi: 10.1016/j.cemconres.2012.05.004

Vereecken E, Roels S. (2013). Hygric Performance of a Massive Masonry Wall: How Do the Mortar Joints Influence the Moisture Flux? Construction and Building Materials. 2013; 41: 697–707.

Feng C, Janssen H. Hygric properties of porous building materials (III): Impact factors and data processing methods of the capillary absorption test. Building and Environment. 2018; 134: 21-34. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.02.038

Dong W, Chen Y, Bao Y, et al. A validation of dynamic hygrothermal model with coupled heat and moisture transfer in porous building materials and envelopes. Journal of Building Engineering. 2020; 32: 101484. doi: 10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101484

Hilsdorf HK. An investigation into the failure mechanism of brick masonry loaded in axial compression. In: Jonhson FB, Gulf (editors). Gulf Publishing Company; 1969. pp. 34-41.

Mann W, Müller H. Failure of shear-stressed masonry - An enlarged theory, tests and application to shear walls. In: Proceedings of the British Ceramic Society; 1982. pp. 223-35.

Page AW. The strength of brick masonry under biaxial tension-compression. Int. Journal Masonry Construction. 1983; 3(1): 26-31.

Hendry AW, Sinha BP, Davies SR. Loadbearing Brickwork Design. Ellis Horwood publisher; 1987.

Bonshor RB, Bonshor LL. Cracking in Buildings. BRE: Garston; 1996.

Van der Pluijm R, Rutten H, Ceelen M. Shear behaviour of bed joints. In: Proceedings of 12th international brick/block masonry conference; 2000.

CIB—International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (2014). Defects in Masonry Walls. In: Guidance on Cracking: Identification, Prevention and Repair—Prevention of Cracking in Masonry Walls. CIB Publication 403; 2014.