Experimental characterization of the mechanical behaviour of adobe bricks of existing constructions in Aveiro district

Abstract

A significant number of existing adobe constructions in Aveiro district presents pronounced structural degradation, which results, in great part, from the lack of sensibility for the preservation of this patrimony, and also from the shortage of knowledge concerning the behaviour of the applied materials. An important difficulty for the technicians working in the rehabilitation of this type of buildings lays indeed in the scarcity of knowledge on the mechanical behaviour of adobe units and adobe walls. The mechanical properties of adobes taken from houses and land dividing walls, representative of the construction in Aveiro district, were investigated. Cylindrical specimens extracted from the collected adobe samples were subjected to compression and splitting tests. This article describes the tests that were carried out and presents the obtained results, discussing them. The achieved results will support the behaviour characterization of existing structures, and help in the calibration of numerical models for the simulation of the adobe constructions behaviour.