Verification of the influence of high temperatures on the adhesion of the mortar coating of masonry walls

ABSTRACT

During a fire, the masonry can degrade due to the action of high temperatures. Mortar coating, being the last component of masonry, can suffer a considerable reduction in its mechanical properties. The study of macro-structural changes, such as the tensile bond strength in coating mortars when masonry is exposed to high temperatures is important to understand the level of degradation of masonry walls to allow the improvement of the design recommendations and ensure the user safety during a fire situation. In this sense, this investigation seeks to analyze the tensile bond strength of the mortar coating on masonry walls at ambient temperature and high temperature. For the experimental study, a full-scale masonry wall was built and submitted to the ISO 834 standard curve for 240 minutes. Before the thermal program starts, the tensile bond strength tests of the mortar coating were carried out at the ends of the wall which is a region that is not affected by the thermal action. After the fire resistance test, the tensile bond strength on the unexposed surface was verified and the results were subjected to statistical analysis. Although the wall maintained its stability and integrity during the 240 minutes of the fire resistance test, it was classified as EI-180, since the thermal insulation capacity was maintained for 190 minutes. A reduction of 71.4% in the tensile bond strength of the mortar coating with the substrate was observed after the exposure of the wall to high temperatures, indicating that the variance is statistically significant.

Keywords
high temperatures; mortar coating; tensile bond strength; masonry walls