Investigations on the creep behaviour of unfired clay block masonry

Abstract

This dataset contains the data from creep and shrinkage measurements on unfired clay block masonry, accompagnying the paper 'Investigations on the creep behaviour of unfired clay block masonry' in 'Construction and Building Materials'. Compressed earth blocks (CEB) and moulded earth blocks (MEB) are investigated, with different types of mortars, i.e., earth mortar (EM), glue earth mortar (EAM), bastard mortar (BME), and earth mortar with a shiner bond (EM-90°). Both for the creep and shrinkage, for each block/mortar combination (CEB-EM, CEB-EAM, CEB-EM-90°, CEB-BME, MEB-EM, MEB-EAM), two samples are tested for creep and two samples are tested for shrinkage. On each sample, deformation measurements are performed at two opposite sides. For the CEB specimens, measurements have started at a specimen age of 44 days. For the MEB specimens, measurements have started at a specimen age of 29 days. The shrinkage measurements are provided in DryingShrinkage_CEB_MEB.xlsx and obtained through DEMEC measurements. During these tests, the specimens are not loaded. The creep measurements are provided in Creep_CEB_MEB.xlsx and obtained through LVDT measurements. During the tests, the specimens are subjected to a normal compressive stress of 0.8 MPa (0.98 MPa for CEB-EAM and 0.85 MPa for MEB-EAM, due to the reduced area of the tested specimen). Additional information on the tests and configuration of the test specimens can be found in the 'information' tab in both Excel files and in the accompanying ReadMe.txt file. Material acquisition was sponsored by the Living Lab Circular Economy “Application of earth blocks in practice”, funded by VLAIO, the Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the NextGenerationEU fund of the European Commission.