Frost action mechanisms of clay roofing tiles: Case study

Abstract

Clay roofing tiles fired at five different temperatures (900, 920, 960, 1, 000, and 1, 020°C) were subjected to the investigations of textural characteristics and frost resistance prediction. The closed container and hydraulic pressure mechanisms proved to be dominant at lower firing temperatures (900 and 920°C), whereas micro-ice-lens formation mechanism have significant role at higher temperatures (960 and 1, 000°C). The highest resistance is noticed for the samples fired at 1, 020°C where the frost action mechanisms are balanced because the porous structure that compensates the local stresses developed during freezing. The prediction of frost action durability of clay roofing tiles, the appearance of the first cracks, and the prediction of frost action mechanisms given by the statistical model, showed a high level of agreement. The statistical model contains capillary pores (P0.1), and the ratio of frozen and unfrozen water (/) as significant parameters for describing susceptibility to closed container mechanism and micro-ice-lens formation mechanism, respectively. © 2012 ASCE.