An Investigation on the Critical Degree of Saturation of Half Brick Samples via the Frost Dilatometry Methodology

An Investigation on the Critical Degree of Saturation of Half Brick Samples via the Frost Dilatometry Methodology By Javeriya Hasan Master of Building Science in the Program of Building Science 2019 An assessment of freeze-thaw deterioration of bricks necessitates predicting the moisture content at which frost decay occurs, whereby this is called the critical degree of saturation (Scrit). The study involved performing frost dilatometry testing of eight half-brick samples. Strains along the x, y and z axes of samples were measured, whereby the results show that trends of frost decay were non-uniform along certain axes. However, along the z-axis, brick sample types 305-EB4, 295AF4, 297-EB2 showed Scrit values of 81%, 90% and 77.5% respectively, which were comparable to the slices’ Scrit, which were at 84.4%, 88.1% and 77.5% respectively. Similarly, for brick sample type 349-ER1, the Scrit at its x-axis was 92%, which was near to its slice’s Scrit, at 87.3%. Sample types 60 and 295-F2 showed differences as high as 17% in their Scrit values, at 56% and 88% respectively, compared to their slices, which were at 73.4% and 78.4%.