Mechanical behaviour of fired clay materials subjected to freeze–thaw cycles

The aim of this paper is to study the frost durability of fired clay materials. The behaviour of five fired clay materials with different physical and mechanical properties (porosity, permeability, mechanical strengths and elasticity modulus) subjected to freeze–thaw cycles is analysed. The strains of specimens and the evolution of the main properties with the number of cycles are assessed. The analysis shows that the pore distribution is not the only important parameter but that the tensile strength is also significant. A complete data bank is thus built up to study the effects of the physical and mechanical parameters on frost resistance and to determine how these parameters are affected by frost cycles. It will be possible to use these data to improve the modelling of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena involved during the freezing and thawing process in porous media.