Abstract
Earthen sites are valuable cultural heritage sites in arid regions of NW China, where a series of serious deteriorations have developed. Scaling off is a typical type of deterioration that greatly threatens the long-term preservation of earthen sites. To date, there are insufficient studies on the formation mechanisms and influence factors of scaling off, leading to a lack of a theoretical foundation for further consolidation research. Therefore, establishing a scientific evaluation system to explore the formation mechanisms of scaling off and assess its degree of development has become a very significant topic for earthen site conservation. In this study, we selected 18 earthen sites to survey scaling off in the field, and data from geotechnical tests and meteorology were then collected to fit the characteristic values to determine the influencing factors. Finally, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (Fuzzy-AHP) was applied to build a system to evaluate scaling off. The mechanisms of scaling off formation were explained by comparing and analyzing the porosity, shrinkage limit, particle size distribution of rammed earth and environmental factors combined with soluble salt contents in rammed earth. This research reveals the formation mechanisms and influencing factors of scaling off from a new perspective, which will lay a beneficial foundation for further consolidation research.
Highlights
Earthen sites distributed in the arid regions of NW China are precious cultural heritage sites with very high history, art, and science value [1]
Scaling off is one of the most typical types of deterioration that accelerates the degradation of earthen sites and is an important model of the gradual extinction of earthen sites [2, 5]
Scaling off occurs because the surface soils become saturated and disintegrate under the effects of rainfall to generate slurry films, which will be subsequently detached by wind erosion and the expansion– contraction induced by the change in temperature [7]
Summary
Earthen sites distributed in the arid regions of NW China are precious cultural heritage sites with very high history, art, and science value [1]. The correlations between the deterioration of earthen sites and their factors were previously studied, and a model to illustrate the formation mechanisms and evolution. Scaling off is one of the most typical types of deterioration that accelerates the degradation of earthen sites and is an important model of the gradual extinction of earthen sites [2, 5]. The initial formation of scaling off can protect earthen sites from weathering, it accelerates the deterioration process due to the rapid peeling and falling off in later development stages. It is essential to research the formation mechanisms and evaluation systems from the perspectives of the occurrence environment and building materials to provide a theoretical basis for consolidation aimed at scaling off
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
