Effects of post-fire curing on the residual mechanical behavior of cement-lime masonry mortars

Abstract

Cement-lime mortars have been largely employed in contemporary masonry structures. Although usually analyzed under high-temperature conditions, their behavior over the post-fire curing time is often neglected. This paper addresses an experimental program that evaluated the influence of post-fire curing on the residual mechanical behavior of masonry mortars. Three distinct mortar mixes were subjected to standard fire tests and exposed to ambient air at different post-fire curing ages. After fire exposure, mechanical tests assessed the stress–strain diagrams of fire-damaged mortars. According to the results, an increase in post-fire curing time reduced mechanical properties and increased deformability, mainly for mortars with high lime content. The mortars showed a progressive deterioration and a more ductile behavior throughout post-fire curing. The paper also introduces a theoretical model with some correlations that showed good agreement in predicting the post-fire mechanical behavior of masonry mortars.