An Experimental Strain-Based Study on the Working State of Husk Mortar Wallboards with Openings

Abstract

Rice husks as common agricultural remnants with low density and good thermal conductivity properties have been used in infill walls in the northern area of China. Accordingly, many tests and numerical simulations were conducted to address a difficult issue, the inaccurate estimation on the lateral load-bearing capacity of different types of husk mortar energy-saving (HMES) wallboards. The difficulty has not been overcome so far, implying that the novel methods are anticipated to achieve the accurate estimation. This paper tests the full-scale HMES wallboards with different openings and obtains the strains at the points distributed on the wallboard sides. The experimental strains are modeled as the approximate strain energy values to produce the characteristic parameter of the HMES wallboard’s stressing state. Furthermore, the inherent working state characteristic points of HMES wallboards are revealed from the evolution of the characteristic parameter called as the normalized approximate strain energy sum, leading to the redefinition of the failure loads for the HMES wallboards. Finally, it investigates the stressing state mode evolution of the HMES wallboard around the failure loads. The achieved results provide the reference to the accurate estimation of the bearing capacity of the HMES wallboards.