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Water Repellency of Monument Soil Treated by Tung Oil

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Abstract

Earthen monuments exposed at archeological sites are afflicted by a series of diseases, such as shrinkage, cracking, and collapse, related to moisture evaporation or partially soaked in ground water. Water repellency treatment is a promising improvement to the durability of earthen monuments. To understand the hydrophobic mechanism of the soil treated by Tung oil, geotechnical tests, including permeability test and water repellency test, in the laboratory were conducted on clay soil sampled from a site where Da Bao’en Temple was in Nanjing, China. Test results indicate that Tung oil film coated on the soil particles could well decrease the surface tension and free energy, providing waterproofing property without obvious change in esthetic appearance. Laboratory tests indicate that Tung oil treatment decreases the hydraulic conductivity and increases the water repellency of the soil. Water repellent treatment with Tung oil provides a new approach for earthen monument conservation under humid weather condition.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by National Key Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs Funded by Ministry of Science & Technology of China (No. 2013BAK08B11). We are grateful to Prof. Li ZX and Wang XD, Dunhuang Academy, China, for assistance in soil sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Disaster and Environment in Western China, Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Hu-yuan Zhang

  2. School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Hu-yuan Zhang, Shi-bin Zhu & Xue-chao Zhang

  3. School of Civil Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, 5340 Xiping Road, Tianjin, 300401, China

    Min Li

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  1. Hu-yuan Zhang
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  2. Shi-bin Zhu
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Correspondence to Hu-yuan Zhang.

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Zhang, Hy., Zhu, Sb., Li, M. et al. Water Repellency of Monument Soil Treated by Tung Oil. Geotech Geol Eng 34, 205–216 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-015-9939-8

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