Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Experimental analysis of the thermohygrometric effects on the dynamic

behavior of adobe systems
Giacomo Zonno a, Rafael Aguilar a,⇑, Rubén Boroschek b, Paulo B. Lourenço c
a
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú – PUCP, Department of Engineering, Av. Universitaria 1801, San Miguel, Lima 32, Peru
b
University of Chile, Department of Civil Engineering, Av. Blanco Encalada 2002, Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile
c
University of Minho, ISISE, Department of Civil Engineering, Campus de Azurém, 4800 – 058 Guimarães, Portugal

h i g h l i g h t s

Structural and environmental continuous monitoring of adobe masonry was carried out.

Internal hygrometric measurements was not influenced by external conditions.

Environmental seasonal and daily effects were isolated from the structural response.

Daily results show a delayed effect of the env. conditions in structural response.

Results indicate a clear inverse relationship of temperature and dynamic properties.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Through long-term monitoring, modal parameters identified in-situ can provide important information
Received 7 December 2018 about the safety state of civil buildings and infrastructures. Unfortunately, structures are subjected to
Accepted 20 February 2019 changing environmental conditions that can mask variations in the dynamic properties caused by dam-
age and, therefore, lead to an incorrect condition assessment. The quantification of the influence of envi-
ronmental conditions on modal parameters is a crucial step to eliminate their interference in a safety
Keywords: evaluation. Under current state-of-the-art considerations, this step is still an open challenge because
Adobe masonry
environmental variables are time-dependent non-uniform quantities that have different influences on
Laboratory testing
Dynamic structural monitoring
structural systems depending on the predominant material. In this paper, the effects of ambient temper-
Environmental monitoring ature and humidity on the dynamic properties of earthen constructions are investigated using laboratory
Thermohygrometric analysis tests. A dynamic monitoring system was successfully implemented on adobe walls of different thick-
Correlation analysis nesses to examine the influence of seasonal and daily variations of temperature and humidity. Three
1:1 scale adobe masonry walls were built and exposed to ambient conditions for 240 days.
Temperature and humidity variations on the exterior, as well as in the inner walls, were continuously
recorded together with the dynamic behavior using ambient vibration. The results provide useful insights
on the influence of thermohygrometric parameters on the dynamic properties of adobe systems. The sea-
sonal results indicate unclear correlations of ambient parameters and environmental variables. On the
other hand, at a daily scale, the results indicate the existence of a clear relationship between inner mea-
surements and dynamic properties. Moreover, the results indicate the existence of a delayed effect of
external ambient parameters in the dynamic behavior of earthen systems.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction [10–12], churches [13–18], and rammed earthen structures [19].

Vibration-based structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques
are being increasingly used in the structural evaluation of new
structures [1–6] and historical buildings [7–9], such as bell towers
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: raguilar@pucp.pe (R. Aguilar).
These techniques have been developed to monitor the dynamic
properties of real structures with the objective of detecting struc-
tural damage [20–22], because modal parameters such as natural
frequencies, mode shapes, and modal damping are functions of
the buildings physical characteristics, such as mass, energy dissipa-
tion and stiffness [23].
Environmental changes can lead to variations of the boundary
conditions and the system stiffness, inducing alterations in the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.02.140
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174
modal parameters. The work by Yan et al. [24] suggests that
changes in structural responses due to temperature and humidity
variations could be more significant than those due to small struc-
tural damage. Cornwell el al. [25] found that the first three natural
frequencies of the Alamosa Canyon Bridge varied by about 4.7%,
6.6%, and 5.0% over a 24-hour period as the temperature on the
bridge deck changed by almost 22 °C. Additionally, they found that
the first three natural frequencies of the I-40 Bridge over the Rio
Grande decreased by 7.6%, 4.4%, and 0.3% for a cut through half
of the section in plate in a girder [26]. The range of frequency vari-
ations falls within the same level in both cases. Peeters and De
Roeck showed that the first four frequencies of the Z24 Bridge in
Switzerland varied by 14% to 18% due to environmental changes
within a monitoring period of 10 months [27]. Their research also
suggested that the decrease in modal frequencies due to progres-
sive significant damage would be less than 10% for that same
bridge [28]. Monitoring of the Yunyang Suspension Bridge [29]
showed a change of about 2% in the first six frequencies within a
10-month period in which the bridge was subjected to ambient
temperature variations from 5°C to +50 °C. Li et al. [30] found
that the first six frequencies of the Tianjin Yonghe Bridge changed
by 1.5% to 3.2% when subjected to ambient temperature variations
from 11.5 °C to 3.7 °C. The continuous monitoring system on the
Dowling Hall Footbridge showed natural frequencies changes of
about 4–8% due to temperature variations from 14 to 39 °C
[31]. Similar results have been found in case studies involving
buildings. Yuen and Kuok [32] found that the first three modal fre-
quencies of a 22-story reinforced concrete (RC) building increased
with ambient temperature variations. Faravelli et al. [33] moni-
tored the Guangzhou New TV Tower during 24 h and found that
for ambient temperature variations of about 3 °C, the changes in
frequencies were as small as 0.5%. Boroschek et al. [34] showed
that the frequencies of the Central Tower at the Faculty of Physical
and Mathematical Science of the University of Chile decrease by
about 0.7% when the external temperature is within the 20.5 °C
to 21.5 °C range.
A detailed characterization of the environmental effects is cru-
cial for improving knowledge in this field and for defining suitable
damage-sensitive features. Several authors reported significant
changes in natural frequencies caused by temperature variation
[10–12,35–40], and in particular, presented positive correlations
for slender masonry [12,37] towers and for stiffer masonry struc-
tures [21,41,42]. This behavior was explained as the effect of ther-
mal expansion in the masonry determining the closing of micro-
cracks or discontinuities in the masonry structure, compacting
the materials and inducing a temporal increase of the global stiff-
ness. A different behavior was reported in Kita et al. [43], where
negative correlation between natural frequencies and temperature
has been found for a complex masonry palace, concluding that the
increase in global structural stiffness was due to the strengthening
effects of metallic reinforcement (tie rods shortening at lower tem-
peratures) and the presence of structural damage in the studied
masonry palace. Similar behavior was reported for modern RC
structures [44–47], where the negative correlation was explained
by a decrease of the concrete Young’s modulus with the increase
of the temperature and by changes in the boundary conditions.
Kita et al. [43] concluded that the physical mechanism that governs
the relationship between temperature and natural frequencies
depends principally on the type of construction material and on
the type of structure under investigation.
In addition, the temperature distribution within a structure is
generally non-uniform as well as time-dependent, affecting crack
opening and closing, as well as boundary conditions. Therefore,
an accurate representation of temperature effects requires the
use of non-linear models. In the case of large-scale structures,
different surfaces can receive different solar irradiation, thermal
159
inertia makes the variation of surface temperature larger than vari-
ations inside the structure. Additionally, wind conditions can affect
the thermal absorptivity of structural surfaces [45]. Thus, obtaining
the real temperature distribution or a representative data of the
different environmental conditions is not an easy task. The correla-
tion between temperature and natural frequencies based on field
test data has been the subject of some studies [48]. Xia et al. [49]
provided a correlation between environmental and internal tem-
peratures, and the dynamic properties of a simply supported RC
slab, as well as the non-uniform and time-dependent temperature
distribution within the slab. Liu et al. [50] established a correlation
between natural frequencies and temperature for a reinforced RC
slab and beam in cold regions. These laboratory tests focused on
analyzing the relationship between natural frequencies and air
temperature, surface temperature, and mean internal temperature.
The results showed that there is a more significant correlation
between natural frequencies and mean internal temperature than
between the other analyzed parameters. In addition, these authors
found that the air temperature is not reliable as a correlation
parameter. Furthermore, the variation of the natural frequencies
due to environmental conditions is strongly connected to the
material that constitutes the structure: for example, [45] shows
that the natural frequencies of concrete structures are more sensi-
tive to temperature changes than those of metallic ones. The chal-
lenge to differentiate the effect of temperature on modal
parameters, the non-linearity associated with temperature distri-
bution, and the link between frequency variation and materials
lead to the need of controlled laboratory experiments to provide
accurate and reliable estimations regarding the environmental
effects on natural frequencies.
This paper analyzes the effects of temperature and humidity on
the dynamic behavior of adobe walls. To simulate the real condi-
tions, three adobe walls were built replicating the geometrical
and material characteristics of one of the most emblematic archae-
ological sites in Peru, ‘Huaca de La Luna’ [51] (Fig. 1a). The ‘Huaca
de La Luna’ complex is a large adobe structure from the Moche civ-
ilization, built roughly between the years 100 and 650 AD [52]
(Fig. 1b), 4 km outside the city of Trujillo, in the northern coast
of Peru. The geometry of three typologies of adobe walls of the
archaeological complex were chosen as reference (Fig. 1c); they
were replicated outside the laboratory at the Pontificia Universidad
Catolica del Peru (PUCP) located in Lima. In these walls, the
dynamic properties (natural frequency, damping, and modal
shape), as well as environmental factors (internal temperature
and humidity, air temperature, and relative humidity) were contin-
uously monitored. Then, the long and short-term influence of envi-
ronmental parameters on natural frequencies was analyzed in
detail, and successfully removed from the structural response.
2. Methodology and experimental program
2.1. Identification of dynamic parameters
Dynamic properties of the monitored system were obtained using an automatic
processing time domain algorithm developed in LabView [53]. To that end, the
recorded digital signal data were detrended and resampled using a decimation pro-
cedure, and subsequently processed using the Stochastic Subspace Identification
(SSI-Data) method [54]. Then, the stabilization diagram was analyzed automatically
using a hierarchical approach. For this, the estimations were partitioned in two
groups with the application of hard and soft validation criteria [55]. A hard valida-
tion criteria was used, given by Eqs. (1)–(3); and then a soft validation criteria was
used, given by Eqs. (4)–(6). Eqs. (1) and (2) define a higher and lower limit in the
natural frequency and damping values to focus the search of physical modes to a
range of interest. Eq. (3) defines the minimum value of the modal phase collinearity
(MPC). For proportionally damped structures, the modal shape components should
lie on a straight line in the complex plane, the MPC filter criterion aimed at quan-
tifying this behavior (MPC values are dimensionless, they lie between 0, when no
collinearity is observed, and 1, when a perfect collinearity is observed). Eqs. (4)
and (5) define a natural frequency and damping distance between the mode being
160 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

Fig. 1. Location and types of adobe walls: (a) Trujillo city and ‘Huaca de La Luna’ complex; (b) ‘Huaca de La Luna’ complex and location of original walls; and (c) Studied
typologies of adobe walls, Wall Type I (WTI) – Wall Type II (WTII) – Wall Type III (WTIII).

analyzed and the mode associated to the superior model order. Finally, Eq. (6)
defines the minimum value of the modal assurance criteria (MAC), a dimensionless
correlation coefficient between the modal shape of the analyzed mode and the
mode associated to the inferior model order (0 indicates uncorrelated quantities
and 1 a perfect fit). Subsequently, the group with the modes that satisfied the pre-
vious validation criteria goes to a next stage, which consists in the grouping of the
similar modes in a same cluster with the application of a hierarchical clustering
algorithm [56]. When all the modes are in a cluster, an automatic threshold level
is applied to reject the clusters with a small amount of modes [57,58]. Finally,
the automatic choice of the most representative values of each cluster was obtained
with the use of the modal shape complexity criteria.
f min < f i < f max
nmin < ni < nmax
  2
k1
MPC i < 2  0:5
k1 þ k2
2.2. Description of the experimental program
Adobe blocks (320  220  120 mm) were produced and dried for seven weeks
under ambient conditions. Subsequently, three full-scale walls of different thick-
nesses were built in the laboratory using the fabricated adobe blocks and mud mor-
tar. Dimensions of the adobe walls were 220  1660  2000 mm,
560  1660  2000 mm, and 800  1660  2000 mm, respectively, for Wall Type I
(WTI), Wall Type II (WTII), and Wall Type III (WTIII). A concrete plinth was consid-
ered as foundation for the three types of adobe walls to avoid rising damp and to
create a non-deformable support for the walls. Finally, the two transversal sections
of the walls sides were rendered with an asphalt barrier to prevent moisture trans-
mission in the longitudinal direction.
ð1Þ The hygrothermal monitoring system was designed to record the external
(ambient) temperature and humidity, and the internal temperature and humidity
of adobe walls in different locations. Temperature sensors type LM35 [60] with a
ð2Þ
range from 55 °C to 150 °C, and humidity sensors type FC28 [61] with a range
from 5% to 95% were used to collect internal temperature and humidity data of
the three adobe walls (Fig. 2b and c).
ð3Þ Fig. 3a shows the data acquisition station. A UX100-011 HOBO digital system
[62] was chosen to monitor the external (ambient) temperature and humidity. In
this system, the temperature and humidity resolution are 0.024 °C and 0.05%
    
k  k kþ1 k respectively with a temperature range between 5°C and 150 °C and a relative
d fi <  fi  fj =f i  ð4Þ
humidity range between 0% and 99% (Fig. 3b). The internal temperature and humid-
ity systems were connected to two data acquisition devices: a NI USB 6225 (16-bit
    
  resolution, 80 analog inputs and 250 kS/s maximum rate) and a NI USB 6003 (16-bit
d nki <  nki  nkþ1
j =nki  ð5Þ
resolution, 8 analog inputs) [63] (Fig. 3e and f).
The dynamic monitoring system was designed to record flexural and torsional

 T 2
 2 2
modal shapes. The accelerometers installed for this purpose were PCB 393B12
MAC /i /j < /ki /k1
j  =k /ki k2 k /k1
j k2 ð6Þ
where f i , ni , and /i are the natural frequency, the damping ratio, and the mode shape
of an identified vibration mode, respectively; f min , f max , nmin and nmax are the upper
   
k
and lower natural frequency and damping limits; d f i and d nki are the user-
defined distances of natural frequency and damping between two consecutive model
orders; and k1 and k2 are the maximum and minimum eigenvalues of the covariance
matrix between the real and imaginary part of the modal shape [5,59]. Finally,


MAC /i /j and MPC i are user-defined parameters for the minimum values of the
Modal Assurance Criteria and of the Modal Phase Collinearity. The superscript is
associated to the model order, and the subscript is associated with each mode iden-
tified by a given model order.
uni-axial sensors with 10 V/g sensitivity, a frequency range of 0.15–1000 Hz and
a weight of 210 g (Fig. 2a) [64]. The dynamic system was connected to two
multi-channel devices, NI-9234 (24-bit resolution, 102 dB dynamic range and
anti-aliasing filters) [65] (Fig. 3d) and the devices were connected to
compactDAQ-9432 (Fig. 3c).
As shown in Fig. 4, temperature and humidity sensors (B1-B9) were placed
along three cross sections at the upper (L4), middle (L3) and lower (L2) height to
capture the internal distributions of the environmental parameters. An additional
layer of temperature and humidity sensors was added at the interface between
the walls and the foundation to evaluate humidity gradients (L1). Ambient condi-
tions were evaluated with environmental sensors that were located close to the
walls. In summary, this laboratory test used 28 temperature sensors in total (27
embedded sensors and 1 ambient temperature sensor), and 28 humidity sensors
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174 161

Fig. 2. Sensors system (a) PCB 393B12 accelerometer sensor; (b) LM35 internal temperature sensor; and (c) FC28 internal humidity sensor.

Fig. 3. Design of the monitoring system: (a) data acquisition station; (b) UX100-011 digital system; (c) compactDAQ-9432; (d) NI-9234 dynamic acquisition system; (e) NI
USB 6225; and (f) NI USB 6003 environmental acquisition devices.

a b c d
Fig. 4. Schematic view of the monitoring system with sensors positions (A denotes acceleration sensor, B denotes environmental sensor, dimension in mm): (a) WTI section;
(b) WTII section; (c) WTIII section; and (d) Generic cross sections at different heights L1-L4.
162 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

in total (28 embedded sensors and 1 ambient relative humidity sensor). Data from
environmental internal and external sensors was acquired every hour from Septem-
ber 2016 to May 2017 (240 days of monitoring period).
For the dynamic monitoring system, eight accelerometers were placed in total:
three sensors for WTI and WTIII (A1, A2 and A3) and two sensors for WTII (A1 and
A2) (Fig. 4). The location was chosen to measure both the out of plane and the in
plane behavior of each wall. Data from the accelerometers was acquired every hour
using a 256 Hz sampling rate and 600 s of sampling time for the same period as
environmental sensors. The pre-processing of the data considered the application
of a resampling procedure with a decimation factor of 2 to decrease the processing
time and to focus the analysis in a specific frequency range (up to 128 Hz).
3. Experimental results of continuous dynamic and
environmental monitoring of adobe walls
3.1. Dynamic monitoring results
Fig. 5 shows the results of the first four identified frequencies
for each adobe wall throughout the entire monitoring period. As
shown, there were four short periods without data due to power
outages in the laboratory. For WTI, the first natural frequency cor-
responds to an out-of-plane translational mode, the second one to
a torsional mode, the third one to an in-plane translational mode,
and the fourth one to a flexural mode. The flexural modes were
estimated from simplified numerical models because only the
top of the walls was actually instrumented. The values at the end
of the monitoring period (denoted here as final values) of the first
four natural frequencies are 6.3 Hz, 21.9 Hz, 26.4 Hz, and 35 Hz
(Fig. 5a). For WTII, the first two natural frequencies correspond
to the in-plane and out-of-plane translational modes, and the third
and fourth frequencies correspond to the torsional and flexural
modes, respectively. Fig. 5b shows the evolution of the first four
natural frequencies. The final values of the first four natural fre-
quencies are 10.9 Hz, 20.6 Hz, 33.1 Hz, and 56.4 Hz. Finally,
Fig. 5c shows the natural frequency evolution of WTIII. It has a sim-
ilar behavior to WTII, with the first two modes being translational
and the last two being torsional and flexional. The final values of
the first four natural frequencies are 13.6 Hz, 20.6 Hz, 35.9 Hz,
and 58.8 Hz. It is noted that all the results were numerically veri-
fied and confirmed as expected modal shapes.
As shown in Fig. 5, in all cases, the results show clear trends for
the first four natural frequencies. However, the fourth natural fre-
quency in WTII and WTIII yielded noisy results due to the presence
of electric interference in the 50–60 Hz band. Due to this reason,
the results of the fourth natural frequency in all the walls were
not considered in this study. Moreover, the data corresponding to
the initial 30 days monitoring period also suggested that the auto-
matic processing algorithm detected the drying period of the walls
in which there is an increase of the Young’s modulus. The results
indicate that this process becomes more stable after this initial
period. For this reason, and in order to perform a comparative anal-
ysis, the data corresponding to this initial 30 days’ period was dis-
regarded for the scope of the present investigation.
3.2. Temperature and humidity monitoring results
The internal temperature and humidity distributions in adobe
walls under the influence of ambient temperature and humidity,
wind, solar radiation and thermal inertia are non-uniform and
time-dependent phenomena. A detailed study was carried out in
two representative cross sections of each adobe wall to understand
those processes. This analysis includes the middle vertical sections
(sensors B1, B3, B8, and B9) (Fig. 6 and Fig. 8), as well as the middle
horizontal sections (sensors B2, B3, B4, and B5) (Figs. 7 and 8). The
vertical sections include the embedded sensors located in the
interface between the concrete foundation and the walls (sensor
B9). Results show a strong variation of the internal temperature
along the wall height and width, while internal humidity results
show a constant internal distribution.
Fig. 6 shows the external (ambient) temperature and internal
temperatures records during the monitoring period. Both seasonal
and daily temperature variations are visible in all three walls. An

a 80
70 Freq 1 Freq 2 Freq 3 Freq 4 WT I
Frequency (Hz)

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
b
80
WT II
70 Freq 1 Freq 2 Freq 3 Freq 4
Frequency (Hz)

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
c
80
WT III
70 Freq 1 Freq 2 Freq 3 Freq 4
Frequency (Hz)

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Oct 2016 Nov 2016 Dec 2016 Jan 2017 Feb 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 May 2017
Exposure time (days)
Fig. 5. Identified natural frequencies: (a) WTI; (b) WTII; and (c) WTIII.
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174 163

a
45

Temperature (°C)
40 External Ambient Temperature
35
30
25
20
15
b
45
Temperature (°C)

L4 WT I
40 L4 L3 L2 L1
L3
35 L2
L1
30
25
20
15

c
45
Temperature (°C)

WT II
L4 L4 L3 L2 L1
40
L3
35 L2
L1
30
25
20
15

d 45
Temperature (°C)

WT III
40 L4 L4 L3 L2 L1
L3
35 L2
30 L1
25
20
15
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Oct 2016 Nov 2016 Dec 2016 Jan 2017 Feb 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 May 2017
Exposure time (days)
Fig. 6. Results of temperature distribution in the entire monitoring period: (a) External (ambient) temperature variation; and (b) (c) (d) internal temperatures variations of
WTI, WTII and WTIII middle vertical section, (sensors B1, B3, B8 and B9).

increasing temperature trend is present until March 2017 (during
the first 150 days of the monitoring period). After that, tempera-
tures start to decrease, showing the effects of the seasonal changes
on the walls. A sensor-by-sensor analysis shows the following
trends: the temperature at the top of the walls (B1 sensor of the
L4 cross section) reaches the highest daily gradient, which progres-
sively decreases section by section (from L4 to L1) until it reaches a
minimum gradient value at the B9 sensor of the L1 cross section
(Fig. 6b–d). This is likely caused by the direct solar radiation on
the walls and the nature of adobe, a material that tends to attenu-
ate the amplitude of the internal temperature gradient. Fig. 7
shows the internal temperature gradients of the sensors in the hor-
izontal middle cross section L3 of the three walls. The results show
that in the same cross section, same height and middle section but
spread on the longitudinal direction, the recorded temperature
variations have similar amplitude and trend for each sensor; and
in a comparative analysis between the cross section of WTI, WTII,
and WTIII, there is a decrease in the temperature variation ampli-
tude with the increase of the wall thickness.
Subsequently, the internal thermal distribution of the three
walls was analyzed using contour plots (elaborated from a linear
interpolation of the measurements) representing two different
instants; when the external ambient temperature is maximum
(see Fig. 8) and when the internal temperature recorded by each
B3 sensor is maximum (see Fig. 9). The results show that the max-
imum external ambient temperature is reached at 12:00, while the
maximum internal temperature recorded by the B3 sensors is
reached in three different instant for each wall: at 17:00 for the
WTI, at 20:00 for the WTII and at 22:00 of WTIII. As expected at
12:00, the inner part is colder in comparison with the surfaces of
the walls, and the cold area (the blue area in Fig. 8) is more
extended in the WTIII than in the WTI and WTII. On the contrary,
when the internal temperature is maximum, the results indicate
that the inner part is hotter in comparison with the surfaces of
the walls, and that the internal thermal distribution is strongly
affected by high temperatures reached in the upper cross sections
of the walls.
A comparison between the maximum values recorded by the
external ambient temperature sensor and by the sensors placed
at the center of the cross-sections at the top of the walls (sensors
B1) of each wall was then carried out. As shown in Fig. 10, during
the entire monitoring period, the B1 sensors recorded maximum
values higher than the maximum values of the external ambient
temperature, showing an increase of internal temperature of up
to 5 °C which is connected with direct solar radiation issues due
to the orientation of the walls and energy storage of the walls.
Fig. 11a–c show the instant when the maximum values of the
external ambient temperature and the internal temperatures
recorded by B1, B3 and B8 sensors (located in the middle of the
L4, L3 and L2 cross sections, respectively) were registered during
164 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

a
45
Temperature (°C)
WT I
40 L3 B2 B3 B4 B5
35
30
25
20
15
b
45
Temperature (°C)

WT II
40 L3 B2 B3 B4
35
30
25
20
15
c
45
Temperature (°C)

WT III
40 L3
B2 B3 B4 B5
35
30
25
20
15
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240

Oct 2016 Nov 2016 Dec 2016 Jan 2017 Feb 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 May 2017
Exposure time (days)
Fig. 7. Results of internal temperature variation of horizontal middle cross section (L3): (a) WTI; (b) WTII; and (c) WTIII.

a b c
Fig. 8. Thermal internal distribution at 12:00 of the main three cross sections (longitudinal middle cross section, vertical middle cross section and horizontal middle cross
section): (a) WTI; (b) WTII; and (c) WTIII. In the lower right corner, a schematic representation of the analyzed cross sections.

the entire monitoring period. As shown, the maximum values of
the external ambient temperature was recorded at consistently
12:00, while the maximum values of the internal temperatures
recorded by B1 sensor of the L4 cross section was recorded from
17:00–19:00 for each wall. These results demonstrate an incre-
ment of the internal temperature (recorded in the middle of the
cross sections) even when the external ambient temperature
decreases. A wall-by-wall analysis shows that the maximum val-
ues recorded by all the internal sensors of the WTI were registered
approximately at 17:00, while for the WTII the maximum values
were registered between 19:00 and 21:00 and for the WTIII
between 18:00 and 22:00, showing a higher temporal variability
for thicker walls.
Fig. 12 shows the external (ambient) humidity and internal
humidity recorded during the monitoring period. The external
(ambient) humidity shows a daily variation due to the daily exter-
nal (ambient) variation (Fig. 12a) with a maximum value of 99% at
the end of the mild Lima winter season in September, and a mini-
mum value of 38% during the summer season in March. A clear sea-
sonal trend of the external humidity is not detectable and,
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174 165

a b c
Fig. 9. Thermal internal distribution of the main three cross sections (longitudinal middle cross section, vertical middle cross section and horizontal middle cross section): (a)
WTI at 17:00; (b) WTII at 20:00; and (c) WTIII at 22:00. In the lower right corner, a schematic representation of the analyzed cross sections.

40
Max temper. [°C]

L4
35
30
25
20
T
Text
ext WTI-B1 WTII-B1 WTIII-B1
15
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Exposure time (days)
Fig. 10. Results of the maximum values of the external (ambient) temperature variation and of the internal temperature variation recorded by B1 sensors of each wall.

Fig. 11. Recording time of the daily highest temperature values: (a) (b) (c) external (ambient) temperature variation and internal temperatures variations of WTI, WTII and
WTIII recorded by B1, B3 and B8 sensors (located to the L4, L3 and L2 cross sections, respectively).
166 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

Fig. 12. Results of humidity variation in the entire monitoring period: (a) External (ambient) humidity variation, and (b) (c) (d) internal humidity variations of middle vertical
section (sensors B1, B3, B8 and B9) and horizontal middle section (sensors B2, B3, B4 and B5) of the WTI, WTII and WTIII.

furthermore, the internal humidity measurements in the walls resistivity as an indirect measurement of the internal humidity.
shows a quasi-constant behavior through time with an average Due to these reasons, no further analysis was performed with the
value of 12–13% at mid-height (Fig. 12b–d), and lower values internal humidity data.
(about 7%) at the interface wall/concrete foundation (B9 sensors
of the section L1). Results do not suggest a link between external
3.3. Analysis of the variability of ambient conditions
and internal humidity measurements. Moreover, internal humidity
values are similar in trend and magnitude in each of the three
Fig. 13 shows a comparison between external ambient temper-
walls, without showing daily nor seasonal changes during the
ature and internal temperature records for the three adobe walls
monitoring period. The reason for this may be the type and the res-
measured by B3 sensors. These sensors are located in the center
olution of used sensors which recorded only localized material
of the cross section at the mid-height of each wall and have been

30
1.5°C 3.5°C 8.0°C
Temp. (°C)

26
45 22
Temperature (°C)

18
40 L3 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
35 Exposure time (days)
30
25
20
WT I WT II WT III Ext.Amb.Temp.
15
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Oct 2016 Nov 2016 Dec 2016 Jan 2017 Feb 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 May 2017
Exposure time (days)
Fig. 13. Comparison between the external (ambient) temperature and the internal temperature recorded by B3 sensors of WTI, WTII and WTIII.
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174 167

Fig. 14. Relationship between the external ambient temperature and humidity: (a) Correlation between external (ambient) temperature and relative humidity; and (b)
Absolute humidity variation in the entire monitoring period.

Fig. 15. Comparison between the first frequencies and temperature/humidity distribution during the entire monitoring period.

chosen as representative value of the internal thermal behavior of
each wall. Results indicate that the internal temperature of the
walls reaches higher values and for a longer period than the exter-
nal ambient temperature. This occurs because the walls’ tempera-
ture is affected by a combination of ambient conditions including
air temperature, wind, solar radiation, wall orientation, and ther-
mal inertia. Thermal inertia also explains why the minimum inter-
nal temperatures are higher than the minimum external (ambient)
temperature at any given time. In this study, the external temper-
ature variation ranges from 15.9 °C to 34.5 °C throughout the mon-
itoring period, with an average daily temperature variation of
8.0 °C. In the case of WTI, the internal temperature variation ranges
from 16.5 °C to 37.0 °C with an average daily variation of 3.5 °C. In
WTII, internal temperatures varied from 18.5 °C to 37.0 °C with an
average daily variation of 1.5 °C. Finally, the internal temperature
of WTIII ranged from 19.0 °C to 37.5 °C with a daily variation of
168 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

1.0 1.0 1.0

Norm. Freq.
Norm. Freq.

Norm. Freq.
0.8 0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2 0.2
0.0 Freq.1
Freq.1
0.0 Freq.1 0.0 Freq.1
Freq.1 Freq.2 Freq.3 Freq.1 Freq.2 Freq.1
Freq.3 Freq.1 Freq.2 Freq.1
Freq.3
1.0 1.0 1.0

Norm. Temp.
Hum. Norm. Temp.

Norm. Temp.
0.8 0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0 0.0
Ext.Temp.Int.Aver.Temp.
Ext.Temp. Int.Temp. Ext.Temp.Int.Aver.Temp.
Ext.Temp. Int.Temp. Ext.Temp.
Ext.Temp.Int.Aver.Temp.
Int.Temp.

Hum.

Hum.
1.0 1.0

Rel. Hum.
1.0
Rel.Hum.

Rel. Hum.
00.8 00.8 0.8
00.6 00.6 0.6
Norm. Ext.
Norm.Ext.

Norm. Ext.
00.4 00.4 0.4
00.2 00.2 0.2
Norm.
Norm.

Norm.
00.0 Ext.Hum. 00.0 Ext.Hum. Ext.Hum.
0.0
70 71 72 73 74 75 70 71 72 73 74 75 70 71 72 73 74 75
Exposure time (days) Exposure time (days) Exposure time (days)
a b c
Fig. 16. Comparison between the first three frequencies and external (ambient) temperature and humidity, and internal average temperature distribution during the 70th and
75th days with a normalized scale: (a) WTI; (b) WTII; and (c) WTIII.

1.0 1.0 1.0

Norm. Freq.

Norm. Freq.

Norm. Freq.
0.8 0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0 0.0 Freq.1 Freq.2 Freq.3
Freq.1 Freq.2 Freq.1
Freq.3 Freq.1 Freq.2 Freq.3 Freq.1 Freq.2 Freq.3
1.0 1.0 1.0
Norm. Abs. Hum.

Norm. Abs. Hum.

Norm. Abs. Hum.

Abs.Hum. Abs.Hum. Abs.Hum.

0.8 0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2 0.2
WT I WT II
I I
WT III
0.0 0.0 0.0
70 71 72 73 74 75 70 71 72 73 74 75 70 71 72 73 74 75
Exposure time (days) Exposure time (days) Exposure time (days)
a b c
Fig. 17. Comparison between the first three frequencies and absolute humidity distribution during the 70th and 75th days with a normalized scale: (a) WTI; (b) WTII; and (c)
WTIII.

1.5 °C (see Fig. 13). These findings confirm that adobe walls are Results of the calculated absolute humidity in the entire moni-
able to store and release heat during day and night periods. The toring period show that the amount of water in the air increases
results show that the daily internal temperature of WTI has the lar- from 15 g/m3 until 20 g/m3 in the first 150 days of the monitoring
gest temperature variations due to its smaller thickness, and that period, then, there is a continuous decrease of the absolute humid-
WTII and WTIII behave similarly and are more capable of storing ity until 15 g/m3 at the end of the monitoring period.
heat.
The absolute humidity was next calculated aiming at creating a
single variable to represent the variability of ambient conditions 4. Analysis of the thermohygrometric effects on the structural
(see Fig. 14). The absolute humidity is defined as the mass of the behavior of adobe systems
water vapor in a certain volume. If ideal gas behavior is assumed,
the absolute humidity can be calculated by the ideal gas law 4.1. Assessment of the seasonal influence of ambient conditions on the
(Eq. (7)) through the recorded external ambient temperature and dynamic properties
relative humidity according to the Eq. (8) [66].
The influence of the thermohygrometric parameters on the
PV dynamic structural properties of adobe systems was analyzed,
Abs: Humidity ¼ MM  n ¼ MM  ð7Þ
Rð273:15 þ T Þ firstly during all the monitoring period, then with a specific focus
on the daily variation. Fig. 15 shows a comparison between the
P ¼ 6:112  eTþ243:5  RH
17:67T
ð8Þ first frequencies of each wall and external (ambient) measure-
ments, the internal average temperatures and the absolute humid-
where MM, n, P, V, R, T and RH are the molecular mass of water, the ity for all the monitoring period. Results indicate a change in the
amount of substance of gas in moles, the pressure, the analyzed vol- trend of the temperature/humidity data close to the 150th day of
ume (in this case V ¼ 1 m3 ), the gas constant, the temperature of the monitoring period, which may be due to seasonal effects. It also
gas in °C and the relative humidity, respectively. includes the effects of hardening especially on the thicker walls.
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174 169

Fig. 18. Summary of correlation results (R2) for temperature and humidity and the dynamic properties of the tested walls (the data corresponds to 210 days of monitoring
period). *N.E. denotes determination coefficients of less than 0.1.

A clear influence of the daily thermohygrometric variation in was calculated. The adobe walls presented similar daily variations
the modal frequencies of the walls was also observed. The daily for each frequency. In particular, the first frequency of WTI, WTII,
variation of the modal frequencies during the monitoring period and WTIII varied daily by 0.2–0.3 Hz, the second one
170 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

Fig. 19. First three natural frequencies with the application of the detrending procedure and the band-pass filter: (a) WTI; (b) WTII; and (c) WTIII.

Fig. 20. Correlation distribution between external and internal temperature and the first frequency of each tested wall (the data corresponds to 240 days of monitoring
period): (a) WTI; (b)WTII; and (c) WTIII. *N.E. denotes determination coefficients of less than 0.1.

by 0.4–0.6 Hz, the third one by 0.6–0.8 Hz, and the fourth fre-
quency varied daily by 1.0–1.2 Hz. In all the estimations, the per-
centage of variations in the natural frequencies due to changes in
thermohygrometric conditions represented around 3% of each esti-
mated frequency. For visual comparison purposes, Figs. 16 and 17
show the normalized values for the first three natural frequency,
internal average temperature, external ambient measurements,
and absolute humidity. To facilitate a visual evaluation, a monitor-
ing period of 5 days is shown for each wall. As suggested by the
data, there is a clear inverse relationship between daily natural fre-
quencies and internal and external ambient temperatures and
absolute humidity, and a direct relationship between daily fre-
quencies and external relative humidity. There is also a strong cor-
relation between temperature and humidity so this must be
considered in the analysis. There is also evidence of a time delay
between peak or valley (also referred to as trough or dip) values
of internal and external temperatures. Therefore, it is likely that
the relationship between natural frequency and temperature mea-
surements may also be influenced by a heat-release phenomenon.
A similar behavior was observed throughout the monitoring period
in all the identified frequencies.
Fig. 18 shows the correlation between the first three natural fre-
quencies and internal average temperature of each wall, external
ambient measurements and absolute humidity at the same time
window. The plots referred the interval between the 30th day until
the 240th day of the monitoring period. The remaining data is not
considered to disregard the stronger effect on frequency of the wall
drying period.
As shown, the correlation coefficients between natural frequen-
cies and temperature measurements and external ambient humid-
ity are weak, without a specific detectable trend or with a no
uniform distribution of the correlations plots, indicating clearly
the influence of daily phase and the seasonal changes. The correla-
tion coefficients between natural frequencies and absolute humid-
ity reach better results with a maximum value of 0.30 for the first
frequency of the WTI. In a wall-by-wall analysis, the seasonal and
drying changes affect the correlation distribution of each wall, with
a stronger influence for thicker walls.
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174 171

11 h
0

-0.80

Text 9h

-0.80
Tint 7h

5h

3h

1h

Vertical middle
cross section

Horizontal middle
cross section

a b c d
Fig. 21. Heat penetration for the adobe system: (a) summary of the obtained results; (b) time-delays between external and internal temperatures of the WTI (vertical and
horizontal middle cross sections); (c) time-delays between external and internal temperatures of the WTII (vertical and horizontal middle cross sections); and (d) time-delays
between external and internal temperatures of the WTIII (vertical and horizontal middle cross sections).

Fig. 22. Calculation of the time-delay between the analyzed variables of each wall: (a) between external and internal temperature recordings; and (b) between external
temperature and the first natural frequency.

4.2. Assessment of the daily influence of ambient and internal
temperature on the dynamic properties
The results show a clear nonlinear influence with different
time-scale of thermohygrometric parameters on the dynamic
structural properties of adobe systems. Aiming at analyzing this
aspect at a daily level, a filtering procedure was developed to
remove the seasonal (and hardening) influence to the raw environ-
mental and dynamic data [6]. The procedure is based on the appli-
cation of a polynomial non-linear detrending to the raw
environmental and dynamic data, and subsequently, on the appli-
cation of a band-pass filter to focus the calculation in the daily
effects.
Fig. 19 shows the results of removing the long and short-term
influence of the thermohygrometric parameters for the first three
frequencies of each wall. As shown, the clear trend due to the
drying process is eliminated, as well as the seasonal changes,
emphasizing the daily frequency variations (see the zoom plots
of Fig. 19).
Aiming at performing an analysis about the thermohygrometric
influence on the dynamic structural properties, a detail study was
carried out between the first frequency of each wall and the envi-
ronmental variables. The internal temperature measured by B3
sensors was selected as representative value of the internal ther-
mal behavior of each wall and used in the following analysis.
Fig. 20 shows the correlation distribution of the first frequency of
each wall corresponding to the entire monitoring period of
240 days before (raw data) and after (processed data) the applica-
tion of the filtering procedure. The remarkable change in the fre-
quency due to the drying period and to the seasonal effects is
visible in the plots with a not uniform distribution of the points
(see Fig. 20, raw data). The non uniform distribution is clearer in
172 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174

Unfiltered data Filtered data Delay corrected data

6.5 6.3 6.3
External ambient
6.3

F1 [Hz]

F1 [Hz]
F1 [Hz]
temperature
6.1 6.1
6.1
5.9
5.9 5.9
5.7
R2 = 0.12 R2 = N. E. R2 = 0.77
5.5 5.7 5.7
15 20 25 30 35 20 23 25 28 30 20 23 25 28 30
Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C]
WTI

6.5 6.3 6.3

Internal temperature

6.3

F1 [Hz]

F1 [Hz]
F1 [Hz]

6.1 6.1
6.1
5.9
5.9 5.9
5.7
R2 = N. E. R2 = 0.72 R2 = 0.85
5.5 5.7 5.7
15 20 25 30 35 21 23 25 27 29 21 23 25 27 29
Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C]

12 10.3 10.3
External ambient

11
F1 [Hz]
F1 [Hz]

F1 [Hz]
temperature

10.1 10.1
10
9.9 9.9
9
R2 = N. E. R2 = 0.40 R2 = 0.81
8 9.7 9.7
15 20 25 30 35 20 23 25 28 30 20 23 25 28 30
WTII

Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C]

12 10.3 10.3
Internal temperature

11
F1 [Hz]

F1 [Hz]
F1 [Hz]

10.1 10.1
10
9.9 9.9
9
R2 = N. E. R2 = 0.52 R2 = 0.71
8 9.7 9.7
15 20 25 30 35 24.0 24.5 25.0 25.5 26.0 24.0 24.5 25.0 25.5 26.0
Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C]
14 12.8 12.8
External ambient

F1 [Hz]

F1 [Hz]
F1 [Hz]
temperature

13 12.6 12.6

12 12.4 12.4

R2 = N. E. R2 = 0.39 R2 = 0.82
11 12.2 12.2
15 20 25 30 35 20 23 25 28 30 20 23 25 28 30
WTIII

Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C]

14 12.8 12.8
Internal temperature

F1 [Hz]
F1 [Hz]

F1 [Hz]

13 12.6 12.6

12 12.4 12.4

R2 = N. E. R2 = 0.43 R2 = 0.67
11 12.2 12.2
15 20 25 30 35 24.0 24.5 25.0 25.5 26.0 24.0 24.5 25.0 25.5 26.0
Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C] Temperature [°C]
Fig. 23. Correlation distribution between external and internal temperature and the first frequency of each tested wall (the data corresponds to 240 days of monitoring
period): (a) WTI; (b) WTII; and (c) WTIII. *N.E. denotes determination coefficients of less than 0.1.

the temperature plots of the WTII and WTIII due to the longer dry-
ing period and the seasonal change of the temperature variable.
Fig. 20 (filtered data) shows the correlation distribution of the pro-
cessed data with the filtering procedure. As shown, the non uni-
form points distribution presents in the plots with raw data is
eliminated. High correlation coefficients with negative trend were
found with the internal temperature for each wall (up to 0.72 for
the WTI). Furthermore, for the WTI a low correlation coefficient
without a specific trend was identified with the external ambient
temperature and for the WTII and WTIII, higher correlation coeffi-
cients with positive trends were identified with the external ambi-
ent temperature. The results evidence the existence of an
 G. Zonno et al. / Construction and Building Materials 208 (2019) 158–174
additional factor that affects the direct comparison of ambient
variables to the structural behavior (low correlations are still found
with the external temperature measurements). As a matter of fact,
a detailed analysis of the variation of temperature records in the
section of the walls indicates the presence of a thermal flow which
originates a time-delay between maximum and minimum internal
or external measurements.
This time-delay between the external and internal temperature
records was quantified, measuring the time-distance between the
peak\valley of the calculated filtered functions. Fig. 21a shows a
summary of the obtained results with the heat penetration and
the consequent time-delay between internal and external temper-
ature. Aiming at performing an in-depth analysis, the time-delays
between the peaks of the external and internal temperatures
recorded by each internal sensor are shown in Fig. 21b–d for the
WTI, WTII and WTIII, respectively. The results demonstrate the
existence of a thermal flow in the adobe system and of a time-
delay between internal and external variables up to 6 h for the
WTI, up to 9 h for the WTII and up to 11 h for the WTIII. As
expected, the B3 sensor located in the center of the cross section
at the mid-height of each wall is the most affected to this behavior.
Subsequently, the time-delays between the external and inter-
nal temperature recordings (see Fig. 22a) and between the external
temperature and the first frequency (see Fig. 22b) were calculated
during the all monitoring period for each wall. The variation range
of the time-delays between the external and internal temperature
recordings are of 4–6 h for the WTI, of 7–9 h for the WTII and of 9–
11 h for the WTIII. Similar results were found for the time-delays
between the external temperature and the first frequency.
Finally, Fig. 23 shows the correlation distribution of the first fre-
quencies with the temperature recordings of each wall correspond-
ing to the entire monitoring period of 240 days with the
application of the detrending procedure, the band-pass filter and
the calculated time-delays. The results show high correlation coef-
ficients (up to 0.85) and negative trends for the external and inter-
nal temperature. A slight increase of the correlation coefficients in
the case of internal temperature was recorded, demonstrating the
high importance of choosing the most representative internal point
of the global thermal conditions of an adobe structure.
5. Conclusions
This paper investigated the effects of ambient temperature and
humidity on the dynamic properties of adobe systems represented
by three 1:1 scale walls built in the laboratory. The paper started
by presenting a detailed analysis of the non-linear thermal vari-
ability on these systems. The results indicated a clear attenuation
in the magnitude of the internal temperature measured in the
inner part of the walls in comparison to the external temperature.
During the entire monitoring period of 240 days, the minimum
internal temperature of the walls was always higher than the
external temperature, showing the good heating storage capacity
of the adobe walls. In addition, the maximum internal temperature
reached higher values (and for longer periods) than the external
ambient temperatures due to a combined effect of air temperature,
wind, solar radiation, and wall orientation. The results also sug-
gested that internal temperature data in thicker walls present less
variability in time in comparison to external measurements. On the
other hand, the comparison of internal and external humidity mea-
surements indicated very low correlations to each other, which is
an indication of the limited internal flow of this environmental
variable to the inner part of the walls.
To what respect to the correlation between ambient variables
and structural dynamic properties, the results showed that ther-
mohygrometric variations can produce significant changes in nat-
173
ural frequencies at long (seasonal) and short (daily) scales. At a
seasonal scale, after an initial period of 30 days where the drying
process of the walls dominated the dynamic response, the results
indicated a strong variability of natural frequencies. In this case,
very low correlation coefficients were found between natural fre-
quencies and temperature and humidity measurements. However,
the correlation results of the external absolute humidity (calcu-
lated as a new environmental variable from temperature and
humidity records) showed higher values of up to 0.30.
In-depth studies at a daily scale indicated that the relationship
between inner wall temperatures and natural frequencies have
better relationships. A delayed effect of temperature was also
found for external and internal temperature measurements in all
the studied systems. These time-delays records demonstrated the
existence of an active thermal flow in the adobe walls that affected
the relationship of external ambient parameters with the struc-
tural dynamic properties. The incorporation of time corrections
to the external temperature measurements due to these delays
were able to increase their correlation coefficients to dynamic
properties to up to 0.85.
The performed analyses were focused on the evolution of the
frequencies as the main parameter to characterize the dynamic
behavior of the walls. The damping values and modal shapes were
not analyzed in detail, even if from a preliminary study, they seem
to be affected by the variation of the environmental conditions.
Further and more in-depth studies need to be conducted in this
research field.
Conflicts of interest
None.
Acknowledgements
This research was performed by the Engineering & Heritage
research group at PUCP with collaboration from the Department
of Structural Engineering of the University of Minho in Portugal,
and the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Chile.
The authors would like to acknowledge the Directorate of Research
Management at PUCP (project N° 349-2016) for funding this
research. Complementary funding was also received from the pro-
gram Cienciactiva from CONCYTEC in the framework of the Con-
tract N ° 222-2015. The first author gratefully acknowledges
ELARCH program for the scholarship in support of his PhD studies
(Project Reference number: 552129-EM-1-2014-1-IT-ERA
MUNDUS-EMA21). The authors acknowledge the contribution of
the MEng Rick Delgadillo to the indispensable laboratory work pre-
sented in this paper.
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