Construction and Building Materials 28 (2012) 50–56

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Experimental study of parameters influencing mechanical properties

of hemp concretes
Laurent Arnaud, Etienne Gourlay ⇑
Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat, Université de Lyon, Département Génie Civil et Bâtiment, FRE CNRS 3237, 3, rue Maurice Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France

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

Article history: Hemp concrete is a multifunctional ecological material used in buildings. Due to its high porosity (about
Received 1 April 2011 80% in volume), it presents an ‘‘atypical’’ mechanical behavior and its thermal and acoustic properties are
Received in revised form 21 July 2011 particularly interesting. It is today possible to design this material according to the required use. This
Accepted 23 July 2011
paper focuses on the mechanical properties of hemp concrete. It is shown that extreme curing conditions
Available online 1 October 2011
(30%, 75% and 98% RH) are prejudicial to the mechanical setting of the hydraulic binders whereas only
high relative humidity disrupts the one of the air lime-based binder. It is also established that the binder
Keywords:
content hugely influences the setting and hardening of the material. Finally, according to the hemp par-
Hemp
Plant particles
ticle size, it appears that small particles (about 3 mm in length) lead to reduce the porosity and conse-
Lime quently the setting process of hemp concrete as compared to concrete manufactured with large
Concrete particles (about 9 mm).
Lightweight construction Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Mechanical properties
Compression
Curing
Kinetics

1. Introduction hemp shiv) in various proportions, cover a wide range of perfor-

Nowadays, the use of plant particles as building material aggre-
gates is justified by two main reasons:
 The preservation of natural resources such as mineral aggre-
gates whose extracting conditions become increasingly difficult.
 The need to design efficient building materials (thermal insula-
tion, sound absorption, sound insulation) with lower environ-
mental impact especially in regard to the carbon footprint.
Since the beginning of the nineties, a new building material ob-
tained by mixing together hemp particles (the non-fibrous fraction
of the hemp stem called ‘‘shiv’’ or ‘‘hurd’’) and a binder is developed.
It enables to build sustainable buildings (for new buildings con-
struction or existing buildings renovation) as filling material of a
load-bearing structure. This new building material, which will be
called ‘‘hemp concrete’’ in this article, allows to reduce very signif-
icantly the ecological footprint of materials of the existing building
because it enables to store approximately 35 kg of CO2 per square
meter of wall built with a thickness of 25 cm over 100 years [1].
Moreover, the undertaken studies [2–7] show that the mixtures,
which are manufactured from the raw materials (water, binder,
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: etienne.gourlay@entpe.fr (E. Gourlay).
mances thus allowing to define specific mix proportions fitted to
diverse applications: wall infilling, floor and roof insulation or
insulating plasters and renders [8]. These reference mixtures are
defined in [9] and given in Table 1.
Because of the internal porosity of shiv, hemp concrete is char-
acterized by a very important porosity (more than 70% in volume
for a ‘‘Wall’’ mixture [10]) with several characteristic sizes of pores
[11]:
 macropores (1 cm of diameter) due to the imperfect arrange-
ment of hemp shiv in the material.
 mesopores (from 0.1 mm to 1 mm) within shiv and binder
(trapped air).
 micropores between hydrates (lower than 0.01 lm) in the bin-
der matrix.
Owing to this important porosity, hemp concrete physical per-
formances are at the same time unique and technically very inter-
esting. Hemp concretes are characterized by their lightness (dry
density of about 400 kg/m3 for a ‘‘Wall’’ mixture) but also by an
important mechanical ductility (compressive strain higher than
10% is possible). The high open porosity results in low dry thermal
conductivity ranging between 0.06 W/mK and 0.12 W/mK depend-
ing on the mix formulation [3]. It also enables heat and mass trans-
fers since the pores are highly connected [5]. Connected porosity

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.07.052
 L. Arnaud, E. Gourlay / Construction and Building Materials 28 (2012) 50–56 51

Table 1 The mechanical behavior of the pure binder changes with time:
Reference mix proportions [9]. the gradual hydration of lime during the setting allows a progres-
Mixture % Weight sive improvement of the mechanical strength and of the stiffness of
Hemp shiv Binder Sand Water material and also leads to a reduction of the strain at failure.
The mechanical strengths measured are lower than those of a
‘‘Roof’’ 28.0 23.6 0.0 48.4
‘‘Wall’’ 18.6 31.4 0.0 50.0
pure Portland cement with a high rate of clinker (CEM I) which
‘‘Floor’’ 14.4 30.4 0.0 55.2 are higher than 30 MPa after 28 days of setting. On the other hand,
‘‘Render’’ 9.1 34.1 11.2 45.6 the strain levels for lime-based binder are higher than those with
cement: this enables to fit better to the compressibility of shiv.

2.2. Hemp shiv

leads to high permeability and consequently to an acoustic absorp-
tion higher than 0.8 [10,12].
Numerous parameters influence the mechanical properties of
hemp concrete. In this paper, the effect of curing conditions, hemp
concrete age, binder content and hemp shiv characteristics are
considered. This work will be compared to thermal and acoustical
data in order to define new reference mix proportions depending
on the use of hemp concrete (wall insulation, roof insulation,
etc.) combining and optimizing construction performances
(mechanical, thermal and acoustical performances).
2.2.1. Characteristics
Three kinds of shiv having the same origin (from ‘‘La Chanvrière
de l’Aube’’ in France) but with different size distributions were
used to manufacture hemp concretes (Fig. 2). The length and the
width of all the hemp particles contained in a representative sam-
ple of each shiv were measured by digital image analysis of two-
dimensional pictures in a previous study [13] (Fig. 3). Moreover,
a digital image analysis of three-dimensional tomography images

2. Raw materials

2.1. Binders

2.1.1. Characteristics
In the present work, four binders marketed by various compa-
nies were used: for confidentiality reasons, they are called A, B, C
and D all along this paper. Three of these binders contain hydraulic
lime and each one belongs to a different class of standardization:
NHL 3.5 (Binder A), NHL 3.5 Z (Binder B) and NHL 2 (Binder C).
The binder D is a pre-formulated lime-based binder made up of
air lime (75%), hydraulic lime (15%) and pozzolanic lime (10%).
The bulk densities of the various binders are shown in Table 2.

2.1.2. Mechanical behavior

Fig. 2. Hemp shiv in bulk.
Specimens of pure binder were manufactured using binder D
and compressive strength measurements were made after 14 days,
2 months, 6 months, 12 months and 15 months of setting (Fig. 1).

Table 2
Bulk densities of the binders.

Binder A B C D
Bulk density (kg/m3) 700 640 610 650

Fig. 3. Length and width of the hemp particles used.

Table 3
Bulk density of the shiv and average size of the particles.

Hemp shiv HS No. 1 HS No. 2 HS No. 3

Bulk density (kg/m3) 112 114 119
Average length (mm) 8.9 7.6 3.1
Average width (mm) 2.0 1.8 1.0
Average thickness (mm) 0.5 0.5 0.5
Fig. 1. Compressive strength measurements on pure binder paste.
52 L. Arnaud, E. Gourlay / Construction and Building Materials 28 (2012) 50–56
Fig. 4. Weight increase (a) and degree of saturation (b) of a hemp particle.
Fig. 5. Simple compression and cyclic compression tests on dry hemp particles.
made it possible to note that the thickness of the particles of the
three kinds of shiv varies little [13].
The bulk density of the shiv and the average length, the average
width and the average thickness of the particles of each shiv are
presented in Table 3.
2.2.2. Sensitivity of hemp shiv to liquid water
Hemp shiv has an important porosity (a hemp particle is made
up of approximately 60% of air in volume [13]): it is thus strongly
sensitive to liquid water. A test was carried out on particles of shiv
No. 2 in order to measure their liquid water absorption. The parti-
cles were put in a drying oven at 80 °C during two days and then
they were immersed in water: the weight increase and the degree
of saturation of a hemp particle are then measured. This work and
two previous studies conducted on the same shiv [3,14] give sim-
ilar results which evidences the reproducibility of the test (Fig. 4).
Shiv is able to absorb a lot of water (from twice to three times
its dry weight) very quickly (its degree of saturation is over 95%
after 10 min of immersion). It is therefore difficult to formulate
hemp concrete insofar as there is a competition for water between
the binder and the shiv during the manufacture of the material: the
shiv tends to absorb the water which the binder needs to hydrate,
hence disrupting the setting of the hemp concrete.
2.2.3. Mechanical behavior
Cylinders of 160 mm diameter and 320 mm high were filled
with 50 mm thick layers under a stress of compaction of
0.05 MPa by using only dry particles of the shiv No. 2. The speci-
mens were then tested in simple compression and cyclic compres-
sion (Fig. 5).
The stress–strain curves resulting from each test are perfectly
superimposed which ensures the reproducibility of the tests car-
ried out. Hemp particles in bulk are very strongly compressible:
the cylinders can indeed sustain strain levels higher than 70% be-
fore the particles heap collapses.
3. Experimental procedures
3.1. Preparation of the specimens
The hemp concretes were manufactured by using a concrete-mixer with rotary
drum and fixed blades according to a clearly identified procedure [9]. First, the
water and the binder were mixed for about 2 min. Then, the hemp shiv was added
and mixing continued for about 5 min until obtaining a homogeneous mix.
The name given to each mixture indicates the raw materials used: for example,
‘‘D-2-b’’ stands for a mix with binder D and hemp shiv No. 2 and ‘‘d’’ specifies the
mix proportions given in Table 4. The amount of water introduced into each mixture
was adjusted in order to take the water requirement of the binder and the shiv into
account and thus not penalize the binder with the water content (Table 4).
A mixture contains approximately 60 l of freshly-mixed concrete and allows the
manufacturing of 6–8 cylindrical specimens measuring 160 mm in diameter and
320 mm in height. The cylinders were filled with 50 mm thick layers under a stress
of compaction of 0.05 MPa using a compressive testing machine.
From their day of manufacture to the day of the mechanical test, some speci-
mens were preserved in their mould at 20 °C and in four distinct environments
for relative humidity controlled using saturated saline solutions: magnesium chlo-
ride (about 30% RH), magnesium nitrate (about 50% RH), sodium chloride (75% RH)
and potassium sulfate (98% RH). All other cylinders were preserved in a climatic
room controlled at 20 °C and 50% RH.
3.2. Mechanical properties measurements
Since hemp concrete presents an ‘‘atypical’’ mechanical behavior, it was neces-
sary to adapt the standard tests [3]. Before being tested, the cylinders were removed
from their mould and placed during 48 h in a drying oven at 50 °C in order to pre-
vent the saturation water from disrupting the mechanical properties measure-
ments: dry densities of hemp concretes are then determined (Table 5).
Compressive tests were made on hemp concrete specimens using a universal
hydraulic servo-controlled compressive testing machine (Instron 1273) at a cross-
head speed of 5 mm/min. These tests allow determining the Young’s modulus E
of the material, its compressive strength rmax and the strain at failure rmax corre-
sponding to this maximum of stress (Fig. 6).
A typical stress–strain curve of hemp concrete is made up of three parts (Fig. 6).
In the first part of the curve (0 6  6 0.01), the material presents a linear quasi-elas-
tic behavior: its Young’s modulus E is then determined. During this phase, the bin-
der matrix, which is stiffer than the hemp shiv, supports the compressive stresses
and slight strains are recorded.
In its second part ð0:01 6  6 rmax Þ, the curve increases less and less quickly:
the behavior of the hemp concrete becomes elastoplastic. Zones of stress concentra-
tion appear between the particles and the binder matrix cracks gradually. The
material is getting more strongly strained and the particles are crushed little by lit-
tle to fit the brittle failure of the binder. The curve finally reaches a maximum: the
compressive strength rmax of the specimen.
In the third part of the curve, the binder matrix is completely damaged and does
not play a mechanic role anymore. The hemp particles now support the most com-
pressive stresses. The strain levels are high and the stress levels decrease because
the particles are less stiff than the binder.
 L. Arnaud, E. Gourlay / Construction and Building Materials 28 (2012) 50–56 53

Table 4 Four mixtures were manufactured using shiv No. 2 and binders
Mass and volume composition of freshly-mixed concretes. A, B, C and D (A-2, B-2, C-2 and D-2-c). For each mixture and each
Hemp % Weight % Volume curing condition, specimens were tested in compression after 28
concrete
Hemp Binder Water Hemp Binder Water days of setting (Figs. 7–10).
shiv shiv The tests carried out on different cylinders but for the same
A-2 14.3 34.8 50.9 55.4 22.0 22.6
mixtures and under the same curing conditions give similar results
B-2 15.4 37.7 46.9 56.1 24.4 19.5 which evidences the repeatability of the tests.
C-2 15.9 38.9 45.2 56.1 25.7 18.2 The hemp concrete based on binder A has very low mechanical
D-1 16.2 32.3 51.5 58.8 20.3 20.9 properties whatever the curing conditions, since after 28 days of
D-2-a 9.9 47.7 42.4 42.8 36.2 21.0
setting, Young’s moduli do not exceed 9 MPa and compressive
D-2-b 14.4 37.2 48.4 54.4 24.7 20.9
D-2-c 14.3 34.8 50.9 54.5 23.3 22.2 strengths remain limited to 0.18 MPa for a cure with 50% RH.
D-2-d 16.5 33.7 49.8 58.7 21.1 20.2 Moreover, cures with 30%, 75% and 98% RH lead to extremely
D-2-e 25.1 24.6 50.3 71.4 12.3 16.3 low compressive strengths after 28 days (lower than 0.11 MPa).
D-2-f 16.2 32.3 51.5 58.3 20.5 21.2
The tests done with binder B lead to higher compressive
D-3 16.2 32.3 51.5 57.3 21.0 21.7
strengths (up to 0.31 MPa) and Young’s moduli (over 36 MPa).
Nevertheless, these mechanical properties are reached only for a
cure with 50% RH. Cures with 30% and 98% RH (compressive
strengths lower than 0.17 MPa) and to a lesser extent with 75%
Table 5
RH (0.19 MPa) seem really more harmful to the setting of the
Dry densities of hemp concretes. binder.
According to the curing conditions, the compressive strength of
Hemp concrete Dry density (kg/m3)
the hemp concrete manufactured using binder C lies between
A-2 460 0.10 MPa and 0.22 MPa and the Young’s modulus ranges from
B-2 480
C-2 480
5 MPa to 24 MPa. As in the previous case, the stress–strain curves
D-1 390 show a long post-peak plastic plateau which could be related to a
D-2-a 660 very partial setting of the binder: such a plateau can indeed be
D-2-b 500 noted on stress–strain curves of hemp concretes with low binder
D-2-c 460
D-2-d 390
D-2-e 250
D-2-f 400
D-3 430

Fig. 7. Compressive strength tests on the hemp concrete based on binder A and shiv
No. 2 after 28 days of setting in curing conditions of 20 °C and various relative
humidities.

Fig. 6. Typical stress–strain curve of hemp concrete.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Impact of curing conditions

For all the binders, various curing conditions were studied in or-
der to optimize the setting and the hardening of the hemp
concretes.
The specimens were preserved in their mould until the date of
the test at 20 °C and in four distinct environments for relative
humidity controlled using saturated saline solutions: magnesium Fig. 8. Compressive strength tests on the hemp concrete based on binder B and shiv
chloride (30% RH), magnesium nitrate (50% RH), sodium chloride No. 2 after 28 days of setting in curing conditions of 20 °C and various relative
(75% RH) and potassium sulfate (98% RH) [15]. humidities.
54 L. Arnaud, E. Gourlay / Construction and Building Materials 28 (2012) 50–56
Fig. 9. Compressive strength tests on the hemp concrete based on binder C and shiv
No. 2 after 28 days of setting in curing conditions of 20 °C and various relative
humidities.
Fig. 10. Compressive strength tests on the hemp concrete based on binder D and
shiv No. 2 after 28 days of setting in curing conditions of 20 °C and various relative
humidities.
content (Fig. 12). Furthermore, the cures with 75% and 98% RH lead
to the lowest compressive strengths and Young’s moduli, the one
with 50% RH to the highest compressive strengths and Young’s
moduli.
The tests carried out with binder D allow continuing to observe
curves which are characteristic of a partial setting of the binder: an
important post-peak plateau can be noticed for all the cylinders.
For the cures with 75% and 98% RH, measured compressive
strength lies between 0.18 MPa and 0.24 MPa. It should be noticed
that for a cure with 30% or 50% RH, the setting seems to be at a
more advanced stage and the compressive strengths are the high-
est of all the specimens since they exceed 0.31 MPa. The results ob-
tained in low relative humidity conditions (30% RH) are
outstanding in comparison with the other binders tested (com-
pressive strengths lower than 0.17 MPa and Young’s moduli lower
than 11 MPa).
For almost all the mixtures (except for binder D), the extreme
conditions tested in high relative humidity (75% and 98% RH) as well
as in low relative humidity (30% RH) seem to create environments
which are not very suitable for the mechanical setting of the binders.
It clearly appears for all the mixtures that a humid environment
(75% and 98% RH) slows down very sharply the setting of the hemp
concrete. This result is well-known for the air setting of a binder: the
diffusion of carbon dioxide from the air through the pores of a lime
mortar is indeed hindered when the internal relative humidity of the
material is very high [16] because the saturation of the pores of the
mortar results in giving priority to the transfers in liquid phase
which are much slower than those in gas phase in a totally saturated
environment. Nevertheless, the low compressive strengths mea-
sured for hemp concretes manufactured using hydraulic lime-based
binders are surprising. It seems that a physico-chemical interaction
between the binder and the shiv in high relative humidity disrupts
the mechanical setting of the hemp concrete.
For all the hemp concretes, the cure with 50% RH lead to the
highest compressive strengths. It appears that the curing condi-
tions of 20 °C and 50% RH are most suitable to the setting of the
binders. Moreover, the hemp concrete based on binder D presents
higher compressive strengths than the other concretes. So, later in
the present work, all the specimens were manufactured using bin-
der D and were preserved in their mould until the date of the test
in a climatic room controlled at 20 °C and 50% RH.
After 28 days of setting, practically all the specimens have a
very ductile behavior which is characteristic of a partial setting
of the binder. Therefore, it seems essential to make compressive
tests after longer setting times in order to know the long-run
mechanical performances of hemp concretes.
4.2. Evolution of mechanical properties with time
In order to characterize hardening kinetics of hemp concretes,
compressive strength measurements were made on specimens
after 21 days, 3 months, 6 months, 15 months and 24 months of
setting (Fig. 11). The hemp concrete specimens were manufactured
using binder D and shiv No. 2 (mixture D-2-b) [3].
The hardening kinetics of hemp concretes is relatively slow,
therefore the mechanical behavior of a hemp concrete is linked
to a large extent to its age.
At early ages, the hemp concretes present a very ductile behav-
ior (characterized by the presence of a long post-peak plastic pla-
teau on the curve). The binder hydrates do not form a connected
network yet, therefore the behavior of the concrete is close to
the one of the hemp particles which can sustain very large strains.
With time, the hydrates are connecting together and gradually
create a continuous network in which the stresses are transmitted.
The characteristics of the binder become little by little predomi-
nant in the mixture: the concretes then support increasingly high
stresses (from 0.35 MPa to 0.85 MPa between 21 days and 24
months of setting) and their behavior is less and less ductile
(strains go down from 0.11 to 0.04).
Even after two years of setting, hemp concretes have a low com-
pressive strength and a strongly ductile behavior, very different
from the one of the ‘‘traditional’’ concretes. Compressive strengths
of hemp concretes can be increased if the material is more strongly
compacted during the manufacturing: however, compressive
strengths remain limited to 3 MPa for a stress of compaction rang-
ing from 0.6 MPa to 1 MPa [7].
Fig. 11. Compressive strength tests for increasing ages on a given mixture of hemp
concrete.
 L. Arnaud, E. Gourlay / Construction and Building Materials 28 (2012) 50–56
The mechanical properties measured in this section are charac-
teristic of a specific mixture based on particular raw materials in
given mix proportions. It is possible to notice a wider range of
mechanical performances by varying for example binder content
or shiv characteristics.
4.3. Influence of binder content
To characterize the influence of binder content on mechanical
properties of hemp concrete, five mixtures (D-2-a, D-2-b, D-2-c,
D-2-d and D-2-e) were manufactured and tested after 6 months
of setting (Fig. 12).
The stress–strain curve of the hemp concrete with the lowest
binder content presents a long plateau of ductility: the behavior
of this material is close to the one of the hemp particles because
the concentration of binder is not sufficient to allow the binder ma-
trix playing a major mechanical role.
The more important the binder content is, the higher the stress
levels are and the lower the strain levels are. Indeed, the higher the
concentration of binder in the mixture is, the closer to the mechan-
ical behavior of the pure binder the mechanical behavior of the
hemp concrete is.
In this section, ‘‘intermediate’’ mix proportions were consid-
ered: compressive strengths thus lie between 0.19 MPa and
1.18 MPa and measured Young’s moduli range from 7 MPa to
160 MPa. Nevertheless, for specific applications (roof insulation
or insulating plasters and renders) it is possible to design particular
mix proportions whose compressive strengths range from
0.05 MPa to 3 MPa.
4.4. Effect of hemp particles size distribution
Specimens were manufactured using binder D and shiv No. 1,
No. 2 and No. 3 (mixtures D-1, D-2-f and D-3) [17] and tested after
28 days, 4 months and 14 months of setting (Fig. 13).
The mechanical properties of the hemp concretes based on shiv
No. 1 and No. 2 increase during the first 4 months and hardly
evolve after 4 months of setting. In addition, the hemp particles
of shiv No. 1 are slightly longer than those of shiv No. 2 (as shown
in Table 3): so, the cylinders manufactured using hemp shiv No. 1
are less dense (as shown in Table 5) and therefore have lower
mechanical properties than those of the hemp concretes based
on shiv No. 2.
The hemp concretes manufactured using shiv No. 3, which is
much finer than the two other shiv, show lower mechanical
properties after 28 days of setting but higher properties after 4
months of setting than the hemp concretes based on hemp shiv
No. 1 and No. 2. In addition, the compressive strength of the hemp
Fig. 12. Compressive strength tests on various mixtures of hemp concrete after 6
months of setting.
55
Fig. 13. Compressive strength tests for increasing ages on hemp concretes based on
different shiv.
concretes manufactured using shiv No. 3 still increases signifi-
cantly after 4 months of setting in contrast to the other hemp
concretes.
These observations can be explained by the fact that the hemp
concretes based on shiv No. 3 are less porous than the others be-
cause the shiv used is finer: the CO2 is thus diffused more slowly
within these concretes, which slows down their hardening kinetics
and results in a slower increase of the mechanical properties.
Moreover, since shiv No. 3 is finer, the hemp particles are better
coated by the binder during the manufacturing of the concrete,
which explains the better mechanical properties in the long term
of the hemp concretes manufactured using hemp shiv No. 3. How-
ever, the binder used to manufacture the hemp concretes is made
up of air lime: its setting is thus strongly subjected to the diffusion
of CO2 within the material.
5. Conclusion
This paper contributes to the mechanical characterization of
hemp aggregates based concrete. It clearly shows that various
parameters influence the mechanical behavior of the hemp based
material:
 curing conditions,
 age of concrete,
 kind and content of binder,
 and hemp shiv characteristics.
It is then possible to design mix proportions for specific uses.
The curing conditions can strongly affect the mechanical behav-
ior of hemp concretes: high relative humidity conditions (75% and
98% RH) are not really suitable for the binder setting (both hydraulic
and air lime) and low relative humidity conditions (30% RH) slows
down very sharply the setting of hydraulic lime-based binders.
At early ages, the material has a very strongly ductile elastoplas-
tic behavior. Then, with the setting of the binder, the mechanical
properties of the hemp concrete increase and the ductility plateau
decreases. Nevertheless, even after two years of setting, the mate-
rial presents a low compressive strength and a strongly ductile
behavior, which are very different from the one of the conventional
hydraulic concrete with mineral aggregates. These characteristics
limit the use of hemp based concrete in building applications.
According to the binder content, the higher the content in the
mixture is, the closer the mechanical behavior of the hemp con-
crete to the mechanical behavior of the pure binder is, i.e. the high-
er the stress levels are and the lower the strain levels are.
Finally, the use of smaller shiv results in lighter concretes whose
mechanical properties evolve more slowly due to reduction of
56 L. Arnaud, E. Gourlay / Construction and Building Materials 28 (2012) 50–56
macropores size but they finally have higher modulus and compres-
sive strength.
Works in hand aim at specifying the influence of agronomic
conditions on the shiv properties and consequently on the concrete
performances.
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