The weathering effect of moisture on ancient rammed earth walls

Moisture plays a critical role in the weathering and deterioration of rammed earth walls. The erosion and infiltration lead to the degradation and even collapse of rammed earth walls by atmospheric precipitation continually. Focusing on the western section of the rammed earth wall at the Longtanshan Site in Jilin City, Conventional soil physical experiments, X-ray diffraction analysis, and scanning electron microscopy were employed to examine the changes in the pore structure of soils within the rammed earth walls, systematically assessing the impact of moisture on the deterioration of rammed earth city walls. we conducted a comparative study of the effects of moisture on the weathering of rammed earth at varying depths. The findings indicate that as water infiltrates from the surface to the groundwater, the degree of rammed earth weathering from high to low are, the groundwater-actioned zone, by the pore water infiltration zone, the capillary water-actioned zone, the fracture infiltration zone.