Mechanical properties of gypsum as the structural material with the advance of inflammability of building at Syowa Station

Abstract

On the occasion of selecting structural materials for constructions at Syowa Station in Antarctica, the authors considered that gypsum was the most promising one as the main structural material and investigated its mechanical performance over a wide range of temperatures between -20℃(lowest) and +20℃ (normal). The purpose of this paper is to confirm the possibility of applying gypsum to construction. Therefore, the test program was made for beams, columns and framed structures of gypsum. In addition to it, the same test program was made for concrete and reinforced concrete members in order to compare those results. Furthermore, the comparative study of the test values and theoretical ones was conducted. The following conclusions were obtained from the above-mentioned experimental study. (1) Gypsum shows good performance against low temperatures. (2) It fulfills mechanical functions well as a composite material combined with light gravels and deformed bars. (3) Reinforced gypsum members give relatively high strengths as the structural members. (4) Reinforced gypsum members show similar restoring-force characteristics and failure mechanism to those of reinforced concrete members.