Analysis and imitation of organic Sanhetu concrete discovered in an ancient Chinese tomb of Qing Dynasty

Abstract The Organic Sanhetu Concrete (OSC) has a prominent position in the Chinese ancient construction, and especially the natural organic materials (sticky rice and egg white) have made some historical buildings legends. Compared with Portland cement, the OSC has exhibit excellent durability, impermeability and mechanical characteristics. The absorption of CO2 makes them as an environmental friendly building material during Qing Dynasty. However, it was almost lost after the emergence of Portland cement as a building material. Though, OSC have existed for thousands of years, we can't get accurate formula and process even after 200 years. Further, even the compressive strength of the imitation is not satisfactory. This paper is primarily focused on the archaeology discoveries in 2007, for that the samples were collected from the sealing earth of a Qing dynasty burial mound in Huaining, Anhui, China and analyzed to investigate its physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics. Based on the results, an imitation of OSC with organic additives was designed, combining with the formula in literature. The results of these experiments have shown that the compressive strength of the lime-based materials met that of concrete with strength grade of C20 (21 MPa) after weathering and cutting. In addition, the imitation is above 50 MPa, which was comparable to that of concrete that have strength grade of C50. Thus, it was concluded from this investigation that the substitution of the artificial organic additives to natural materials can open doors for novel research prospective in designing of building materials.