Tuffs are volcanic rocks commonly used as building materials despite their notorious weakness — and at least one popular tuff could pose an even greater hazard in the event of a fire.
Michael Heap at the University of Strasbourg in France and his colleagues examined three types of tuff commonly used in buildings in the Neapolitan region of Italy (pictured). Two exhibited no reduction in strength after thermal stressing, but the most commonly used one, known as Neapolitan yellow tuff, lost 80% of its compressive strength as temperatures reached 1,000°C. This is explained by the fact that Neapolitan yellow tuff contains zeolite minerals that are sensitive to heat.
The team suggests that the results be considered in establishing regional fire codes and recommends similar tests for building tuff in other regions.
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Hot tuff not so tough. Nature 484, 144 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/484144a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/484144a
