Nondestructive Testing Evaluation of Drying Process in Flooded Full-Scale Masonry Walls
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 24, Issue 5
Abstract
After an investigation on the most recent floods occurred in Italy that damaged the Cultural Heritage masonry buildings, an experimental research started on-site on full-scale masonry models exposed to the environmental agents in Milan. The masonry materials used for the full-scale models were largely investigated in the past and the models were subjected to decay caused by the capillary rise and by the crystallization of sodium sulfate coming from the foundations. These walls can actually simulate the state of naturally contaminated walls before a flood and represent a construction where the main parameters are known. A flood has been simulated by adding water for several days to the walls of the full-scale models previously contaminated by salts, then the walls were left to naturally dry. The objective is to check the effectiveness of nondestructive (ND) techniques in detecting the presence of water and the drying process and also the influence of surface treatments presence. Radar tests, thermography tests, sonic tests, as well as the minor destructive powder drilling tests were applied successfully to evaluate the moisture distribution in the masonry after flooding and during natural drying.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to thank arch. L. Cantini, R. De Ponti, C. Tiraboschi, and Eng. S. Munda for their work and data elaboration, the students S. Perego and E. Maggi and the technicians M. Antico and M. Cucchi. The writers are also grateful to IDS S.p.A. for supporting the investigations by supplying the high-frequency antenna for GPR investigations. The research was supported by the EC project CHEF (2007–2010).
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© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 23, 2009
Accepted: Apr 11, 2010
Published online: Apr 30, 2010
Published in print: Oct 2010
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