Application of the Factor Method to the Prediction of the Service Life of Ceramic External Wall Cladding
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29, Issue 3
Abstract
The main goal of this study is to use the factor method to evaluate the service life of ceramic external cladding. An interesting possibility is that a tool may be developed to aid the planning of maintenance operations, to reduce costs, and to ensure a better performance of the cladding system. The method relies on field work data on the state of repair of the façades, based on a survey of 195 façades in the Lisbon area. The factors affecting durability are singled out and quantified through several scenarios with the aim of optimizing the weighting coefficients. The degradation model has provided consistent results for most of the variables influencing the cladding’s loss of performance. Adequate knowledge on the durability of a component allows correctly designing the details and planning the maintenance operations that the component requires. These in turn are part of a broader perspective that involves reductions in costs and environmental impact, exactly the challenges that service life prediction proposes to overcome.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for the support of the ICIST Research Institute, IST, Technical University of Lisbon, and of the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29 • Issue 3 • June 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 23, 2013
Accepted: Jan 28, 2014
Published online: Aug 18, 2014
Discussion open until: Jan 18, 2015
Published in print: Jun 1, 2015
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