In Situ Characterization of Damaging Soluble Salts in Wall Construction Materials
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29, Issue 5
Abstract
Different in situ and laboratory tests are commonly used to determine the nature of salts and to improve the comprehension of degradation mechanisms. Although laboratory tests are more accurate, in situ tests yield faster results and require a significantly lower budget. This study aimed at collecting data on nine case studies of buildings (26 sample’s analysis) showing salt induced damage and assessing the potential of diagnosis techniques. Two in situ (test strips and a spectrophotometer-field kit) and three laboratory techniques [X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)] were carried out. The results showed the importance of collecting samples from different materials and locations. It is concluded that the combination of a thorough description of the areas affected by salt damage, a survey of the building’s history, the consideration of its surrounding environmental conditions, and simple in situ tests is a useful and straightforward diagnostic tool. Although results of in situ tests agreed with the global results from the set of laboratory analyses, no single analytical method was considered sufficient to accurately identify all the damaging salts in a sample because each one showed intrinsic limitations.
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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 5 • October 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 31, 2013
Accepted: Apr 7, 2014
Published online: Apr 10, 2014
Discussion open until: Feb 10, 2015
Published in print: Oct 1, 2015
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