Influence of Design on the Service Life of Indirectly Fastened Natural Stone Cladding
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 33, Issue 3
Abstract
Indirect fastening is not yet a well-vetted method for attaching stone cladding from the point of view of designers and contractors, and a high incidence of failures has been observed in the field, suggesting inadequate design or inappropriate installation specifications. In fact, it has been shown that inadequate design is often responsible for significant defects that subsequently arise over the course of the facade life cycle. This study is intended to help determine the influence of cladding design parameters on the service life of natural stone cladding with an indirect fastening system. For that purpose, a survey of the state of degradation of 142 buildings in the Lisbon area was performed, based on visual inspections that allow describing the extent of the cladding area affected by the different anomalies evident on the cladding. A weighted numerical index of the extent of the cladding’s degradation () is established, thereby allowing identifying both the positive and negative impacts of each design characteristic on the service life of an indirectly fastened natural stone cladding system. This study analyzes the influence of parameters such as the type, size, color, density, and type of finishing of the stone plates; the location of the cladding in the facade; and the characteristics of the fastening system. The results obtained reveal that claddings with larger stone plates, with natural stones of lower density, located in taller areas of the buildings and with dowels located at less than of the plate’s length from the corners present a higher incidence of defects, with higher deterioration rates. The information obtained in this study can be used by designers in order to mitigate the negative impact of some design characteristics, adopting adequate solutions that increase the durability and service life of indirectly fastened natural stone claddings.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the School of Architecture and Environmental Design from IUST, Iran University of Science & Technology (Tehran, Iran), and the CERIS Research Institute, IST, University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal), and FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) through project PTDC/ECM-COM/5772/2014.
References
Amaral, P., J. C. Fernandes, and L. G. Rosa. 2008. “Weibull statistical analysis of granite bending strength.” Rock Mech. Rock Eng. 41 (6): 917–928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-007-0154-7.
Basbagill, J., F. Flager, M. Lepech, and M. Fischer. 2013. “Application of life-cycle assessment to early stage building design for reduced embodied environmental impacts.” Build. Environ. 60: 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.11.009.
Chew, M., and P. Tan. 2003. “Facade staining arising from design features.” Constr. Build. Mater. 17 (3): 181–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-0618(02)00102-2.
Chin, I. R. 2000. “Common causes of failures of stone claddings on buildings.” In Dimension stone cladding: design, construction, evaluation, and repair. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Garden, G. 1980. “Design determines durability.” In Durability of building materials and components. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Gaspar, P. L., and J. de Brito. 2008. “Quantifying environmental effects on cement-rendered facades: A comparison between different degradation indicators.” Build. Environ. 43 (11): 1818–1828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2007.10.022.
Hsu, W., and B. Liu. 2000. “Conceptual design: Issues and challenges.” Comput.-Aided Des. 32 (14): 849–850. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-4485(00)00074-9.
ISO. 2011. Buildings and constructed assets: Service life planning. Part 1: General principles and framework. ISO 15686-1. Geneva: ISO.
Jin, Q., and M. Overend. 2014. “Sensitivity of façade performance on early-stage design variables.” Energy Build. 77: 457–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.03.038.
Karaca, Z. 2010. “Water absorption and dehydration of natural stones versus time.” Constr. Build. Mater. 24 (5): 786–790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2009.10.029.
Knaack, U., T. Klein, M. Bilow, and T. Auer. 2007. Principles of construction façades: Principles of construction, 36–51. Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser Basel.
Manning, P. 1995. “Environmental design as a routine.” Build. Environ. 30 (2): 181–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/0360-1323(94)00059-2.
Mora, R., G. Bitsuamlak, and M. Horvat. 2011. “Integrated life-cycle design of building enclosures.” Build. Environ. 46 (7): 1469–1479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.01.018.
Mousavi, S. H., A. Silva, J. de Brito, A. Ekhlasi, and S. B. Hosseini. 2017. “Service life prediction of dimension stone claddings with indirect fastening system.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 31 (4): 04017014. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001007.
Neto, N., and J. de Brito. 2012. “Validation of an inspection and diagnosis system for anomalies in natural stone cladding (NSC).” Constr. Build. Mater. 30: 224–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.12.032.
Nireki, T. 1996. “Service life design.” Constr. Build. Mater. 10 (5): 403–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/0950-0618(95)00045-3.
Ozcelik, Y., and A. Ozguven. 2014. “Water absorption and drying features of different natural building stones.” Constr. Build. Mater. 63: 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.04.030.
Pedreschi, R. 2013. “A feasibility study of post-tensioned stone for cladding.” Constr. Build. Mater. 43: 225–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.02.008.
Schouenborg, B., B. Grelk, and K. Malaga. 2007. “Testing and assessment of marble and limestone (TEAM)—Important results from a large European research project on cladding panels.” ASTM Int. 4 (5): 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1520/JAI100855.
Siedel, H., S. Siegesmund, and K. Sterflinger. 2011. “Characterisation of stone deterioration on buildings stone in architecture.” In Stone in architecture, edited by S. Siegesmund and R. Snethlage, 347–410. Berlin: Springer.
Silva, A., J. de Brito, and P. L. Gaspar. 2012. “Application of the factor method to maintenance decision support for stone cladding.” Autom. Constr. 22: 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2011.06.014.
Silva, A., J. de Brito, and P. L. Gaspar. 2016. Methodologies for service life prediction of buildings: With a focus on façade claddings. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Soronis, G. 1996. “Standards for design life of buildings: Utilization in the design process.” Constr. Build. Mater. 10 (7): 487–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/0950-0618(96)00018-9.
Sousa Camposinhos, R. D. 2014. Dowel anchorage stone cladding engineering, 103–117. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Tomaśić, I., D. Lukić, and N. Pećek. 2011. “Dynamics of capillary water absorption in natural stone.” Bull. Eng. Geol. Environ. 70 (4): 673–680. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-011-0355-x.
Urosevic, M., E. Sebastián, and C. Cardell. 2013. “An experimental study on the influence of surface finishing on the weathering of a building low-porous limestone in coastal environments.” Eng. Geol. 154: 131–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2012.12.013.
Westberg, K., J. Norén, and H. Kus. 2001. “On using available environmental data in service life estimations.” Build. Res. Inf. 29 (6): 428–439. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613210110055006.
Yılmaz, N. G., R. Mete Goktan, and Y. Kibici. 2011. “Relations between some quantitative petrographic characteristics and mechanical strength properties of granitic building stones.” Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 48 (3): 506–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2010.09.003.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 33 • Issue 3 • June 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 12, 2018
Accepted: Sep 20, 2018
Published online: Feb 20, 2019
Published in print: Jun 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jul 20, 2019
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.