Pathology of Building Materials in Historic Buildings. Relationship Between Laboratory Testing and Infrared Thermography

Abstract

Study of historic buildings requires a pathology analysis of the construction materials used in order to define their conservation state. Usually we can find capillary moisture, salt crystallization or density differences by deterioration. Sometimes this issue is carried out by destructive testing which determine materials' physical and chemical characteristics. However, they are unfavorable regarding the building's integrity, and they are sometimes difficult to implement. This paper presents a technique using infrared thermography to analyze the existing pathology and has the advantage of being able to diagnose inaccessible areas in buildings. The results obtained by this technique have been compared with those obtained in the laboratory, in order to validate this study and thus to extrapolate the methodology to other buildings and materials. RESUMEN: Patología de materiales de construcción en edificios históricos. Relación entre ensayos de laboratorio y termografía infrarroja.El estudio de edificios históricos requiere un análisis de la patología de los materiales de construcción empleados para poder definir su estado de conservación. Habitualmente nos encontramos con humedades por capilaridad, cristalización de sales o diferencias de densidad por deterioro. En ocasiones esto se lleva a cabo mediante ensayos destructivos que nos determinan las características físicas y químicas de los materiales, pero que resultan desfavorables respecto a la integridad del edificio, y en ocasiones resulta complejo llevarlos a cabo. Este trabajo presenta una técnica para analizar la patología existente mediante el empleo de termografía infrarroja con la ventaja de poder diagnosticar zonas de difícil acceso en los edificios. Para validar este estudio se han comparado los resultados obtenidos mediante esta técnica con los alcanzados en el laboratorio. De esta forma podemos extrapolar la metodología empleada a otros edificios y materiales.

Cracks Studies Case of Buildings in Sinop City - Brazil

“…According to their opening, they are classified as thin, medium and wide, but, nevertheless, other authors propose different scales, also according to their openness, such as: very slight, mild, moderate and severe; or very mild, mild, moderate, extensive and very extensive. According to their activity, cracks can be active and passive, distinguishing themselves from being or not having variations in their opening [2,3,11,12].…”

“…This results in problems that can be corrected in several phases and a building, both in the design, execution and building use, given that the literature gives indications that sooner their diagnoses and their possible solutions are started, less is the monetary value involved [3].…”

Methodology for Thermal Behaviour Assessment of Homogeneous Façades in Heritage Buildings

“…The best option is passive thermography when large surfaces are studied because it fits the real situation very well [27], for example, the façades of buildings, especially if they are located in an urban environment where the streets are narrow. Passive thermography has also been used to assess the effect of leakage points in buildings [28].…”

Transient Infrared Measurement of Laser Absorption Properties of Porous Materials

“…It has unique properties, resulting from the ability of performing contactless measurements of the whole of the investigated surface in a very short time. The intensive investigations of the internal structure of porous building materials are carried out with the use of infrared thermography, including crack formation [1], salinity of material [2], moisture migration problems [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8] or murals damage evaluation [9]. The separate group of investigations concern thermal properties estimation of the materials.…”