Heat and moisture simulations of repair mortars benchmark experiments and practical cases in conservation

Abstract eng:
Simulation tools are increasingly used for assessment and design of buildings, also for architectural heritage. One specific type are so-called HAM (heat, air and moisture) simulations of porous materials, which can be very useful to assess the behaviour of repair mortars because hygrothermal conditions govern many decay mechanisms. Delphin is such a HAM simulation code which is used in this paper to demonstrate some of the possibilities for mortars in a number of practical cases. The first is a 2D assessment of the hygric interaction between mortar and brick. Next there are a series of 1D simulations of multi-layered porous systems. Issues like local alterations of transport properties and interface resistances are briefly discussed. The possibilities of simulations of the behaviour of salt solutions are introduced. In a last case, a procedure to assess the risk on frost damage is demonstrated. Finally some possible or desirable future developments are pointed out: incorporating climate change, combining HAM with other simulation methods and stochastic treatment of material parameters.

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