| Abstrakt: |
Historic masonry has a rich and colorful history making it a treasured part in our society. To preserve and protect this heritage, adequate moisture control, retrofit and restauration strategies are required. However, due to the large range of material properties, inherent to historic brickwork, measuring every single parameter for every case and each material is unfeasible. In prior research, a clustering scheme was developed for 15 bricks, representing the wide variety in practice. The basic concept was that bricks with similar hygrothermal response behavior are clustered together based on their physical appearances. This could help improve existing retrofit practice by reducing characterization processes and minimizing expensive and time-consuming measuring tests. In the clustering process, a high dependency on the rain exposure was noticed. Climate and geographical location define the severity, duration and the number of rainfall events which have a direct impact on the liquid water penetration depth, the moisture content and distribution in the wall. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test the robustness of the developed methodology for brick clustering in different climate conditions. A comparison is made between the Test Reference Year of Essen, the Moisture Reference Year of Brussels and the climate conditions of Milan and London. The response behavior was evaluated based on hygrothermal simulations to see whether bricks in the same cluster show similar degradation risks under different climate conditions. Sensitivity analysis was used to study the response behavior based on three degradations risks: mould growth, wood rot and frost damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
