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All content following this page was uploaded by Miloš Drdácký on 23 December 2015.
Keywords: small-sample non-standard testing, lime, historic mortar, compression strength, bending strength, size
effect
INTRODUCTION
Research into historic mortars has traditionally focused on studies of chemical and
mineralogical composition or appearance features, rather than on mechanical characteristics.
Such an approach has been limited by the problem that it is not acceptable to extract test
specimens of the large volume required by the testing standards, and by a lack of reliable non-
standard testing methods for small-size specimens.
Though the problem of obtaining considerable quantities of test material from historic
architecture remains, some new non-standard testing approaches and more developed techniques
have led to improvements in the investigation of the mechanical characteristics of historic
mortars [1], [2].
This paper presents the development of some non-standard testing methods and discusses
typical problems in applying them in practice. Then we present and comment on the results of
tests on a series of historic mortars from different historic periods and from a range of European
countries. The extent of the tests does not enable us to draw very general or widely valid
conclusions, but some interesting results may help in the search for long-term durable lime
mortar technologies.
The general requirement for a low-invasive survey and testing methodology when
investigating historic structures means that material samples can be extracted only in small
amounts and with limited dimensions. In the case of mortars taken from bed or butt joints, the
maximum thickness of a test specimen is around 20 mm, and it is not possible to form a classical
standard specimen. Several non-standard techniques have been developed to overcome these
obstacles. In this paper we focus on direct methods for measuring mechanical characteristics, and
do not discuss other NDT or MDT approaches, which also provide useful data.
When deciding about test types for historic mortars, the purpose should be taken into account.
We can basically distinguish between tests of material characteristics for scientific purposes, for
designing a compatible replacement or filling material, and for redesigning a masonry structure
or strengthening it for a change of use. In all cases, small sample size is an intrinsic problem, and
the tests will lack the required statistical significance.
COMPRESSION TESTS
Figure 2. The tendency for an increase in lime mortar compression strength in relation to
the slenderness.
time-consuming. In most cases, the compressed surfaces need to be supplemented with a
levelling layer. For this reason, specimens in the shape of irregular mortar “cakes“ from the
masonry joint have been preferred for compression tests in recent times. The thickness of the
joint is usually levelled with gypsum, sulphur cement mortar or polymer mortars to a constant
dimension, or one surface of the sample is original and only “planed” by grinding, and the other
irregular surface is levelled (Figure 1).
It has been known since the 19th century that the size of a testing specimen has a significant
influence on the measured strength, and numerous forms for transferring the attained
characteristics of concrete and cement mortars to the standard values have been proposed, e.g.
[4]. The correction functions also depend on the length of the specimen edge, on the sand
maximum grain, and on the quality of the mortar. All previous literature has reported on cement
mortars and little work has been done on pure lime mortars and specimens less than 2 cm in
thickness. Fig. 2 shows a typical increase in mortar strength in relation to the thickness (or in
relation to the slenderness) of the specimen h/a, where h denotes the thickness of the specimen
and a is its base edge). The decrease in the specimen base edge usually causes an increase in the
measured strength of the order of percents, e.g., about 5% for a reduction from 40 mm to 20 mm.
BENDING TESTS
SHEAR TESTS
The non-standard compression and bending tests are accompanied by shear tests derived from
the methodology for shear testing of soils, (in cooperation with Prof. Ivo Herle from TU
Dresden). For tests of this
type, a specimen of any
convex shape is embedded
into a block of stiff material,
e.g., epoxy resin divided into
halves, Fig.5. The dividing
plane is provided with a
separation and a sliding
layer. Then the block is
tested in a simple shear box
and the measured normal and
shear stress is evaluated
using the standard soil
mechanics methodology. The
broken parts from the
Figure 5. A halved block of epoxy resin with a small-size
bending tests can be
embedded specimen after the shear test.
advantageously re-used in the
shear tests.
RESULTS FROM TESTS ON A RANGE OF MORTARS
Selected results from tests on historic mortars will now be presented. The series of tests
included mortars of various ages – from Roman through medieval, till late baroque and
classicism. The specimens were extracted from structures located in various environments in
various countries. A range of tests were performed on most of them, and we are able to study
some correlations.
The most interesting data concerns the medieval mortars dating mostly from the 12th to 14th
century. These mortars mostly exhibit quite high strength, especially in bending, see Table 2. The
measured compression strength has been reduced using the formula given in Figure 2.
(The strength values in the Table are the ultimate stresses at the moment of collapse of the
tested specimens). No correction for the length of the base edge has been applied. This might
further reduce the “standard size” compression strength values by about 20% and the bending
“standard size” strength values by about maximum 30%, as can be seen from the Table 1. There
is not enough data or knowledge of the size effects for a better evaluation of the results from a
small sample of non-standard specimens.
However, the tests indicate that 2500
there are apparent tendencies
toward simple and direct
2000
interdependencies among some
parameters. Firstly, there is
confirmation of a strong linearly 1500
Density
reciprocal relation of density to
porosity, and therefore also other 1000
strength and the bending strength, Figure 6. Relation of porosity to density of mortars.
with all consequences yielding
from the relations between density 2500
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge support from GACR grants 103/06/1609 and
AV0Z20710524. The proteins were carefully identified by Dr. Štěpánka Kučková, and the
physical characteristics of the mortars were identified by Dr. Jan Válek.
Štamberk vzorek č. 1
a.i.
a.i.
10000
8000 8000
6000
6000
4000
4000
2000
2000
Figure 8. Mass spectrum of a Štamberk sample (left) with marked peptide fragments of milk
proteins and Znojmo 1 (right) with fragments of milk proteins (dots) and fragment of glue
(rectangles).
INFORMATION ON AUTHORS
M. Drdácký, Director
Z. Slížková, Head of Department of Particulate Media
Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech
Republic, v.v.i., Prosecká 76, Praha 9, 19000, Czech Republic,
drdacky@itam.cas.cz, slizkova@itam.cas.cz
REFERENCES
1. Drdácký, M., Slížková, Z., Vavřík, D. 2005. Identification of historic materials using tests on
small samples, 2nd International Conference on Hazards and Modern Heritage, Kos (Greece)
2. Drdácký, M.F., Michoinová, D. 2003. Lime mortars with natural fibres. Proc. Int. Symp.
Brittle Matrix Composites 7, (A.M.Brandt, V.C.Li and I.H.Marshall, eds.). ZTUREK RSI and
Woodhead Publ., Warsaw: 523-532
3. Van Balen, K.: Weaker may be better: insights into the durability of lime,
http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/bwk/ materials/Research/KVB/GCI_2/GCI_2.htm
4. Horký, B., Dohnálek, J. 1982. Vliv velikosti a štíhlosti nestandardních zkušebních těles na
pevnost malt a betonů v tlaku. Report No.512, Stavební ústav ČVUT (Building Research Institut
of CTU), Praha : 136 p.
5. Drdácký, M., Slížková, Z., Zeman, A. 2006. Analysis and restoration of an exterior plaster
floor of the 19th Century. Heritage, Weathering and Conservation (Fort, Alvarez de Buergo,
Gomez-Heras, Vazquez-Calvo, eds.). Taylor & Francis Group, London: 961-968.
6. Cikrle P., Drdácký M., Lesák J., Slížková Z., Untergutsch A., Válek J., Vavřík D. and Zíma P.
2005. Small sample testing, Final report of the FP5 EC project EVK4-2001-00091/ EVK4-CT-
2001-00060 “ONSITEFORMASONRY”
7. Kučková, S., Hynek, R., Kodíček, M. 2007. Identification of proteinaceous binders used in
artworks by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem. 388(1): 201-206.
M.Drdácký, Z.Slížková
MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HISTORIC MORTARS FROM TESTS ON SMALL SAMPLE
NON-STANDARD SPECIMENS
The mechanical characteristics of historic mortars have been studied by means of tests of small sample non-standard
size specimens typically extracted from bed or butt joints or from the rendering of historic masonry. They include a
range of European mortars from various structures (castles, bridges, houses), from various periods (from C4th BC to
C21st) and of various compositions. Three testing methods are described: compression tests on specimens with a very
low slenderness ratio, bending tests on mortar pieces extended by wooden prostheses, and shear box tests of irregular
small-size pieces of mortar embedded into two blocks of a stiff matrix and bridging these two blocks along the
sliding plane. The paper reviews the characteristics and presents the results in tables, together with some
observations concerning the influence of physical characteristics, chemical composition, binder modifications or
additives (organic and inorganic), grain size of sand, age, size effects, etc.