NDTnet 1998 Aug, Vol.3 No.8

Abstract

Malpaga Castle courtyard (in Bergamo, northern Italy), it is a representative case in ancient buildings diagnosis of application and integration of NDT of moisture.
In the last two years in a wide research program thermograpies on the Romanino's frescoes (1530) have been taken and a new method of measure the transpirative flux has been applied. The test allowed to identify areas with the most concetration of water content. Frescoes on sight examination and the consequent map of decay are not correspondent to the effective humidity conditions. Air movements near the wet surface of the wall in the courtyard produces the major decayed surfaces. The rather that on the other side of the wall, inside the room, the lack of evaporation preserves the external layer, even if the water content in the wall it is the same in both sides. The eastern wall of the northern portico resulted the most affected by rising damp: the level of the wet zone and the water content were higher.
Consequently, the eastern wall has been further investigated by the tests presented in this paper.

Goals of these investigations were: to recognize the periodic or costant characteristics of the humidity presence, to measure the values, to give indications about of possible causes, given that from the previous tests resulted non homogeneous distribution of the damp zones in the wall. A new precise localization of the higher levels supplied useful information about the causes of the phenomenon in the building.
The use of different techniques allowed to confirm the results obtained and to value the riability of the different tests.

Abstract Source:
Book of Abstracts, 7th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, 26-29 May 1998, ISBN: 87-986898-0-00

Full-Text Source:
Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, 26-29 May 1998, ISBN:

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