Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The behaviour of water-repellent mortars with regards to salt crystallization: from mortar specimens to masonry/render systems

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Materials and Structures Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study is specifically concerned with the behaviour of water-repellent mortar specimens and masonry–render systems upon the penetration and crystallization of salt solutions. Portland limestone cement, natural hydraulic lime and Pozzolana lime were admixed with siloxanes and calcium stearates to obtain water-repellent mortars and renders. In order to select the most suitable water-repellent mixtures in the presence of salt solutions, investigations were carried out upon mono-material mortar specimens and macro-samples (masonry–render systems). Alongside pore structure characterization, the behaviour in connection with water and mechanical properties were determined. In addition, a non-invasive diagnostic methodology is proposed for the study of masonry macrosamples, including thermal imaging, water absorption at low pressure, and sclerometric measurments. The results revealed the difference between the behaviour of the mortar specimens in comparison to the masonry/render systems. Among the mortar specimens, Portland limestone cement mixtures demonstrated better resistance to salt crystallization, whilst those of natural hydraulic lime showed a longer service life, when applied as renders to masonry subjected to rising damp of sodium sulphate solution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bakolas A, Biscontin G, Moropoulou A, Zendri E (1996) Salt impact on brickwork along the canals of venice. Mater Struct 29:47–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Benavente D, Garcia del Cura MA, Garcia-Guinea J, Sanchez- Moral S, Ordònez S (2004) Role of pore structure in salt crystallization in unsaturated porous stone. J Cryst Growth 260(2004):532–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Charola AE (2000) Salts in the deterioration of porous materials: an overview. J Am Inst Conserv 39:327–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Foraboschi P, Vanin A (2014) Experimental investigation on bricks from historical Venetian buildings subjected to moisture and salt crystallization. Eng Fail Anal 45:185–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Scherer GW (2000) Stress from crystallization of salt in pores. In: 9th international congress on deterioration and conservation of stone, Venice, 19–24 June 2000

  6. Verhoef LGW (2001) Water-A Paradox, the prerequisite of life but the cause of decay. In: Proceedings of the conference Hydrophobe III surface technology with water repellent agents. Aedificatio Publisher, Zurich, pp 21–36

  7. Franzoni E (2014) Rising damp removal from historical masonries: a still open challenge. Constr Build Mater 54:123–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lanzón M, Garcia Ruiz PA (2008) Effectiveness and durability evaluation of rendering mortars made with metallic soaps and powdered silicone. Constr Build Mater 22:2308–2315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Maravelaki-Kalaitzaki P (2007) Hydraulic lime mortars with siloxane for waterproofing historic masonry. Cem Concr Res 37(2):283–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Pavlíková M, Pavlík Z, Keppert M, Černý R (2011) Salt transport and storage parameters of renovation plasters and their possible effects on restored buildings’ walls. Constr Build Mater 25:1205–1212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Biscontin G, Driussi G (1988) Indagini preliminari sull’azione di intonaci traspiranti su murature umide a Venezia. Recuperare 34:225–229

    Google Scholar 

  12. Groot C, van Hees R, Wijffels T (2009) Selection of plasters and renders for salt laden masonry substrates. Constr Build Mater 23(5):1743–1750

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. van Hees R, Naldini S, Lubelli B (2009) The development of MDDS-COMPASS. Compatibility of plasters with salt loaded substrates. Construction and Building Materials 23 (5):1719-1730

  14. Falchi L, Müller U, Fontana P, Izzo FC, Zendri E (2013) Influence and effectiveness of water-repellent admixtures on pozzolana–lime mortars for restoration application. Constr Build Mater 49:272–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Karoglou MA, Bakolas Kouloumbi N, Moropoulou A (2011) Reverse engineering methodology for studying historic buildings coatings: the case study of the Hellenic Parliament neoclassical building. Prog Org Coat 72(1–2):202–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Sabbioni C, Bonazza A, Zappia G (2002) Damage on hydraulic mortars: the Venice Arsenal. J Cult Herit 3(1):83–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Binda L, Baronio G (1987) Mechanisms of masonry decay due to salt crystallization. J Durab Build Mater 4:227–240

    Google Scholar 

  18. Binda L, Baronio G (1985) Alteration of the mechanical properties of masonry prisms due to aging. In: McNeilly T, Scrivener JC (eds) Proceedings of the 7th international brick masonry conference, pp 605–616

  19. Lubelli B, Van Hees RPJ, Groot CJWP (2006) Sodium chloride crystallization in a “salt transporting” restoration plaster. Cem Concr Res 36(8):1467–1474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Diaz Gonçalves T (2007) Salt crystallization in plastered or rendered walls. PhD Thesis, supervisor Delgado Rodrigues J, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Lisbon. http://www-ext.lnec.pt/LNEC/bibliografia/DM/TG_PhDthesisMar2008.pdf

  21. RILEM MS A.1 (1998) Determination of the resistance of wallettes against sulphates and chlorides MS-A.2—Uni-directional salt crystallization test for masonry units. Mater Struct 31:2–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Petković J, Huinink HP, Pel L, Kopinga K, van Hees RPJ (2007) Salt transport in plaster/substrate layers. Mater Struct 40:475–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Petković J, Huinink HP, Pel L, Kopinga K, van Hees RPJ (2010) Moisture and salt transport in three-layer plaster/substrate systems. Constr Build Mater 24:118–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Falchi L, Zendri E, Müller U, Fontana P (2015) The influence of water-repellent admixtures on the behaviour and the effectiveness of Portland limestone cement mortars. Cem Concr Compos 59:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Lanas J, Bernal P, Bello MA, Galindo A (2004) Mechanical properties of natural hydraulic lime-based mortars. Cem Concr Res 34(12):2191–2201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Binda L, Charola AE, Baronio G (1985) Deterioration of porous materials due to salt crystallization under different thermohygrometric conditions. I Brick. Presses polytechnique romande, Lausanne, pp 279–288

    Google Scholar 

  27. Zendri E, Falchi L, Balliana E, Izzo FC, Biscontin G (2014) Impact of climate change on historic architectural surfaces of the Venetian area. In: Proceedings of Società Italiana per le Scienze del Clima, Climate change: scenarios, impacts and policy, pp 991–1003

  28. Moropoulou A, Labropoulos KC, Delegou ET, Karoglou M, Bakolas A (2013) Non-destructive techniques as a tool for the protection of built cultural heritage. Constr Build Mater 48:1222–1239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. EN 197-1:2011 European standard, cement—part 1. Composition, specification and conformity criteria for common cements

  30. Falchi L, Varin C, Toscano G, Zendri E (2015) Statistical analysis of the physical properties and durability of water-repellent mortars made with limestone cement, natural hydraulic lime and pozzolana-lime. Constr Build Mater 78:260–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. EN 196-1:2005 Methods of testing cement—part 1: determination of strength. European Committee for Standardization

  32. EN 12370 Natural stone test methods—Determination of resistance to salt crystallization

  33. Cardell C, Benavente D, Rodríguez-Gordillo J (2008) Weathering of limestone building material by mixed sulfate solutions. Characterization of stone microstructure, reaction products and decay forms. Mater Charact 59(10):1371–1385. doi:10.1016/j.matchar.2007.12.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. UNI Normal 4/80 Italian Normative on stone material. Distribution of pores volume vs their diameter

  35. UNI NorMaL 13/83 Italian normative on stone material—determination of the content of soluble salts with conductivity measurments

  36. EN 1015-18:1999 Methods of test for mortar for masonry—part 18: determination of water absorption coefficient due to capillary action of hardened rendering mortar. European Committee for Standardization

  37. EN 12390-3:2009 Testing hardened concrete. Compressive strength of test specimens. European Committee for Standardization

  38. Grinzato E, Bressan C, Marinetti S, Bison PG, Bonacina C (2002) Monitoring of the scrovegni chapel by IR thermography: giotto at infrared. J Infrared Phys Technol 43(3–5):165–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. UNI NorMaL 44/93 Italian normative on stone material—water absorption at low pressure

  40. Li W, Wittman FH, Jiang R, Zhao T, Wolfseher R (2011) Metal soaps for the production of integral water repellent Concrete. In: Borelli E, Fassina V (eds) Proceedings of Hydrophobe VI, 6th international conference on water repellent treatment of building materials. Aedificatio Publisher, Freiburg, pp 145–154

    Google Scholar 

  41. Lubelli B, Van Hees RPI, Huinink HP, Groot CJWP (2006) Irreversible dilation of NaCl contaminated lime–cement mortar due to crystallization cycles. Cem Concr Res 36(4):678–687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Wijffels T, Lubelli B (2006) Development of a new accelerated salt crystallization test. Special Issue: COMPASS. Heron J 51(1). http://heronjournal.nl/51-1/2006_1.html

  43. Delgado Rodriguez J, Verges-Belmin V (2005) A proposal for classification of salt crystallization behaviour of plasters and renders. EU-COMPASS final report, TNO 2006 D-R0461. COMPASS – compatibility of plasters and renders with salt loaded substrates in historic buildings

  44. Lubelli B, de Rooij MR (2009) NaCl crystallization in restoration plasters. Constr Build Mater 23:1736–1742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Diaz Gonçalves T (2010–2013) DRYMASS project drying of porous building materials possibly contaminated with soluble salts. PTDC/ECM/100553/2008. http://www-ext.lnec.pt/drymass/index.html

Download references

Acknowledgments

The Authors acknowledge Italian Ministery of Education MIUR for funding the doctorate grant “Study of water repellent system for the preservation and restoration of artificial stone materials”. The authors want to thank Jade Straker for her linguistic support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Scientific Campus of Via Torino 155/eta, 30170, Venice, Italy

    Laura Falchi, Elisabetta Zendri & Eleonora Capovilla

  2. FisTec Lab, Department of Design and Planning in Complex Environments, IUAV University, via Torino 153/A, 30170, Venice, Italy

    Piercarlo Romagnoni & Massimiliano De Bei

Authors
  1. Laura Falchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elisabetta Zendri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eleonora Capovilla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Piercarlo Romagnoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Massimiliano De Bei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Falchi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Falchi, L., Zendri, E., Capovilla, E. et al. The behaviour of water-repellent mortars with regards to salt crystallization: from mortar specimens to masonry/render systems. Mater Struct 50, 66 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-016-0891-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-016-0891-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation