Application of Ceramic Powder as Supplementary Cementitious Material in Lime Plasters

In this paper, the properties of plasters based on lime – brick powder binder of varying composition (ceramics content from 0 to 80 %) are studied. The plasters are prepared with a constant water amount. The pore size distribution is thus influenced in a positive way; the total porosity increases with the ceramics content but the volume of capillary pores is reduced. It results in lower water vapor diffusion resistance factor while the apparent moisture diffusivity coefficient increases just moderately. The influence of ceramic on strength of plasters is not found very important. The thermal conductivity of plasters containing ceramics is lower than those with the pure lime what is again in agreement with the pore size distribution. It can be concluded that fine brick powder can be used as pozzolanic admixture in lime based plasters with a positive influence on its functional parameters

Service Life Assessment of Historical Building Envelopes Constructed Using Different Types of Sandstone: A Computational Analysis Based on Experimental Input Data

Service life assessment of three historical building envelopes constructed using different types of sandstone is presented. At first, experimental measurements of material parameters of sandstones are performed to provide the necessary input data for a subsequent computational analysis. In the second step, the moisture and temperature fields across the studied envelopes are calculated for a representative period of time. The computations are performed using dynamic climatic data as the boundary conditions on the exterior side of building envelope. The climatic data for three characteristic localities are experimentally determined by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and contain hourly values of temperature, relative humidity, rainfalls, wind velocity and direction, and sun radiation. Using the measured durability properties of the analyzed sandstones and the calculated numbers of freeze/thaw cycles under different climatic conditions, the service life of the investigated building envelopes is assessed. The obtained results show that the climatic conditions can play a very significant role in the service life assessment of historical buildings, even in the conditions of such a small country as the Czech Republic. In addition, the investigations reveal the importance of the material characteristics of sandstones, in particular the hygric properties, on their service life in a structure

Water Vapor Diffusion and Adsorption of Sandstones: Influence of Rock Texture and Composition

The term sandstone is used for wide range of rocks containing quartz clasts which can be cemented by secondary precipitated quartz or calcite; moreover the space between clasts can be filled by matrix. These facts result in existence of numerous rocks having highly various properties. Sandstones have been used as construction materials due to their good accessibility and workability. Since most of sandstones are porous, water vapor can penetrate through sandstone constructions. The rate of water vapor diffusion, as well as the vapor sorption isotherm, was determined for range of sandstone types. The diffusion resistance factor was found to be dependent on the total porosity of sandstone but the sorption behavior was strongly influenced by nature of the particular sandstone; the specific surface area of stone and presence of clay matrix are determining its sorption isotherm. The published data enable estimating (i) diffusion resistance factor of a sandstone via knowledge of its total porosity and (ii) the sorption isotherm via knowledge of the stone’s nature and specific surface area. This approach can significantly reduce the time necessary to acquire vapor-related properties of a sandstone