1. Deterioration Effects on Bricks Masonry in the Venice Lagoon Cultural Heritage: Study of the Main Façade of the Santa Maria dei Servi Church (14th Century)
- Author
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Coletti, Chiara, Cesareo, Ludovica Pia, Nava, Jacopo, Germinario, Luigi, Maritan, Lara, Massironi, Matteo, and Mazzoli, claudio
- Subjects
construction materials ,Archeology ,Venice lagoon ,Materials Science (miscellaneous) ,firing process ,Conservation ,cultural heritage ,decay ,bricks ,historical building ,weathering process ,salt crystallization ,bricks, cultural heritage, decay, weathering process, damage, historical building, construction materials, firing process, salt crystallization, Venice lagoon ,damage - Abstract
Tidal exchange, capillary rise, water condensation-evaporation cycles, and crystallizationof salts are the main causes of damage in historic brick buildings in Venice. The present studyaddressed these issues by proposing a study of twenty-three brick samples collected on the mainfaçade of the Santa Maria dei Servi Church (14th century). The color, mineralogical composition, and texture of these samples were studied using standard methods such as spectrophotometry,X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), optical microscopy (OM), and field emission scanning electronmicroscopy (FESEM). The presence of carbonates (calcite and dolomite) and newly formed silicatephases, such as gehlenite and diopside, provided indications of the temperatures reached during firing and suggested the absence of a good standardization in the production process. Meanwhile,XRPD and hyperspectral analysis (HA) detected sulfates (e.g., gypsum and mirabilite) as the mainweathering products due to the salt decay process that affects monuments in the Venice lagoonenvironment. Moreover, secondary phases, such as Mg- and Ca-zeolites, occurred in bricks where thegroundmass observed by OM was more vitrificated, and the XRPD patterns displayed the highestamorphous content. On-site mapping of sulfates and chlorophyll by HA was also performed on themain façade of the Church, highlighting the large presence of salts and biodeterioration.
- Published
- 2023
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