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Laboratory simulation showing the influence of salt efflorescence on the weathering of composite building materials

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

A common decay scenario in old and new buildings was simulated: the effects on masonry structures of salt efflorescence or subefflorescence produced by the rise of saline solution. Eight different types of masonry wall each made up of a combination of different construction materials (brick, calcarenite and four types of mortar were combined as follows: pure lime mortar, mortar + air entraining agent, mortar + pozzolana, mortar + air entraining agent + pozzolana) have been tested. These materials have different textures (strong anisotropy in brick, irregular-shaped pores in calcarenite, retraction fissures or rounded pores in mortars which also show a reduction of porosity along the contact area with the stone), different hydric behaviours (under total immersion brick + mortar specimens absorb water faster than calcarenite + mortar specimens) and different pore size distribution (brick shows unimodal pore distribution, whereas calcarenite and mortars are bimodal). In the salt weathering test, mortars interlayered with masonry blocks did not act as sacrificial layers. In fact, they allowed salts to rise through them and crystallize on the brick or calcarenite pieces causing the masonry structure to decay. Only the addition of an air-entraining agent partially hindered the capillary rise of the salt-laden solutions.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship of the European Community Programme “Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development” under contract number EVK4-CT-2002-50006, the Research Group RNM179 of the Junta de Andalucía and the Research Project DGI MAT2000-06804. We thank the Centro de Instrumentación Científica of the Universidad de Granada for technical assistance during FESEM analyses and Nigel Walkington for the translation of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, University of Granada, Avda. Fuentenueva s/n, 18002, Granada, Spain

    G. Cultrone & E. Sebastián

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  1. G. Cultrone
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Correspondence to G. Cultrone.

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Cultrone, G., Sebastián, E. Laboratory simulation showing the influence of salt efflorescence on the weathering of composite building materials. Environ Geol 56, 729–740 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1332-y

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