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Durability Assessment of Stone-Built Heritage

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 1339

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Barreiro School of Technology-Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, Rua Américo da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal
Interests: conservation of stone; rock and soil mechanics; geotechnical works; energy

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, NOVA University of Lisbon, Caparica, Portugal
Interests: strengthening of structures; FRP composite structures; stone masonry structures; precast concrete structures; cyclic tests; materials and durability
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stone is one of the most durable materials used by mankind to create art, shelter and life-support infrastructures. Remarkable evidence of human building and conservation skills is demonstrated by the stone monuments of several civilizations. Weathering is responsible for the natural degradation of stone and other building materials, as it caused due to deterioration agents changing their chemical/mineralogical, physical and mechanical properties. The assessment of weathering in time has provided major insight into estimating the durability of ancient building materials through the results of destructive, quasi non-destructive and non-destructive tests and observations carried out to obtain its properties’ evolution. In the laboratory, accelerated ageing tests are being utilized to artificially deteriorate building materials as an approach to achieve natural or outdoor weathering occurrence. Surveying and modelling the progression of weathering on the building materials of stone-built heritage has been the most frequently used way to contribute to the knowledge of durability regarding these materials.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following, which are related to the topic of durability:

  • Bio-weathering;
  • Chemical weathering;
  • Physical and mechanical weathering;
  • Art history;
  • Conservation;
  • Architectural heritage;
  • AI and machine learning;
  • Economic, social and environmental impact of stone-built weathering;
  • Weathering and durability on decision-making ability.

Dr. Marco Ludovico Marques
Prof. Dr. Carlos Chastre
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • durability
  • stone heritage
  • weathering
  • building materials

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

25 pages, 10232 KiB  
Article
Modelling the Mechanical Effect of Salt Weathering on Historical Sandstone Blocks through Microdrilling
by Marco Ludovico-Marques and Carlos Chastre
Sustainability 2024, 16(15), 6277; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156277 - 23 Jul 2024
Viewed by 776
Abstract
The durability of sandstones of historical building materials and geoheritage landforms is a major issue that requires an assessment methodology to follow salt weathering evolution. The building blocks of monuments support decorative carvings and reliefs that are outstanding testimonies of human activity. An [...] Read more.
The durability of sandstones of historical building materials and geoheritage landforms is a major issue that requires an assessment methodology to follow salt weathering evolution. The building blocks of monuments support decorative carvings and reliefs that are outstanding testimonies of human activity. An evaluation based on quasi- and non-destructive testing is a reliable and generally accepted way of testing and inspecting historical building materials. Compression tests were performed on specimens of similar building sandstones extracted close to those of from St. Leonard’s Middle Ages Church, and microdrilling tests were carried out on adequate blocks of this monument. The locations of the latter tests were determined using the results of low-pressure water absorption tests, which contributed to finding a link between the sandstone specimens and the building blocks of the monument. This innovative methodology was used to generate simulated stress–strain diagrams of the building blocks of this church based on drilling strength results, avoiding the cutting of specimens from the façades with the sizes needed to ensure the mechanical validity of the results. A good agreement between the predicted and experimental stress–strain curves was achieved. The stress–strain curves of sound stones from historical building blocks and of their weathered envelopes are shown. The evolution of weathering profiles can be followed through the analysis of stress–strain diagrams, allowing an assessment of structural stability, which is essential to the study of the durability of historical building sandstones. This innovative methodology allows the adequate conservation of monuments and is a contribution to the knowledge of sustainable cultural tourism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability Assessment of Stone-Built Heritage)
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