Salt transport and storage parameters of renovation plasters and their possible effects on restored buildings' walls

Three systems of brown coat-renovation plasters for restoration of building structures damaged by moisture and salt efflorescence are analyzed, and their properties are compared with reference lime plaster. In the experimental part, measurement of bulk density, matrix density, open porosity, pore distribution curves, chloride binding isotherms, moisture and chloride concentration profiles is performed. The obtained data are used in the calculations of moisture dependent moisture diffusivity and concentration dependent chloride diffusion coefficient. The experimental and computational results show that all three systems can have beneficial influence on the restored building structures but they should be used with caution, taking into account the properties of the material of load bearing wall and the conditions for water and salt transport in the wall including their possible sources after reconstruction. The measured water and salt transport and storage parameters may contribute to the improvements in service life assessment if they are used as input parameters in computational modeling of water and salt transport and accumulation in the load bearing wall-renovation plaster system. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.