Applications of infrared thermography for the investigation of historic structures

Abstract

This paper contains an overview of infrared thermography and its applications relating to the investigation of historic structures. In particular, this state of the art, non-destructive technique was used for the assessment of various traditional–historical materials and structures after they had been conserved, restored or repaired using, depending on the case, different treatments. Non-destructive testing and evaluation was performed on the materials and structures in order to assess the physicochemical behaviour of conservation treatments such as stone cleaning, stone consolidation, repair mortars, as well as to disclose any substrate features, such as tesserae on plastered mosaic surfaces. Wherever necessary, the emissivity values of the investigated materials were taken into account, after their determination in the laboratory on representative samples. The outcome of this work provides strong evidence that infrared thermography is an effective technique for the evaluation of historic buildings and sites.