Degradation Assessment of Natural Stone Claddings over Their Service Life: Comparison between Tehran (Iran) and Lisbon (Portugal)

S H Mousavi,A Ekhlassi,Jorge De Brito,Ana Silva,S B Hosseini

doi:10.3390/buildings11100438

Abstract

Now more than ever, the construction sector is aiming to adopt more sustainable solutions. To achieve this purpose, more durable solutions must be adopted, making rational decisions at the design and maintenance stages regarding the conditions of environmental exposure and use. In this sense, knowledge regarding the service life of building components is crucial. This knowledge should not be a general concept, or a standard value, and adapting practices from one country to another is extremely challenging. In this sense, this study analyses the service life of natural stone claddings. We adopt a methodology initially proposed for Lisbon (Portugal), intending to evaluate its applicability to other geographical contexts, in order to perform a more reliable service life prediction of stone claddings located in Tehran (Iran). An estimated service life of 65 years was obtained for a sample of 162 stone claddings directly adhered to the substrate, located in Tehran, which were analysed by in situ inspections. The impact of different conditions (e.g., type of stone and environmental exposure conditions) on the service life of stone claddings in Tehran was quantified, which revealed that the exposure to environmental agents, such as wind, rain and pollutants, is the main cause of degradation of the natural stone claddings.

Highlights

The durability of buildings is one of the fundamental elements in assessing the quality of life of contemporary societies and is indispensable to their social and economic stability [1]
The methodology applied in this study was initially developed for rendered façades in Lisbon [14], with the aim of being a general framework for predicting the service life of building elements
The authors mentioned that this method could be applied to other elements and to other geographical contexts

Summary

Introduction

The durability of buildings is one of the fundamental elements in assessing the quality of life of contemporary societies and is indispensable to their social and economic stability [1]. The durability of buildings can be jeopardised by increasing the degradation of their components, resulting from the natural ageing process of materials [2], leading to the loss of a building’s performance [3]. Due to this degradation process, the buildings tend to become obsolete and unable to meet the performance demands established during the design stage [4]. Building components are categorised in various studies [7,8,9,10] according to the time they take to reach the end of their service life, i.e., as durability layers. The adoption of natural stone as a cladding solution is growing due to its durability and mechanical strength [13]

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Methods

Conclusion