Abstract
The high hygroscopicity and heterogeneity of parchment make it particularly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions. The proper housing of a historical parchment, including mounting should mitigate the impact of the changes on the object. However, finding an appropriate mounting method requires detailed knowledge of the mechanical response of a parchment on the combined influence from environmental changes and forces introduced by the mounting. In this paper we present the capabilities of 3D digital image correlation (3D DIC) method implemented for full-field, spatio-temporal monitoring of displacements and strains in parchment exposed to environmental changes. We combine the measurement concept with the particular, critical task of evaluating the effectiveness of stabilising a single sheet of parchment mounted using elastic polyester strips. 3D DIC is implemented to record in non-invasive and non-contact way the full-field response of parchment mock-ups to fluctuations of the relative humidity (RH) without interfering with the climatic chamber processes. We measure and compare the impact of fluctuating RH on unmounted and mounted parchment samples, through the full-field 3D measurements of dimensional changes at selected humidity levels, and through the local and global analysis of the samples’ response (displacement/strains) in time. We had proven in quantitative and detailed way that the applied mount fully fulfils its task, namely reduce significantly the out-of-plane displacements and strains occurring in the parchment during RH changes in the range from 39 to 80%. Our study also demonstrates the possibilities of using 3D DIC for the efficient support of conservation scientists in the development of storage, mounting, and treatment protocols for historical parchment.
Highlights
Since ancient and medieval times, parchments have been the carrier of a significant part of cultural heritage—the most important religious, literary, and scientific treatises of its time [1]
Using 3D digital image correlation method (DIC) we were able to record in real time the full field response of parchment mock-ups to fluctuations of the relative humidity, in a non-invasive and non-contact way, without interfering with the climatic chamber processes
The most significant change corresponded to the 80% of relative humidity, which lead to the maximum detected out-of-plane displacements
Summary
Since ancient and medieval times, parchments have been the carrier of a significant part of cultural heritage—the most important religious, literary, and scientific treatises of its time [1]. They can take the form of single sheets, scrolls, or books. Parchment’s structure consists of collagen made up of a sequence of amino acids linked into a polypeptide chain whose spiralling triple structure quantitatively dominates the molecule [6, 12]. The presence of amino acids with polar side chains determines the strongly hygroscopic nature of parchment [6, 11]. The knowledge on the interaction of parchment with environmental factors such as moisture is an important aspect for the preservation and storage of parchment-based artefacts
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