Abstract
Good conservation and restoration practices of cultural heritage assets rely on the knowledge of original materials. In the framework of the HERACLES Project (HERACLES—HEritage Resilience Against CLimate Events on Site, H2020 Grant Agreement 700395), dealing with the effects of climatic actions and natural hazards on built heritage, a set of important heritage sites are currently under study to improve their resilience against climate events. Among these are the medieval Gubbio Town Walls in Italy. The present work focuses on the mortars and binders of this monument and collected samples related to different parts of the Walls, corresponding to various historical periods of construction and interventions. They were characterized to determine their minerochemical composition, thermal behavior, and morphology. For that purpose, ex-situ laboratory techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF), optical microscopy (OM), polarized light microscopy (PLM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and simultaneous differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetry (TG-DTA) were used to discern trends in different sampling areas due to construction/reconstruction periods and building techniques.
Highlights
The preservation of cultural heritage is directly related to the interaction of monuments with their surroundings
Based on a set of analytical techniques, it is possible to determine some characteristics of the mortars
In the case of the samples from the medieval town walls of Gubbio, it is possible to establish that all samples are mainly lime mortars with quartz and calcite aggregates
Summary
The preservation of cultural heritage is directly related to the interaction of monuments with their surroundings. This includes the environmental conditions they are subjected to and aspects of a social and economic nature [1,2,3]. Considering the particular interaction of buildings with environmental conditions, the chemical and physical behavior of the materials used represents a key factor for the definition of preservation actions. In the context of the HERACLES project, the analysis of the materials that constitute the chosen monuments/assets as a study case is part of a set of strategies aimed at promoting the resilience of this heritage facing climatic changes. In the case of the Town Walls in Gubbio, the study emphasis was given to the mortars
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