Experimental analysis of lime putty and pozzolan-based mortar for interventions in archaeological sites

The study aims at defining and characterizing a specific restoration mortar for archaeological masonry structures made with traditional materials and to assess the suitability of the mixture compared to other mortars; such a goal is crucial to develop and define interventions in the archaeological sites. The mixture was defined to ensure compatibility with ancient materials and following frequently adopted recommendations at the site, specifically by using: (1) raw materials as similar as possible to the ancient ones; (2) traditional mix design. Therefore, the mixture was made with commercial lime putty CL 90-S type and natural Phlegrean pozzolan, i.e. volcanoclastic material collected from the volcanic area located in the West of Naples in Italy. The precious and limitedly available natural pozzolan used in the experiments resulted in an exclusive mortar which is very similar to the archaeological ones. The mortar has a binder to aggregate ratio 1:3 by volume, according to traditional techniques typically encountered in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and Vesuvius surrounding area. The evolution of the flexural and compressive strength, elastic modulus, bulk density, open porosity and ultrasonic pulse velocity has been monitored for up to 200 days, based on standard procedures. Moreover, the hardening process was monitored with Differential Thermal Analysis up to 90 days, through the evaluation of phase transitions associated with dehydroxylation and decarboxylation, considering different depths from the external surface of the mortar. The achieved mechanical properties were compatible with those of lime-based mixtures for repair interventions of ancient masonry structures. Moreover, the mortar was found to be well-suited to mitigate cracking, showing a low ratio between its stiffness and load capacity compared to other typologies of mortars used for masonry restoration. Ultrasonic pulse velocity test proved to be a reasonable complementary method to monitor the evolution of the hardened properties of the mortar. Carbonation was found to be still progressing at 90 days. The data presented provide useful and reliable information to approach the complex process of restoration in archeological sites.

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