The international scientific literature contains thousands of research papers on every aspect of rising damp.
Here we have listed some, broken down into several categories. Under each title we have given a short summary, but feel free to read the whole paper for more in-depth information.
Generic Papers on Rising Damp
The paper describes the effect of water and salts onto the historic masonry and compares the effectiveness of various damp proofing solutions.
Rising damp is described as "a complex and multi-phase phenomenon, which combines the effects of various driving forces", being "one of the main problems affecting historical masonry structures all over the world", of which removal still remains "extremely challenging". Several examples are also presented where rising damp heights of 5-6 meters have been documented, such as in the basilica of San Marco in Venice.
An English article translated form the German literature, presenting some rising damp fundamentals: how and why water enters the pore system, how it's being distributed and how departs, taking into account the effect of salts.
Research paper of The Royal Society, presents a detailed analysis of rising damp using the unsaturated flow theory. The paper agrees that rising damp "is an important cause of wetness in buildings" and it is "a complicated process". It also presents all formulas for determining the most important parameters of rising damp: steady-state height of rise, total water flow, travel time inside the wall etc.
An excerpt from a German textbook discussing the various stages of rising damp development, as well as the various mechanisms of wetting and drying characteristic to porous building materials.
The paper studies the impact of rising damp on the heat retention of solid brick walls of historic buildings. It has been found that the presence of rising damp created a 15.3% heat loss, and increased the energy consumption by 11.1% during heating.
This study focuses on the experimental approach, discussing the outcome of various field trials, exploring the various treatment methods of rising damp in Ghana, where rising damp is a problem of alarming dimensions in residential buildings.
According to the author, "in Denmark rising dampness is among the 10 most serious problems in connection with existing buildings". The paper explores the efficiency of the DC electro-osmosis in drying out walls subject to rising damp.
Papers on the Electrical Aspects of Rising Damp
This paper investigates some electrical aspects of rising damp, the presence and measurement of "spontaneous electric potentials" - small voltages in masonry that occur as a result of rising damp. Their presence has been confirmed both in test walls subject to rising damp under laboratory conditions, as well as in several hundred year old real buildings.
This paper discusses some of the electrokinetic effects found in masonry affected by rising damp, both in lab and real buildings, and how various mortar types affects the electrical aspect of masonry.
Rising Damp Successfully Reconstructed in a Lab
The paper investigates the existence and measurement of "spontaneous electric potentials" - small electric potentials that occur as a result of rising damp. These potentials are recreated on test walls subject to rising damp under laboratory conditions, as well as on several hundred years old real buildings.
The paper investigates the existence and measurement of "spontaneous electric potentials" - small electric potentials that occur as a result of rising damp. These potentials are recreated on test walls subject to rising damp under laboratory conditions, as well as on several hundred years old real buildings.
The paper compares various moisture content measurement methods presenting a reliable measurement methodology based on the gravimetric (weight-based drill core) method that can be used both in lab simulation of rising damp as well as for ancient historic buildings.
Electrokinetic Phenomena, Electrical Double Layer
Discusses fluid transport in nanochannels (extremely small capillaries), especially phenomena with no theoretical description. Covers various electrical double layer phenomena such as: pressure driven flows, electroosmosis, electrophoretic flow etc.
Discusses key electrokinetic phenomena in porous materials - electric double layer, streaming potential, electroosmosis.
Rising Damp - Various Papers
The paper presents a model to simulate the porous microstructure of natural stones used in historic buildings, in order to better predict the rate of capillary water absorption of these materials.
The paper studies the impact of rising damp on the heat retention of solid brick walls of historic buildings. It has been found that the presence of rising damp created a 15.3% heat loss, and increased the energy consumption by 11.1% during heating.
A chapter from the "Handbook of nanophysics", describes the physics of capillary (interstitial) condensation, and the modeling and measurement of capillary forces.