We attend scientific conferences in the UK and abroad on an ongoing basis, either as visitors or speakers. Here are some of our published papers.
The UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings (UKCMB) in July 2023 held the 2nd International Conference on Moisture in Buildings (ICMB23) in order to bring together academics and researchers working on any moisture induced damages of the built environment.
Some of the conference topics included:
Core Conservation prepared and presented 2 research papers for this conference. Both papers can also be viewed on the scienceopen.com research and publishing network.
Abstract: accurately measuring the moisture content of damp masonries can be important for research and conservation purposes. Embedding relative humidity (RH) sensors into the body of a damp masonry is an attractive monitoring option due to the wide availability, accuracy and low cost of such sensors.
By measuring RH changes inside a small air pocket of a damp masonry, one attempts to draw conclusions about ongoing wetting-drying cycles as well as the overall condition or “health” of that masonry. Present paper highlights some important limitations of this measurement approach with potential alternatives to work around them.
Peer-reviewed by the organizing committee of ICMB23.
Keywords: vapour permeability, breathability, wetting, salty masonry, effect of salts
Abstract: Moisture is one of the main decay factors affecting old buildings. The movement of moisture is often accompanied by the presence of water-soluble salts which can impact the masonry in several ways. Present paper explores the differences in vapour permeability between salty and non-salty masonries, how salts impact both the moisture retention and free evaporation of moisture. It has been found that electrically charged salt ions hinder the free evaporation of moisture, contributing to the retention of moisture inside the masonry.
Peer-reviewed by the organizing committee of ICMB23.
Keywords: salty masonry, effect of salts, vapour permeability, breathability, wetting
The International Conference on Architectural Conservation and Common Architectural Conservation Problems (ICACCACP 2021) has been organized by the "World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology" (WASET), being the premier interdisciplinary forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of Architectural Conservation and Common Architectural Conservation Problems. The conference brought together leading academic scientists, researchers and scholars in the domain of interest from around the world.
Topics of interest included:
Core Conservation presented the following research paper for this conference.
Abstract: Rising damp is an extremely complex phenomenon that is of great practical interest to the field of building conservation due to the irreversible damages it can make to old and historic structures. The electrical effects occurring in damp masonry have been scarcely researched and are a largely unknown aspect of rising damp.
Present paper describes the typical electrical patterns occurring in porous brickwork during a wetting and drying cycle. It has been found that in contrast with dry masonry, where electrical phenomena are virtually non-existent, damp masonry exhibits a wide array of electrical effects.
Long-term real-time measurements performed in the lab on small-scale brick structures, using an array of embedded micro-sensors, revealed significant voltage, current, capacitance and resistance variations which can be linked to the movement of moisture inside porous materials. The same measurements performed on actual old buildings revealed a similar behaviour, the electrical effects being more significant in areas of the brickwork affected by rising damp. Understanding these electrical phenomena contributes to a better understanding of the driving mechanisms of rising damp, potentially opening new avenues of dealing with it in a less invasive manner.
Keywords: brick masonry, electrical phenomena in damp brickwork, porous building materials, rising damp, spontaneous electrical potential, wetting-drying cycle
Our peer-reviewed paper has been awarded by the organizers the Best Research Paper Award in Architectural Conservation.
Here are some other related pages that you might want to read to broaden your knowledge in this field.
Here are some photos demonstrating these concepts. Click on any image to open the photo gallery.
We visited the University of Surrey to discuss a collaborative research project about the structural performance of historic masonries affected by moisture, salt crystallisation, and freeze-thaw cycles. Here are some photos of some of the equipment of the Structural Engineering lab.
Here is a large building monitoring system planned for an ancient UNESCO World Heritage Site. This world heritage site monitoring system uses in excess of 70 sensors which can collect over 200 building parameters in real time, every few minutes, for several years if needed.
We have been using various data monitoring systems throughout the years, from simple to more complex configurations in the lab as well as on real buildings. Here are some photos of some of our data monitoring systems used in lab research.
