Mechanical, fracture-mechanical, hydric, thermal, and durability properties of lime–metakaolin plasters for renovation of historical buildings

An extensive set of parameters of several lime–metakaolin plasters, including basic material characteristics, mechanical and fracture-mechanical properties, durability characteristics, hydric parameters and thermal properties, is presented. In a comparison with the reference lime plaster without any additives, the experimental results show three- to five-fold increase in strength, about 25% decrease of water vapor diffusion coefficient, 20% decrease of water absorption coefficient and a very high increase of freeze/thaw resistance. Using the lime of very high purity in lime–metakaolin plasters (98.0% of CaO + MgO) is found preferable to lower-purity limes; the main differences are observed in the freeze/thaw resistance, mechanical and fracture-mechanical parameters. A comparison with two commercial renovation plasters shows that the only notable advantage of the best commercial plaster studied over the best lime–metakaolin plaster is in its lower moisture diffusivity but it can be matched relatively easily by using hydrophobization admixtures. Therefore, it can be concluded that the lime–metakaolin plasters can find a wider application range in the renovation of historical buildings in the future and may at least partially replace the current renovation plasters as a cheaper and equally effective solution.

► Four lime–metakaolin plasters are studied.
► Mechanical, fracture-mechanical and durability properties are measured.
► Hydric and thermal properties are determined.
► Lime of very high purity is found preferable to lower-purity limes.
► Lime–metakaolin plasters are a cheap and effective solution for renovation.