Application of a graphical method to predict the service life of adhesive ceramic external wall claddings in the city of Brasília, Brazil

The degradation behaviour of any given building is specifically dependent on degradation actions that result from the local climatic and atmospheric conditions (e.g. solar radiation, wind-driven rain, pollution, degree of airborne salinity), the degree of maintenance and intensity in use of the building in-service, and as well, from decisions made in the design stage, in the selection and specification of materials, and the adequacy of the execution of the construction. The outcome from the research described in this paper intends is to provide information on predicting the service life of adhesive ceramic external wall claddings in the city of Brasília, Brazil. A comparison of service life prediction for wall cladding of buildings located in Brazil and Portugal is also provided, where the Portuguese example is used as a reference for a previous and similar service life analysis. The methodology consists in applying a degradation index, called severity of degradation, to assess the degradation condition of adhesive ceramic external wall claddings in buildings located in Brasília. In this analysis, various factors are considered that can influence the degradation of these ceramic tile claddings. The results obtained clearly demonstrate the applicability of the model, initially developed for the surroundings of Lisbon, for other cities having different climatic characteristics. Apart from contributing to the development of feedback tools to prepare detailed project specifications, this research also allows assessing the most important factors in the degradation of adhesive ceramic external wall claddings.