Consolidation of lime mortars with ethyl silicate, nanolime and barium hydroxide. Effectiveness assessment with microdrilling data

Two lime mortars were treated under laboratory conditions to assess the potential effectiveness of three consolidation treatments performed with: an ethyl silicate, a nanolime and a solution of barium hydroxide. The consolidation products were applied by direct contact capillarity. The duration and number of applications were adapted to the specific requirements of each product. Compressive and bending strength and drilling resistance were used to assess the potential effectiveness of the three treatments. The mortar made with a larger amount of a coarser aggregate showed lower porosity but a higher proportion of large pores, which was responsible for the observed higher increments in the resistance of the consolidated specimens. Compressive and bending resistance provided information on the consolidation action as a whole, while the drilling resistance measurements allowed also the identification of the consolidated thickness. The ethyl silicate was able to consolidate about 16 mm in thickness, while for nanolime this value only reached a maximum of 5 mm. The treatment with barium hydroxide showed a very distinct behaviour in both mortars reaching a larger consolidated thickness in the coarser mortar, while keeping the resistance increment ratio in a moderate value. The drilling data before and after treatment were interpreted in two ways; (i) with all the tests drilled in a same condition averaged and compared; (ii) after proceeding with a segmentation methodology addressed to identify the binding matrix and to detect the consolidation directly on it. The two methods proved to be complementary ways to characterise lime mortars and to study their consolidation.