IRT monitoring in planned preservation of built cultural heritage: Fid-Bau Portal

IRT monitoring in planned preservation of built cultural heritage

Rosina, E. / Avdelidis, N.P. / Moropoulou, A. / Della Torre, S. / Pracchi, V. / Suardi, G.

The aim of this research is to develop IRT (infrared thermography) procedures for the monitoring of restoration interventions on ancient building surfaces (i.e. application of protective films, water repellent, restoration of plaster delamination), the surveillance of the risks areas (i.e. risk for dew, infiltration, thermal bridges, window frames). The possibility to include IRT among the monitoring techniques for the planned conservation depends on the reliability of the procedures in the field and its low costs. In such cases, the tests can be repeated in time and can be applied on the highest number of buildings, according to the philosophy of the planned conservation. The goal is to find the parameters of feasibility and effectiveness of the in situ IRT tests throughout the in field experience of a study case. S. Maria presso S. Paolo church, serves as study case. It is a 15th Century building, settled in Cantu; the interior is frescoed and its decorated plasters have been recently under restoration. During the preliminary tests (passive and active IRT, psycrometry and climate monitoring, water content measurements on the surface and inside the masonry), a localised infiltration, causing a local damage, was found at the bottom of the masonry. At the end of the analysis, the condensation, which is distributed at any highness from the floor and that was responsible for most of the frescoes damage, was also realised as the main cause of damage. In fact, the church is seldom used and the restoration did not include the addition of a heating plant. Because it is not convenient to sharply change the microclimatic conditions for the best preservation of fresco, the preservation plan had to include temperature monitoring of the risk surfaces and control how the frescoes permeability could change due to the application of restoration products in the years after the intervention.