Mechanical properties of traditional lime mortars

Abstract

Large part of world Cultural Heritage is located in earthquake vulnerable areas and built with materials there available. The seismic events occurred in the course of the lives of these buildings have evidenced the strong dependence of the damages on the mechanical properties of the building materials. Recent seismic codes foresee for these buildings performance-based demands, so that the intervention materials' properties should be correctly calibrated. This is especially true for traditional structural mortars, particularly the lime-based ones. Mechanical tests on samples of structural mortars taken from existing buildings are rare, so that laboratory reproduction of ancient mortars based on traditional composition allow to detect reference values for restoration materials fulfilling code requirements. This paper presents the results of a wide set of mechanical tests on a pozzolanic lime mortar, largely diffused in Southern Italy mortars. Three types of mortars and three different curing ages were tested and the results were analyzed, to assess the reliable use of traditional mortars in the restoration field.