Scholarly record

DEGRADATION UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS OF HERITAGE BUILDINGS AFFECTED BY THE MAJOR EARTHQUAKE OF MARCH 4, 1977

Anca Mihaela Barbu, Madalina Xenia Calbureanu

Abstract

This paper studies one of the biggest problems facing older buildings or historic monuments like ascendant humidity that occurs upward because water migrates into the walls from different sources from the soil found in foundation. The experimental researches have been made in the basement of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from Craiova, which is a heritage building that was badly affected by the earthquake from 1977. The subsequent rehabilitation was unable to repair the damage of the building's foundation. Starting from the evidence and conclusions following instrumentation dynamics of this building previously completed in the area affected by humidity. From measurements of humidity and analyzed infrared images made in the damaged area analyzed in this study, the important conclusion illustrates that the causes of massive degradation in basement walls affected by the ascending humidity led to visible changes in the properties of materials, resulting in crumbling bricks, corroded fittings. Cracks appeared in the foundation after major seismic movements from 1940, 1977 and those of low intensity since 1986, 1990 and 2004 is one of the causes of raising humidity and aggressive degradations of the basement.

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