Approaches and Challenges in Diagnostics and Conservation of Cultural Heritage

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 4051

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental and Prevention Science, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I D’Este, 32, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Interests: cultural heritage; materials characterization; petrochemical analytical techniques
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Guest Editor
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Fusion and Technology for Nuclear Safety and Security Department, Nuclear Safety, Security and Sustainability Division, via Martiri di Monte Sole 4, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Interests: cultural heritage; materials characterization; chemical and isotopical analytical techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Our society needs resilience to stand against social and environmental challenges. Significantly, cultural heritage (CH) assets are crucial in the development of socio-economical improvements. CH objects are subject to degradation by a range of factors, including environmental influences, biocontamination, natural or anthropogenic disasters, and incorrectly performed restoration interventions. Moreover, conservation measures are sometimes made even more difficult due to the large number of objects that are affected by degradation in storage and deposits, and by the use of art materials derived from industry. The conservation of CH assets requires detailed knowledge of the characteristics of their constituent materials and their state of conservation; this knowledge makes it possible to identify risk factors and conditions, as well as the need for specific measures. Therefore, one of the most important components of conservation includes studying and evaluating the causes and mechanisms of decay related to a range of building materials used in historic buildings. Diagnostic activities can include integrated methods both in situ (non-destructive methods) and in the laboratory to identify building materials' mineralogical, petrophysical, geochemical, and mechanical characterization.

Dr. Elena Marrocchino
Dr. Chiara Telloli
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • cultural heritage
  • diagnostic
  • non-destructive investigation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 7111 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Freeze–Thaw Mode on Damage Characteristics of Sandstone
by Ningbo Peng, Jie Hong, Ye Zhu, Yun Dong, Bo Sun and Jizhong Huang
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(23), 12395; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122312395 - 03 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1247
Abstract
The influence of rock weathering caused by freezing–thawing on stone cultural relics cannot be ignored. For immovable stone cultural relics, different parts under different environmental conditions will be under different freeze–thaw actions and suffer different degrees of damage. In this paper, three typical [...] Read more.
The influence of rock weathering caused by freezing–thawing on stone cultural relics cannot be ignored. For immovable stone cultural relics, different parts under different environmental conditions will be under different freeze–thaw actions and suffer different degrees of damage. In this paper, three typical freeze–thaw cycle tests of sandstone are designed, namely immersion test, capillary action test, and periodic saturation test. The macroscopic and microscopic morphologies of rock samples under different freeze–thaw cycles were analyzed. Weathering indicators such as porosity, water content, wave velocity, and surface hardness were tested, as well as uniaxial compressive strength. The variation law of weathering index and uniaxial compressive strength under different freezing–thawing cycles was obtained, and the quantitative relationship between each index parameter was further analyzed. The results show that under different freezing–thawing conditions, the apparent morphology of rock samples is different, and the trend of weathering indexes is similar, but the rate of change is different. The water content of rock has a great influence on the test results of wave velocity but has little influence on the surface hardness. The function relationship between weathering index and compressive strength under different freezing–thawing modes is similar, but the fitting parameters are different. Finally, the strength and wave velocity damage factors were used to quantitatively evaluate the degree of rock weathering. The results show that the immersion freeze–thaw damage is the highest, the periodic saturated freeze–thaw damage is the second highest, and the capillary freeze–thaw damage is the least highest. This is consistent with the field observation results. The conclusion of this paper can provide reference for the detection of stone cultural relics and provides a scientific basis for the anti-weathering protection of stone cultural relics. Full article
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15 pages, 4288 KiB  
Article
Archaeometric Surveys of the Artifacts from the Archaeological Site of Baro Zavelea, Comacchio (Ferrara, Italy)
by Elena Marrocchino, Chiara Telloli, Umberto Tessari, Mario Cesarano, Marco Bruni and Carmela Vaccaro
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11692; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211692 - 17 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1094
Abstract
This work is part of a project of the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the enhancement of the widespread archaeological heritage of the Po delta area. Excavation activities, carried out in 2015, allowed the sampling of the stratigraphic elements and [...] Read more.
This work is part of a project of the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the enhancement of the widespread archaeological heritage of the Po delta area. Excavation activities, carried out in 2015, allowed the sampling of the stratigraphic elements and artifacts of the archaeological site of the lighthouse tower of Baro Zavelea, municipality of Comacchio (Ferrara, northeast Italy). In this work, the geochemical characterization of sediments and building materials was conducted using granulometric analyses, X-ray fluorescence analysis, and calcimetry on different types of samples, including sands, clays, mortars, and bricks, with the scope to better characterize all of the different types of sediments collected. This multidisciplinary approach allowed the diagnostic and evaluation of the state of conservation of Baro Zavalea. Granulometric analyses highlighted the fact that depositional environments were of very different natures: fluvial environments and paleo–alveo environments. In addition, XRF analysis allowed the discrimination of different clay samples, some from basins poor in carbonates, while, for the construction of the bricks of the second wall structure, clays rich in carbonate were chosen to add lightness to the structure. Full article
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26 pages, 7377 KiB  
Article
Microstructure, Chemistry and Mineralogy Approach for the Diagnostics of Metallic Finds of the Tomba della Biga (Adria, Italy)
by Elena Marrocchino, Chiara Telloli, Sara Finotti, Alberta Facchi, Negar Eftekhari and Caterina De Vito
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11365; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211365 - 09 Nov 2022
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Abstract
This work is focused on the characterization of metallic finds that are part of an ancient war biga from the Tomba della Biga, using different approaches for the diagnostics and also the conservation of this important cultural heritage. The materials analyzed were brought [...] Read more.
This work is focused on the characterization of metallic finds that are part of an ancient war biga from the Tomba della Biga, using different approaches for the diagnostics and also the conservation of this important cultural heritage. The materials analyzed were brought to light in the necropolis of Canal Bianco (Adria, Italy). The samples were analyzed using Optical Reflected Light Microscopy (ORLM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and micro-Raman Spectroscopy (µ-RS). The results highlighted the occurrence of two different alloys (Fe and Cu-Sn-bronze) showing important structural and textural variations. These results, along with µ-RS, gave details on the surface and subsurface morphology, as well as the microstructures and the chemical and mineralogical composition of the finds. In particular, µ-RS highlighted the presence of magnetite and goethite as the main mineralogical phases for Fe-samples and malachite, azurite and Cu-oxide for bronze samples. In addition, an attempt was made to trace the manufacturing process, the purity of the alloys and the degree of slagging. Results of analytical studies show corrosion products of the samples which could be evidence of metallurgical aspects. The good state of conservation due to favorable conditions in the burial environment preserved the metal finds from intense corrosion, supporting the hypothesis that the samples reached equilibrium with soil during their life in the burial environment. This proposed methodology based on the microstructure, chemistry and mineral microanalysis allows the diagnostic and evaluation of the state of conservation of metallic finds. Full article
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