Computational analysis of hygrothermal performance of renovation renders

Abstract

A combined computational-experimental approach for service life estimate of surface layers of historical building made from renovation renders is presented in the paper. The experimental part is aimed at estimation of the durability of two commercial systems of double layered renovation renders in terms of their frost resistance. The computational part includes calculation of number of freeze-thaw cycles that may occur in surface layers during a reference year. To achieve this, a diffusion-type model of coupled heat and moisture transport is used. The computations are performed on historical load-bearing structure made of sandstone, brick or arenaceous marl, finished by two different hydrophobic renovation render systems. © 2010 WIT Press.