The problem of mechanical compatibility of natural building stones in restoration of monuments. Part I: Composite specimens

Abstract

The mechanical compatibility of natural building stones used in the restoration of ancient monuments as substitutes of the authentic material is studied in this short two-paper series. Attention is focused on the porous oolitic limestone of Kenchreae used in the erection of the monuments at the Epidaurean Asklepieion. In Part I experimental results are presented concerning the mechanical properties and constants of both the authentic (ancient and freshly quarried) material and the various stones proposed so far as possible substitutes. It is concluded that only the Kenchreae stone satisfactorily simulates the behaviour of the material used by ancient Greeks. The other types of stones have a substantially different character and their incorporation in the restoration should be treated with caution. In an effort to quantify the influence of the substitute stone on the authentic one, a series of experiments were carried out using composite specimens made from equal parts of authentic and substitute material with various inclination angles of the adhesion plane with respect to the load. It was concluded that the mechanical properties of the composite specimen are strongly affected by this angle and the dependence is not monotonous. In addition, strong strain discontinuities are recorded in the vicinity of the adhesion plane, which are responsible for the initiation of cracking in either of the two materials. It was pointed out that in some cases the incompatibility causes violation of the basic restoration principle concerning the protection of the ancient material. In this context certain geometrical configurations of the boundaries of the specimens are examined in Part II as a possible means of modifying the mechanical behaviour of the substitute stones, in order to make them as compatible as possible with the authentic material.

Keywords

• compatibility
• monuments
• natural building stones
• porous stones
• restoration
• soft rocks