Alternative method for minimally invasive determination of the wood fragility from cultural heritage assets

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to present an alternative, original method, as a minimally invasive technical solution, to determine the hardness of the damaged wood from the cultural heritage objects. For comparison, standard hardness determinations, Brinell and Janka methods are considered. The correlation of conventional hardness test results with the Brinell method, compared to the proposed MARK 10 test shows that less equivocal methods can be used for equally sensitive values. The minimal invasive measurement solution offers advantages in use and is a novelty with applications for the polychrome wood restoration. In order to determine the destructive level of several methods that determine the hardness of the wood, the different areas of the imprint left by the penetrator are compared: Janka hardness = 100 mm2, Brinell hardness to maximum 78 mm2, Mark 10 puncture being only 1.41 mm2. The general conclusion of the paper highlights the strengths of the researched alternative, experimented and presented by us in order to determine the level of degradation of the wooden supports of the art objects of cultural patrimony. This method brings improvements for diagnosing the degradation level of wood panels as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the consolidation treatment.