Characterization of the degradation rate of ceramic-tiled facades

Abstract

Facades are systems fixed externally to the building that perform the function of protecting the internal environment, thermal comfort and control lighting. The degradation of facades occurs due to the action of agents and mechanisms that are capable of causing alterations in the chemical and physical characteristics of materials. It depends on factors such as orientation, degree of exposure to agents and construction processes. Because the facades have different exposure conditions, degradation manifests itself heterogeneously. Given the need to understand the evolutionary behavior of degradation, we propose to characterize degradation based on its velocity as a function of increasing age of buildings. This new index helps in the study of degradation, since unlike the FGD (general degradation factor), it considers the age factor of the sample. This research was applied in 306 samples of facades located in Brasilia, Brazil. Degradation is quantified by the degradation measurement method (DMM). The speed of the degradation consists of quantifying the degradation of each sample over a year. For the quantification of the speed, three characteristic intervals are adopted (low, medium and high speed). It is observed that, with higher values, degradation becomes widespread. For the high degradation rate, more than half of the samples have a northern orientation. The high percentage of samples with a northern orientation and a high degradation rate shows that this orientation has a higher criticality of degradation.