THERMOANALYTICAL RESEARCH ON TRADITIONAL MORTARS IN VENICE

The study of traditional mortars has recently been attracting consider able attention, in connection with both diagnosis and applications req uired for restoration. The mortar is only apparently a simple system; in reality the lime is often accompanied by hydraulic components. The inerts often interact with the binder and the technologies used in the application are very diversified. These situations make the study of the mixtures rather complex, as it is difficult to distinguish the neo formation compounds from the older ones. A basic approach is offered b y granulometric analysis, allowing separation of the mortar into its c omponents, in which the finer fraction is richer in binder. Some analy ses on this fraction ( < 63 mu m) were performed to define the nature and quantity of the binder in the mortar. Samples were taken from vari ous sites in Venice and were examined by calcimetry, TG-DTG and FTIR a nalysis. Moreover the investigation of this fraction by optical micros copy enabled us to distinguish the binder from the inert particles.