MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF THE WATER ABSORPTION PROPERTIES FOR HISTORICAL LIME-BASED MORTARS FROM CATANIA (SICILY, ITALY)

In this paper we propose a mathematical model of the capillary
and permeability properties of lime-based mortars from the historic
built heritage of Catania (Sicily, Italy) produced by using two different
types of volcanic aggregate, i.e. ghiara and azolo. In order to find a formulation
for the capillary pressure and the permeability as functions of
the saturation level inside the porous medium we calibrate the numerical
algorithm against imbibition data. The validation of the mathematical
model was done by comparing the experimental retention curve with
the one obtained by the simulation algorithm. Indeed, with the proposed
approach it was possible to reproduce the main features of the
experimentally observed phenomenon for both materials.