Effects of rising damp on the mechanical properties of brick and mortars

Old masonries are often affected by capillary water rise from ground, causing material deterioration and indoor discomfort. Moreover, the presence of water in the material pores influences the mechanical performance of the structure, to an extent which depends on the materials characteristics and which is still to be fully elucidated. The present paper is meant to give a contribution towards the quantitative assessment of the effect of moisture presence in masonry construction materials by means of mechanical tests on brick and mortar specimens. In particular, compressive strength and Young’s modulus of the specimens were experimentally measured both in dry and wet conditions. The results show that the effect of moisture is significant and greatly varies according to the microstructure of the materials in terms of both porosity and pore size distribution