The development of a methodology to understand climate-induced damage in decorated oak wood panels

Climate-induced damage in decorated oak wood panels is considered to be a high risk for pre-eminent museum collections. To advise mu¬seums on the development of sustainable fu-ture preservation strategies and rational guide¬lines for indoor climate specifications, the risk of this type of damage – physical and mechanical – is analysed in full depth in this research. A comprehensive methodology is required that meets the requests of the conservation com-munity and also helps to bridge the gap be¬tween scientists and conservators. Therefore, this research couples an extensive examination of empirical data obtained from naturally aged museum objects, i.e. a collection analysis, with numerical modelling and experimental testing. A multidisciplinary collaboration has been initi¬ated, whereby conservators and scientists are working together to fulfil the common objec¬tives of sustainable and low-risk preservation of valuable museum collections. In this paper, the methodology is outlined and some results are presented