Characterization and restoration of historic Rosendale cement mortars for the purpose of restoration

Hart, Stephanie, "Characterization and restoration of historic Rosendale cement mortars for the purpose of restoration" (2012). ABSTRACT Mortar was a very common building material in today's historic sites. Before Portland cement was manufactured at a global level, Rosendale cement was commonly used in these mortars. Over time, these mortars in historic sites have begun to break down and wear away. With Rosendale cement in production again, measures can be taken to restore and repair the historic mortars. However, little testing has been done to establish durability of modern Rosendale cement mortars. This presentation highlights the common mix techniques used at the time, and undergoes experiments to establish general properties and predict future durability. Six different mortar mixes were tested with varying cement content and using various lime additions. Properties observed include compressive strength, absorption, porosity, permeability, and bond strength. Ion chromatography was used on seawater-soaked samples to determine how the Rosendale cement mortar would react with the seawater. Relationships between these properties were also addressed. It was found that cement content played a large role in compressive strength, while lime content had an effect on bond strength. Ion chromatography was used on seawater-soaked samples to determine how the Rosendale cement mortar would react with the seawater. Magnesium sulfates, and chloride were taken up into the mortars, indicating that Rosendale would be venerable to salt attack. iii DEDICATION I would like to thank my family, close friends, and my love Graham. Without all of you, I would have surely given up or gone crazy. Your belief and support in me means everything. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There were many people involved that made this thesis possible. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Brosnan for his guidance and direction. I would also like to thank Dr. Sanders, for his help and advice with all my testing and Dr. Richardson for her participation in my committee from afar. and Greg Bellotte; for providing the facilities, testing equipment, and their continued help and support throughout my experience.