Salt Crystallization in Limestone: Materials Decay and Chemomechanical Approach

Salt crystallization is a particularly relevant issue in the conservation of limestones used in Cultural Heritage sites. In this study, various facies of limestones were characterized through porosimetric and mechanical tests. The samples were subjected to experiments to determine their resistance to salt crystallization by verifying the number of cycles at which 50% of them began to lose weight. This number of experimental cycles was compared with the result calculated by the analytical procedure of a chemomechanical model found in the literature. The comparison showed a significant capability of the model to predict the experimental data.