The requirements of conservators who take care of historical monuments are that the materials for rehabilitation of old renders should have a composition as similar to the historical materials as possible and should provide improvement in durability. Fine and coarse sepiolite and synthetic zeolite pellets were chosen as additives in the development of lime mortars for conservation work, due to their unique adsorption properties providing water to the mortar system and acting as water reservoirs in conditions of low humidity. Flexural and compressive strength and the dynamic modulus of elasticity were studied at 28, 90 and 180 days of curing. Addition of both fine and coarse sepiolite and zeolite pellets caused improvement of mechanical strength of mortars, clearly evident at later ages of curing. Elasticity modulus ranged from 2.3 GPa to 3.6 GPa relating to a high deformation capability of mortars and confirming their suitability for use in conservation work., Slávka Andrejkovičová, Eduardo Ferraz, Ana L. Velosa, António S. Silva and Fernando Rocha., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The clay deposit of Vila Nova da Rainha (VNR) is included in the lithostratigraphic formation named "Argilas de Tomar", and is located at the lower section of the Tertiary Tagus’ river basin. Clay from one quarry is being extracted for the production of construction ceramics. In this work the firing transformations undergone by VNR clays containing quartz, alkaline feldspar, iron oxy-hydroxides, and clay minerals have been studied. Carbonates have not been identified in these raw materials. The clay layers can be subdivided in three groups based upon composition and ceramic properties. The first group, VNR0, is represented by smectite-kaolinite sandy-silty clay, the second group (VNR1 and VNR2) corresponds to illite-kaolinite bearing clay and the third group (VNR3 and VNR4) is represented by illite-smectite silty clay. The firing process involves the formation of hematite and mullite both influencing the technical properties of the fired products. With regards to the ceramic properties assessed at 1100 ºC the first group showed the lowest total shrinkage value (7.35 %) the highest water absorption value (12.2 %) and the lowest mechanical bending strength value (12.0 MPa); the same properties assessed in the second group provided the highest firing shrinkage values (7.0-5.0 %), the lowest values of water absorption (0.1-0.2 %) and relatively high mechanical bending strength values (47.8-48.0 MPa); the third group showed firing shrinkage values within the range 3.5-4.2 %, water absorption values within the range 1.4-4.5 %, and the highest mechanical bending strength values (49.2-52.0 MPa). The results of the ceramic properties being appraised indicate that the raw materials being studied are suitable for the production of high-quality construction ceramics, such as brick, roof tile and rustic floor tile., João F. Coroado, Eduardo Ferraz, Celso F. Gomes and Fernando Rocha., and Obsahuje bibliografii