Mathematical modelling of water absorption properties for historical lime-based mortars

Abstract In this paper we propose a mathematical model of the capillary and permeability properties of lime-based mortars from the historic built heritage of Catania (Sicily, Italy) produced by using two different types of volcanic aggregate, i.e. ghiara and azolo. In order to find a formulation for the capillary pressure and the permeability as functions of the saturation level inside the porous medium we calibrate the numerical algorithm against imbibition data. The validation of the mathematical model was done by comparing the experimental retention curve with the one obtained by the simulation algorithm. Indeed, with the proposed approach it was possible to reproduce the main features of the experimentally observed phenomenon for both materials.