- Author
-
Kessler, D. W.
|
Anderson, R. E.
- Title
- Stone Exposure Test Wall.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
- Report
-
BMS 125,
September 20, 1951,
43 p.
- Keywords
-
walls
|
exposure
|
construction materials
|
weather effects
|
tests
|
limestone
- Abstract
- A test wall was built at the National Bureau of Standards during the months of September, October, and November 1948 in a plot set aside on the Bureau grounds for weathering tests of structural materials. The wall contains 2,059 samples of stone in the front, or south face, and 293 in the back and ends; of these, 2.032 were domestic stones supplied by 47 States, and 320 were foreign samples supplied by 16 countries. Stones in the east half of the south face are set in lime mortar with the exception of those in the base. All other stones in the wall are set in a portland cement mortar with a small addition of whiting. The core of the wall is of concrete, reinforced with steel bars. The wall contains 30 distinct types of stones, some of which are not commonly used for building purposes. There are many varieties of the usual types, such as marble, limestone, porosity, and density, will be of value in studying the relation between such properties and weather resistance. The main problem is to determine the nature and relative severity of the various agents that cause deterioration and how they affect different stones. Certain structural features of the wall, such as length changes, warpage, back waterproofing, and grade waterproofing, are being studied in relation to weathering and discolorations on the stonework. Each block is identified by a number determined by its position in the wall. This eliminates the necessity of frequent relabeling. The various samples are described under the wall numbers in tables that give specific information on location of stone deposits, classification, color, texture, and geological age, when known.