Mineralogical, physical and chemical characteristics of historic brick-made structures

Brick-structured historic buildings represent one of the common monument types. Although they stand till now due to their fused structure, they are subjected to weathering and are affected by environmental deterioration. To perform any conservation/restortation process, a detailed characterization of the current conditions of the bricks is needed for identification of major threats and choosing a suitable material for conservation. In this study, historic brick-made structures was subjected to detailed characterization to identify the composition and quality of raw materials as well as environmental impacts on their original structure. Different characterization techniques such as mineralogical and petrographic examination, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and determination of physical and mechanical properties were used. The results of the characterization indicate that the bricks were manufactured from low-quality clay and treated at a temperature lower than 900 A degrees C. In addition, environment pollution enhanced the presence of some ions, which affected the mechanical properties of bricks and lead to their deterioration and damage.