VEREECKEN, EVY1; ROELS, STAF2

1) Ph.D., Building Physics Section, Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Evy.Vereecken@bwk.kuleuven.be

2) Prof.dr.ir.arch., Building Physics Section, Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Staf.Roels@bwk.kuleuven.be

Although masonry is a composite of brick and mortar, in numerical hygrothermal simulations often a simplification to a homogenized brick layer is made. By doing so, a one-dimensional approach is feasible. However, this approach neglects the impact mortar joints can have on the hygric performance of the wall. Hence, when assessing the durability of masonry, the reliability of a simplified approach should be questioned. This paper numerically compares the moisture performance of a wall consisting of a single brick layer to the behaviour found when including the mortar joints. Additionally, attention is paid to the influence of the hydraulic interface. Where the mortar joints and the brick-mortar interface are found to have a significant influence on the moisture transport in an imbibition experiment, for real climatic conditions a negligible influence is found.

Keywords: Masonry, moisture transport, mortar joint, hydraulic interface