Assessment of historic buildings by radar techniques

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss methodological guidelines and operation protocols for the assessment of historic buildings by radar techniques, as decision-making support within integrated investigation programs, where documentary records, direct survey and onsite measurements address accurate and effective diagnosis. Design/methodology/approach – Radar methodologies and procedures are planned to support the pre-diagnosis hypotheses, based on preliminary information from historical sources, as well as from direct survey of geometry, materials, construction techniques and decay patterns. Thus, they are applied, in terms of acquisition and elaboration systems, taking into account the testing targets and surrounding conditions. Finally, they are correlated with complementary destructive and non-destructive techniques for data interpretation and validation. Findings – The general approach is developed for some representative case studies, in order to point out the potentialities of radar techniques for traditional building components. In detail, masonry walls and vaults, as well as iron and reinforced concrete slabs are assessed, in terms of construction materials and techniques, morphology and stratigraphy of multi-layered components, inner voids and inclusions, previous reinforcement works. Originality/value – The above-mentioned issues are particularly relevant in the assessment of historic buildings, where onsite non-destructive technologies are commonly applied, because they help identify the actual characteristics, residual performances and state of conservation, without interfering with structural stability and functional operability, and, thus, address low-intrusive and compatible interventions. Nevertheless, emerging technologies, such as radar scanning, still require guidelines and protocols, in order to achieve reliable and meaningful results and save time and resources, especially whenever technical data are limited, investigation conditions are challenging and different construction solutions are involved.