EFFECT OF SWELLING INHIBITORS AND SELF-RESTRAINT ON THE DURABILITY OF ETHYL SILICATES CONSOLIDANTS APPLIED TO CLAY- BEARING STONES

This paper presents the study of the role of a swelling inhibitor on the durability of a clay-bearing stone consolidated with an ethyl silicate. It is shown that when the samples are left to swell freely, the swelling inhibitor reduces the rate of weakening of the stone in cycles of wetting and drying. In the case where samples are restrained during the wetting, there appears to be a further reduction of the weakening for samples treated with swelling inhibitor before consolidation. However, this is not the case for samples consolidated without prior application of swelling inhibitors. The latter results require further work and improvement of experimental protocols to shed light on the possible role of self-restraint on the durability of consolidated clay-bearing stones.