Historical plasters on light thin vaults: State of conservation assessment by a Hybrid ultrasonic method

Abstract Historical plasters on light thin vaults, usually made by mats of reeds nailed to an upper wooden framework, were used in several historical and monumental Italian buildings and churches built between the 16th and the 19th century and almost all of the historical Italian theatres built between the 18th and the 19th century to cover the theatre-hall and to improve its acoustic properties. The non-destructive inspection of these structures is very important, but traditional inspection techniques are usually limited in resolution, which may be a problem for detection of defects at a very early stage. The paper presents the development and application of a high-resolution inspection technique based on a hybrid ultrasonic method, where a contact emitter probe and a non-contact air-coupled receiver probe are used. Results show the effectiveness of the method on laboratory samples and propose an inspection procedure for in-field application.