Integrated and multi-scale NDT for the study of the architectural heritage

The restoration of artistic and architectural heritage represents a bench mark of the cultural development of a society. To this end it is necessary to develop a suitable methodology for the analysis of the material and building components which are usually brittle and in a poor state of conservation. The paper outlines the advantages and the drawbacks in the use of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques and the need to integrate them in order to obtain a reliable reconstruction of the internal characteristics of the building elements as well as the detection of defects. In the study case we used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), infrared thermography (IRT), sonic and ultrasonic tests to analyze a 13th century precious rose window in Southern Italy, affected by widespread decay and instability problems. The theoretical capabilities and limitations of NDT are strictly related to the frequency content of the signals used by the different techniques. Therefore, integrating several physical methods and using different frequency bands allowed as a comprehensive, multi-scale approach to the restoration problem. This revealed to be a proper strategy in order to get high-resolution information on the building characteristics and the state of decay which could support a careful structural restoration. © 2008 SPIE.