Testing New Coatings for Outdoor Bronze Monuments: A Methodological Overview

Coatings to be used for cultural heritage protection face peculiar challenges. In the last few decades, several projects addressed the issue of new treatments in the field of copper alloy artworks. Nonetheless, no one has yet been recognised as a more acceptable solution with respect to traditional...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coatings (Basel) 2021-02, Vol.11 (2), p.131
Main Author: Letardi, Paola
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Alloys
Atmospheric corrosion
Climate change
Coatings
Construction
Copper
Copper base alloys
Corrosion prevention
Corrosion products
Cultural heritage
Cultural resources
Humidity
Metals
Museums
Outdoors
Pollutants
Protective coatings
Sculpture
Surface properties
Unevenness
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Summary:Coatings to be used for cultural heritage protection face peculiar challenges. In the last few decades, several projects addressed the issue of new treatments in the field of copper alloy artworks. Nonetheless, no one has yet been recognised as a more acceptable solution with respect to traditional choices, with their known limits. The lack of standard methods to test new coatings that can be effectively applied to artworks make it more difficult to compare different studies and open the way to practical use in restoration. Over the years, several issues have gradually been better focused, even though they are not yet widely considered in new coatings efficacy evaluation for application on copper alloy artifacts. They are mainly linked to the quite complex surface of this category of heritage objects and the role it plays on coating effectiveness. An overview of the variety of relevant surface properties is provided (presence of corrosion products and old protective treatments, cleaning methods, surface unevenness, just to name a few) with a special focus on the role of coating performance. Some methodological choices are discussed for the selection of mock-ups, testing techniques and weathering procedures, with peculiar attention to comparison with real artworks.
ISSN:2079-6412
2079-6412
DOI:10.3390/coatings11020131