Characterization of historic masonry of the 20th century: Casa Salinger, Blumenau-SC

The preservation of the historical heritage of a locality is of paramount importance for the identity of a society to remain alive, valuing knowledge of history, cultural and social elements, becoming a record for its successors. The Salinger house is a listed heritage site in the city of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, a case study for the present work given the importance of knowing the materials and methods used in the construction so that its restoration can be carried out later. For this reason, the aim of this study is to characterize the materials used in the masonry of this historic building from the 20th century and to evaluate the mechanical properties of walls built with the material. With that in mind, the ceramic blocks were characterized as to their geometry, specific mass, water absorption and mechanical strength. In addition, for the mortar, a mix used at the time was defined, without the addition of Portland cement, only with lime, whose mechanical behaviour in tension and compression was measured. Finally, mechanical characterization tests were carried out on walls made with these materials, demonstrating that the system built at the time did not have a structural function, being functioning only with bearing capacity. This result was already expected since in the half-timbered constructions of the time, the blocks served only as closing masonry.