Testing Durability on Construction Materials

The durability of construction materials is a key concern and can be related to different actions such as weathering conditions outdoors enhanced by climatic change, chemical and biological attack, abrasion, and other conditions of service over time. Frequently, several actions develop simultaneously, making it difficult to reproduce in situ conditions in laboratory. Furthermore, testing to assess durability depends largely on the nature of the material itself or on the way it has been assembled with other materials. The ageing techniques to assess long-term durability performance of construction materials are based on accelerated durability tests, which include, for example, thermal stress, freeze–thaw cycles, air pressure, salt crystallization, chemical weathering, and ultraviolet radiation. These tests allow the assessment of the materials’ structural integrity, as well as their aesthetics. In this chapter, the main trends on durability tests on construction materials, such as clay-based, cementitious and polymeric composites, natural stone, metals, wood, and bituminous binders and mixtures, will be presented and discussed.