Applicability of infrared thermography to the study of the behaviour of stone panels as building envelopes

Thin stone wall cladding systems used on exterior building envelopes typically consist of stone panels made of granite. There is a risk of detachment if the cement used to stack the panels is defective. There is a wide range of destructive techniques to evaluate the state of the facades, but they are scarcely practical. Infrared thermography (IRT) offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional evaluation. The sizes and shapes of the defects detected by this methodology in the cement holding the panels are presented in order to evaluate the capacity of the aforementioned technique. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.