Special Issue 31:: 10th Euroseminar on Microscopy Applied to Building Materials (EMABM)

Selected papers presented at the 10th Euroseminar on Microscopy Applied to Building Materials (EMABM), held in Paisley, Scotland from June 21-24, 2005, are described. Topics discussed include interest in characterization of building materials, both old and new, principally using microscopic analysis methods and allied techniques. Characterization studies of architectural, historic and archaeological building materials, including mortars from the Roman era, marble from sculptures in Venice and building sandstones from Saxony are presented. There are also novel contributions on the study of pigments in paintings and in the walls of historical buildings. The alkali-silica reaction (ASR) phenomenon, recognized as a worldwide problem in concrete structures, is also addressed. The techniques used represent much of the state-of-the-art in building materials characterization, currently focused on the application of several familiar methods.