Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a powerful tool for understanding the health of the historic built environment. It can help diagnose pathologies and reveal hidden stories. This understanding can be vital for accurate condition surveys of historic buildings and provide evidence to support conservation management or development strategies. This 2-day course will introduce a range of equipment and include hands-on guided sessions.
Applying the correct technique and using the correct tools is vital for gathering meaningful data and enabling useful interpretation. Commonly used techniques in the historic environment range from simple hand-held microscopes to powerful ground-penetrating radars, and this is an exciting time, with new technologies being developed and introduced every year. By understanding the scientific principles behind NDT it is possible to develop an overall strategy to good practice.
In this course, we will learn how to make best use of NDT in archaeology and historic building survey. We will cover basic principles that apply to NDT in general, before looking in detail at several important established and emerging techniques, different types of Moisture Meter, Surface Hardness Measurement, Thermal Imaging, Digital microscopy, Pulse Wave Velocity, and Ground Penetrating Radar. We will cover recent, real-world work done by the tutor and also try our hand at gathering data in the field and making simple statistical evaluations.