DURABILITY OF PVC ROOFING AND WATERPROOFING MEMBRANES – CASE STUDIES AFTER 40+ YEARS OF EXPOSURE

Author(s): Beer, H. R. and Bonnet, M.
Paper category: Conference
Book title: XIII International Conference on Durability of Building Materials and Components - XIII DBMC
Editor(s): Marco Quattrone, Vanderley M. John
Print ISBN: none
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-149-0
Publication year: 2015
Pages: 778-785
Total Pages: 8
Language: English

Abstract: PVC membranes have been in use since approximately 50 years. The paper describes three case studies of plasticized PVC sheets in roofing and tunnel waterproofing with exposure durations of more than forty years.

Case 1 is a roofing membrane produced in 1967. It was applied in fully adhered mode on a hydropower station in the southern part of Switzerland. This membrane is still functional after 45 years in direct weathering exposure. Samples were collected in 2001 and 2012. Although some degradation was found, the mechanical properties of this membrane remain on a level that it will fulfill its function for several more years.

Case studies 2 and 3 report on PVC sheets collected from two road tunnels in Switzerland after 41 and 44 years of use. Testing was done in cooperation with the Technical University of Cologne. The membranes had marginally aged. The mechanical data are still above the requirements for new membranes. Contemporary tunnel construction is based on the assumption of one hundred years of service life. The measured data suggest that this assumed period will be reached by the membranes with high probability.

Online publication: 2015
Publication Type: full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00