Performance Simulation of Brick Construction under the Impacts of Increased Precipitation as a Consequence of Climate Change

Climate change is one of the most urgent global issues of our time and for the near future. To understand how changes in precipitation, i.e., increased precipitation events, as a consequence of climate change, will affect the performance and deterioration of traditional brick masonry structures, performance tolerance of three different type of brick masonry constructions are discussion in a template climate projection of Philadelphia. As water is the main agent of deterioration for brick, climate-induced changes in moisture are a concern. The thesis assumes the deterioration of brick masonry construction based on the analysis on the interaction between brick and mortar. Also, WUFI is applied to confirm the hypothesis in performance tolerance by simulation for the scenario under medium precipitation and severe precipitation with higher temperature. Calculated moisture content profiles are discussed to provide some recommendations for sustainable management or adaptation strategies from a technical perspective.