Strainers from the 18th century - Historical information - Degradation and ageing

The aim of this thesis is among other things to investigate historical information such as craftsmanship and workshop habits around first half of the 18th century.

Two strainers from ceiling paintings dated first half of the 18th century are used in this thesis as background material for all the investigations.
The aim of this thesis is also to investigate the connection between degradation and ageing of wood tissue and the consequence it may have on its mechanical properties. The connection between degradation or ageing and the strength of wood is investigated through microscopic and X-ray analysis end finally static bending.
Lastly simple tests are done to optimize the strength of wooden ceiling frames.

The results from the microscopic analysis show clear strings of hyphae in the tracheids and ray cells. The results from the X-ray analysis show no signs of degradation. The results from the static bending tests are to inaccurate to conclude on changes in wooden mechanical properties caused by degradation and ageing. Finally the simple tests for optimizing the strength of strainers through reinforcements show positive results.