Interferometric Quantification of the Impact of Relative Humidity Variations on Cultural Heritage
Authors: Tornari Vivi 
Published: December 2022

It has been shown that Relative Humidity (RH) provokes dimensional displacement detectable directly from surfaces using holographic interferometry. RH variations constitute a physical environmental load that drives organic materials to a constant equilibrium cycle. This paper is a small synopsis of the interferometric research direction and a data acquisition on the detection of the dimensional impact of relative humidity on cultural heritage objects. Since RH cycling is unavoidable, the interferometric data change depends on the object structure and RH cycle characteristics. Based on the fact that each artwork is by construction unique, and on the observation that the effects of an RH cycle on the structural condition of any artwork are also unique but the preventive conservation strategies require generalised approaches and not on a case-by-case study, being introduced is a novel, universal, preventive deterioration methodology: “deformation threshold value” (DTV). DTV is assignable to each distinct object in order to control routinely its structural condition and prevent damage. DTV is not assigned hypothetically based on any assumed/expected reactions but from a monitored calibration of the artwork in its environment. Each artwork in its hosted environment has its unique reaction. The reaction, though, is not steady but changes as the artwork changes. DTV can be acquired routinely and valued accordingly to seasonal RH change. Monitoring the seasonal RH and seasonal dimensional reaction has been shown to correspond to a standard DTV pattern whose deviations violate the expected seasonal reaction. Through the interferometric monitoring of surface, the distinct DTV acts as a safeguard for the artwork. In this synopsis, some results of the generation of DTVs are shown. Our future plan is for the DTV numbers to serve as data inputs for preventive models to formulate a distinct risk index representative of each artwork condition and to be used as remote risk warning to prevent its deterioration. Based on the DTV concept, methods and instruments for sequential data acquisition aim to present experimental data outputs as DTVs that identify transient shape changes prior to visible damage have been developed. In this research, the starting point was the interferometric quantification of the displacement of well-characterized fresh samples. The fresh samples are known in terms of density, cut, thickness, moisture content, structural condition and are submitted to RH simulation cycles. Shown here are three exemplary cases: usual, abrupt and smooth. The interferometric monitoring following the cycles of RH is a long-term duration of several weeks; measurements are performed directly from the surface, and relative displacement (RD) from temporal measurements of interference fringes provide the required output data to calculate the rate of displacement (RoD) of the surface. Measuring the impact of RH directly from the artwork surface allows the detection of the temporal diversity of structural reactions to the same RH cycle for distinct artworks. The monitoring system uses interferometric precision provided by digital holographic speckle-pattern interferometry (DHSPI) placed on a specially designed climate chamber DHSPI monitoring workstation.