A simplified model for the combined wicking and evaporation of a NaCl solution in limestone

Salt weathering is one of the major causes of the damage both in cultural heritage as well as in civil engineering constructions. A special case develops when there is a continuous wicking of a salt solution into a material in combination with evaporation of the moisture at its surface. In this study we are interested in the case where the absorption rate is much higher than the evaporation and as a result a salt concentration will build up at the drying surface resulting in crystallization. To this end we propose a simplified model to describe this mechanism. In order to check the model the NaCl concentration profiles were measured non-destructively by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance during a combined wicking and evaporation experiment with limestone. A good correlation was found between the model and the measured NaCl concentration profiles.