AIC's 42nd Annual Meeting

A novel method has been developed to assess and to predict strain deformation of art objects responding to environmental fluctuations.  The method uses a Giant Magneto-Resistance (GMR) sensor, which allows micron scale displacement monitoring with respect to a fixed small magnet, and without the intervention of a stress/strain tensor relationship.  The small GMR sensor and magnet sizes make concealed sensing more practical while safer for art objects.  Short and medium term weather forecasting and its impact on building indoor environment, coupled with physical models of building insulation envelope, can help predict object deformation and response to environmental changes.  Thus, sensor placed near/in art object and relying on a wireless communication platform provide a powerful tool for measuring and predicting temporal deformation of wooden and textile objects in response to local temperature and relative humidity fluctuations. The discussion will focus first on a laboratory case study, in which the dimensional changes of wood test vehicles subjected to sudden humidity changes, at constant temperature, inside a controlled environmental chamber were measured.  This will followed by addressing  the collaboration with the Conservation and Collection Care department of the Historic Royal Palaces. The latter, aims at monitoring environmental risks for the Tudor tapestries at  Hampton Court Palace, UK. The deployment of the sensors on the  “The sacrifice of Isaac”, Henry VIII’s tapestry in the Great Hall at Hampton  Court Palace,  and current real time results will be discussed.

Furthermore, we will discuss an iterative numerical method for non-linear effects correction that provides improved accuracy and the measurement is used to generate a simple elastic model of textile deformation.  The method is relevant to develop schemes and integrate them into analytic models to address risk management across different geographies and offer a tool for helping to revise existing standards.