Characterization of mortars of Konya Takkeli Dağ Gevale Castle excavation cisterns and preparation of repair mortar recommendations

Traditional building materials are of great importance in the process of preserving historical buildings. In interventions in conservation, repair and restoration works to be carried out on historical buildings, it is necessary to determine the properties and current conditions of traditional building materials. Traditional building material properties are important in determining the method, material and technique to be used in conservation, repair and restoration processes. In both historical buildings and archaeological excavations, mortar materials play an important role in the survival of historical buildings by holding the building components together. However, mortar materials wear out over time due to environmental conditions. For this reason, repair mortar is created in conservation activities today. The content of the repair mortar must be suitable for the material of the existing historical building. For this reason, it is necessary to analyze the existing mortars of historical buildings. With these analyses, the properties of the mortar material are determined. These analyzes are grouped under the headings of physical, chemical, petrographic and advanced analyses. In this study, Konya Takkeli Mountain Gevale Castle was chosen as the field study. Mortar samples were taken from the cisterns of Konya Takkeli Dağ Gevale Castle. Physical, chemical, mechanical, petrography, advanced analysis and salt tests were performed on 22 samples taken from the cisterns. As a result of the experiments and analyses, the properties of the existing mortars were determined. Mortars were grouped according to the determined properties and repair mortar recommendations suitable for the groups were created. Mixtures of the repair mortar suggestions were prepared and physical and mechanical analyzes were carried out. The analysis results of the repair mortars were compared with the test and analysis results of the existing mortars taken from the study area. After comparison, it was concluded that the proposed and prepared repair mortars were compatible with the existing mortars.