Restoration of antique temples: Experimental investigations on the pull-out behaviour of anchors in marble

In restoration works of antique Greek temples individual marble blocks are connected together to form a single element, e. g. an architrave. Due to the demand of reversibility of the intervention, this is done in the Acropolis of Athens by means of titanium threaded bars that are inserted in the marble, in predrilled holes filled with cement mortar. This way of restoration corresponds to a partial rehabilitation of the architraves. This paper presents experimental investigations on the pull-out behaviour of such anchors. The tests are performed in specially designed equipment. Failure takes place for all tests in the interface between the mortar and the marble. It has been shown that the form of the thread influences considerably the carrying capacity. Possible limit states are introduced.