Mural inspection by vibration measurements with TV-holography

A commonly encountered problem in the conservation of historical murals is the identification of sections in the plaster that have detached from the wall and thus threaten to fall off. Commonly, walls are inspected by the acoustic response to a gentle finger-tapping (percussion method). Since this is a costly and cumbersome technique, means for a more automatic inspection are searched for. A TV-holography system of increased sensitivity in combination with acoustic excitation of the object is shown to be a new and powerful tool for monitoring of loose areas. It has the advantage of non-contact and remote operation which, for example, is extremely useful in large buildings. Principles of the method, experimental results obtained at an artificial wall in the laboratory, and a thorough comparison of results from historical sites gained by the traditional percussion method and the new technique are presented. The latter shows very good agreement in the assessment of wall quality and thus is evidence of the suitability of the optical equipment for tasks in conservation.