Trying to reduce damage to paintings

The paintings are very fragile and susceptible to paint loss and damage due to shocks and vibrations. 

By mapping the risk areas, they will study methods to reduce these risks and measure the results of the improvement. 

The main aim is to optimize ROS-analyses and develop preventive strategies.

Involved from OsloMet are Department of Civil Engineering and Energy Technology’s own Emrah Erduran, Semih Gonen and Mohammadreza Salehi. 

Emrah explains:

‘So far, we had two measurement campaigns where we measured the shocks and vibrations to map the vibration levels that the canvas paintings are subjected to during the in-house transportation of the paintings in the old Munch Museum.’ 

‘This spring we will have more measurements targeting the new Munch Museum.’

As the next objective, mock-up paintings instrumented with vibration sensors will be subjected to music with varying intensities and frequencies at the exhibition walls. 

Numerical models of an original painting will be created using state-of-the-art continuum and discontinuum mechanics software that enable the researchers to model the binding forces. 

Potential paint loss will be measured to explore the correlation of the measured vibrations and the paint loss. 

‘This is a study at its infancy, and we hope to continue the collaboration in the years to come with joint publications and proposals,’ says Emrah Erduran.

In the picture at the top of the article you see representatives from the Munch Museum (munchmuseet.no), and our own Mohammadreza, Emrah and Semih.