Silvia Preda, Gabriella Bretti, Francesco Freddi et al.
We present a complete workflow for predicting stone degradation phenomena, such as marble sulfation, in works of art. The main challenge is to accurately acquire the geometry of the artwork and then use it to perform simulations based on a mathematical model of the degradation process, typically formulated as a system of partial differential equations (PDEs). To address this, we generate a point cloud of the object surface using photogrammetric techniques and subsequently post-process it to obtain a level-set description of the three-dimensional geometry. This representation is then incorporated into the numerical discretization of the PDE system. Combined with suitable time-stepping and preconditioning strategies, the resulting framework enables the prediction of degradation evolution, such as the growth of gypsum crust thickness on marble, under different scenarios.