Impact of salt and frost weathering on the physical and durability properties of travertines and carbonate tufas used as building material

Abstract

This study aims to understand the effect of salt and frost crystallisation on the petrophysical and durability properties of representative types of travertine and carbonate tufas. Results demonstrate that the studied travertines and tufas exhibit a very high durability against salt and ice crystallisation cycles, compared to carbonates rocks with similar porosity values. The variation of the loss of mass, effective porosity, capillary absorption coefficient, ultrasonic wave velocity and attenuation, and compressive strength was scarce during weathering tests. The evolution of petrophysical properties was slightly more intense after 30 cycles of salt crystallisation than 100 cycles of freeze-thaw. Petrophysical and durability properties of the travertines and carbonate tufas depend on porosity fraction and on the manner in which the vuggy porosity is connected. In the travertine facies, vuggy macropores show little connection and can be considered as separate-vug porosity. Their addition to interparticle porosity increases effective porosity and reduces their mechanical strength but does not significantly increase capillary transport and the effectiveness of salt and ice action over the stone. On the contrary, in the carbonate tufas, vugs act as touching-vug pores, as capillary imbibition coefficients reveal. However, scanning electron microscopy displays that they underwent microcracking processes related mainly to both thermal stresses and/or ice and salt pressures. These microcracks present little connection, and they do not enhance noticeably the water flow or decrease the mechanical properties. These results are finally discussed in terms of a nonlinear decay pattern, which with long periods of apparent stability might be followed by rapid and catastrophic decay.

Rock Features and Alteration of Stone Materials Used for the Built Environment: A Review of Recent Publications on Ageing Tests

“…The presence of calcite and clay matrix in arenaceous sedimentary rocks seem to favor the propagation of cracks while more rigid minerals like quartz and feldspar are not affected [77]. The presence of oxides in vugs in laminated travertines promotes susceptibility to salt and ice, highlighting the effect of anisotropy in these rocks [33].…”

“…Higher porosity is often considered to promote stone susceptibility to alteration processes in the built environment and 10% porosity was implied as a kind of threshold for susceptibility to salt and ice weathering of the travertines and carbonate tufas studied by Benavente et al [33], because of higher pore interconnection and fluid migration but this cannot be considered a universal rule, as the results of many other rocks have shown.…”

Measurements and calculations of seasonal evaporation rate from bare sandstone surfaces: Implications for rock weathering

“…The knowledge of evaporation rate together with the VP depth may thus help to select parts of historical buildings, statues and other monuments that will be preferentially weathered and eroded in the future (e.g. Přikryl, 2013;Benavente et al, 2018). The wet/dry core apparatuses may find use also in works studying the environmental conditions (water regimes) under which mould and other organisms occupy building surfaces (Viitanen et al, 2010).…”

Yüksek gözenekli yapı taşlarında su itici kimyasal kullanılmasının tuz kristalleşmesine etkisinin araştırılması

“…Benavente vd. [8], tuz kristallendirme ve donma-çözülme etkisinin traverten ve karbonatlı kayaçların petrofiziksel ve dayanıklılık özelliklerine etkisini incelmişlerdir ve söz konusu kayaçların bu etkilere karşı dayanıklı olduğunu bildirmişlerdir. Vazquez vd.…”