Marble decay: towards a measure of marble degradation based on ultrasonic wave velocities and thermal expansion data

Marble as ornamental and dimensional stones as well as in their natural environments show complex weathering phenomena. Physical, chemical, and biological weathering of marble are well documented. The impact of climate change on monuments and historic buildings in terms of modeling and predicting future scenarios requires new approaches to forecast the ongoing decay in the near and far future. Ultrasonic wave velocities are a powerful and sensitive tool for the damage assessment of marble. For a maximum porosity of up to 1%, ultrasonic wave velocities (P-wave velocities) are ranging between 1 km/s and over 6 km/s. Water saturation has an important influence on the magnitude and directional dependence of ultrasonic wave velocities together with the mineralogical composition and the rock fabrics. Ongoing experimental alteration approaches were used to document the state of deterioration using Vp-systematics. In addition, thermal expansion and the residual strain values after applying thermal impacts were used to introduce a new quantitative measure based on experimental length changes and volume changes. To quantify such volume changes, a so-called decay index was proposed. Marbles are sensitive to weathering and have different volume changes under exposure depending on fabric parameters. The volume extension index of marble, based on thermal expansion measurements under dry and water-saturated conditions, is proposed as a decay index for quantifying sample stability and for defining the directions of maximum and minimal dilatation. Such decay index was implemented to different marble types and it was turned out that marbles with the larger decay indexes are more prone to weathering than with smaller ones. The effect of changing climate and, in consequence, different weathering actions can help to calculate or forecast risk numbers based on the Vp data in combination with the proposed decay index especially for marbles.Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (1018

Microcracking in calcite and dolomite marble: microstructural influences and effects on properties

Microstructure‐based finite-element analysis with a microcracking algorithm was used to simulate an actual degradation phenomenon of marble structures, i.e., microcracking. Both microcrack initiation and crack propagation were characterized, as were their dependence on lattice preferred orientation (LPO), grain shape preferred orientation (SPO), grain size, marble composition (calcite and dolomite) and grain‐boundary fracture toughness. Two LPOs were analyzed: a random orientation distribution function and an orientation distribution function with strong directional crystalline texture generated from a March–Dollase distribution. Three SPOs were considered: equiaxed grains; elongated grains and a mixture of equiaxed and elongated grains. Three different grain sizes were considered: fine grains of order 200 μm (only calcitic marble); medium size grains of order 1 mm (calcitic and dolomitic marbles); and large grains of order 2 mm (only dolomitic marble). The fracture surface energy for the grain boundaries, γig, was chosen to be 20 and 40 % of the fracture surface energy of a grain, γxtal, so that both intergranular and transgranular fracture were possible. Studies were performed on these idealized marble microstructures to elucidate the range of microcracking responses. Simulations were performed for both heating and cooling by 50 °C in steps of 1 °C. Microcracking results were correlated with the thermoelastic responses, which are indicators related to degradation. The results indicate that certain combinations of LPO, SPO, grain size, grain‐boundary fracture toughness and marble composition have a significant influence on the thermal-elastic response of marble. Microstructure with the smallest grain size and the highest degree of SPO and LPO had less of a tendency to microcrack. Additionally, with increasing SPO and LPO microcracking becomes more spatially anisotropic. A significant observation for all microstructures was an asymmetry in microcracking upon heating and cooling: more microcracking was observed upon cooling than upon heating. Given an identical microstructure and crystallographic texture, calcite showed larger thermal stresses than dolomite, had an earlier onset of microcracking upon heating and cooling, and a greater microcracked area at a given temperature differential. Thermal expansion coefficients with and without microcracking were also determined

Influence of shape fabric and crystal texture on marble degradation phenomena: simulations

Microstructure-based finite element simulations were used to study the influence of grain shape fabric and crystal texture on thermoelastic responses related to marble degradation phenomena. Calcite was used as an illustrative example for studying extremes of shape preferred orientation (SPO) in shape fabric and lattice preferred orientation (LPO) in crystal texture. Three SPOs were analyzed: equiaxed grains, elongated grains, and a mixture of equiaxed and elongated grains. Three LPOs were considered: a random orientation distribution function and two degrees of strong directional crystal texture. Finally, the correlation between the direction of the LPO with respect to that of the SPO was examined. Results show that certain combinations of SPO, LPO, and their directional relationship have significant influence on the thermomechanical behavior of marble. For instance, while there is no major dependence of the elastic strain energy density and the maximum principal stress on SPO for randomly textured microstructures, there is a strong synergy between LPO and its directional relationship with respect to the SPO direction. Microcracking precursors, elastic strain energy density, and maximum principal stress, decrease when the crystalline c-axes have fiber texture perpendicular to the SPO direction, but increase significantly when the c-axes have fiber texture parallel to the SPO direction. Moreover, the microstructural variability increases dramatically for these latter configurations. In general, the influence of LPO was as expected, namely, the strain energy density and the maximum principal stress decreased with more crystal texture, apart from for the exception noted above. Spatial variations of these precursors indicated regions in the microstructure with a propensity for microcracking. Unexpectedly, important variables were the microstructural standard deviations of the spatial distributions of the microcracking indicators. These microstructural standard deviations were as large as or larger than the variables themselves. The elastic misfit-strain contributions to the coefficients of thermal expansion were also calculated, but their dependence was as expected

Marble decay: towards a measure of marble degradation based on ultrasonic wave velocities and thermal expansion data

Marble as ornamental and dimensional stones as well as in their natural environments show complex weathering phenomena. Physical, chemical, and biological weathering of marble are well documented. The impact of climate change on monuments and historic buildings in terms of modeling and predicting future scenarios requires new approaches to forecast the ongoing decay in the near and far future. Ultrasonic wave velocities are a powerful and sensitive tool for the damage assessment of marble. For a maximum porosity of up to 1%, ultrasonic wave velocities (P-wave velocities) are ranging between 1 km/s and over 6 km/s. Water saturation has an important influence on the magnitude and directional dependence of ultrasonic wave velocities together with the mineralogical composition and the rock fabrics. Ongoing experimental alteration approaches were used to document the state of deterioration using Vp-systematics. In addition, thermal expansion and the residual strain values after applying thermal impacts were used to introduce a new quantitative measure based on experimental length changes and volume changes. To quantify such volume changes, a so-called decay index was proposed. Marbles are sensitive to weathering and have different volume changes under exposure depending on fabric parameters. The volume extension index of marble, based on thermal expansion measurements under dry and water-saturated conditions, is proposed as a decay index for quantifying sample stability and for defining the directions of maximum and minimal dilatation. Such decay index was implemented to different marble types and it was turned out that marbles with the larger decay indexes are more prone to weathering than with smaller ones. The effect of changing climate and, in consequence, different weathering actions can help to calculate or forecast risk numbers based on the Vp data in combination with the proposed decay index especially for marbles

Influence of mineralogy on granite decay induced by temperature increase: Experimental observations and stress simulation

International audienc

Marble decay induced by thermal strains: simulations and experiments

International audienceThermoelastic behavior of different marble types was analyzed using computational modeling and experimental measurements. Eight marble samples with different composition, grain size, grain boundary geometry, and texture were investigated. Calcitic and dolomitic marbles were considered. The average grain size varies from 75 μm to 1.75 mm; grain boundary geometry differs from nearly equigranular straight grain boundaries to inequigranular-interlobate grain boundaries. Four typical marble texture types were observed by EBSD measurements: weak texture; strong texture; girdle texture and high-temperature texture. These crystallographic orientations were used in conjunction with microstructure-based finite element analysis to compute the thermoelastic responses of marble upon heating. Microstructural response maps highlight regions and conditions in the marble fabric that are susceptible to degradation phenomena. This behavior was compared to the measured thermal expansion behavior, which shows increasing residual strains upon repetitive heating-cooling cycles. The thermal expansion behavior as a function of temperature changes can be classified into four categories: (a) isotropic thermal expansion with small or no residual strain; (b) anisotropic thermal expansion with small or no residual strain; (c) isotropic thermal expansion with a residual strain; and (d) anisotropic thermal expansion with residual strain. Thermal expansion coefficients were calculated for both simulated and experimental data and also modeled from the texture using the MTEX software. Fabric parameters control the amount and directional dependence of the thermal expansion. Marbles with strong texture show higher directional dependence of the thermal expansion coefficients and have smaller microstructural values of the maximum principal stress and strain energy density, the main precursors of microcracking throughout the marble fabric. In contrast, marbles with weak texture show isotropic thermal expansion behavior, have a higher propensity to microcracking, and exhibit higher values of maximum principal stress and strain energy density. Good agreement between the experimental and computational results is observed, demonstrating that microstructure-based finite-element simulations are an excellent tool for elucidating influences of rock fabric on thermoelastic behavior