Thermal and salt crystallization effects on marble deterioration: Examples from Western Anatolia, Turkey

Six commercially available and extensively used Turkish marbles having different textural properties were subjected to ageing tests in order to assess their resistance against salt crystallization with thermal effect. The change in physico-mechanical properties of the marbles including weight, dry unit weight, effective porosity, water absorption, dry and saturated sonic velocities, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), indirect (brazilian) tensile strength, flexural strength, abrasion value, and impact resistance has been determined for various stages of the ageing tests. The results are evaluated in terms of the grain size, grain boundary, and grain size distribution of the marbles. Based on the test results, the physico-mechanical properties of the marbles are not uniformly affected from the ageing tests. The water absorption, effective porosity, UCS, sonic velocity and abrasion value of the marbles are found to be good parameters to assess the deterioration and quality of the marbles, whereas the weight loss, unit weight, brazilian tensile strength and impact resistance of the marbles are not. The marbles having small grain size, dominant grain size distribution in a narrow range, and irregular grain boundary are more resistant against the ageing tests than the ones with large grain size, grain size distribution in a wide range, and straight grain boundary.