Deformation and stress from in-pore drying-induced crystallization of salt

The deformation and the fracture of porous solids from internal crystallization of salt is explored in the framework of the thermodynamics of unsaturated brittle poroelasticity. In the first place the usual theory of crystal growth in confined conditions is further developed in order to include both the deformation and the drying of the porous solid. The thermodynamics reveals the existence of a dilation coefficient associated with the crystallization process, and provides a solute–crystal equilibrium condition which involves the relative humidity, the supersaturation, and the salt characteristics. This thermodynamic condition and the mechanical equilibrium of the solution–crystal interface combine to give the current crystallization pore radius. Upscaling this information at the macroscopic scale, and taking into account the salt mass supplied by the invading solution, the approach leads to a quantitative analysis of the role of the pore size distribution on the crystal growth under repeated imbibition–drying cycles. The deformation and the fracture of the porous solid from drying-induced crystallization are then considered in the context of brittle poroelasticity. The current unsaturated macroscopic poroelastic properties are upscaled from the microscopic elastic properties of the solid matrix and from the current liquid, crystal and gas saturations. The adoption of a fracture criterion based on the elastic energy that the solid matrix can ultimately store finally leads to the determination of how long a stone can resist repeated cycles of drying-induced crystallization of salt.