The Effect of Water on The Strength of Building Stones
Abstract
Problem statement: Water is one of the main causes of stone decay and the presence of water alone inside a stone could cause a decrease in its mechanical strength. In order to study the effect of water on the mechanical strength of stones, three Italian stones, which have historically been used for balconies, have been studied: Pietra di Luserna, Pietra Verde Argento and Pietra di Courtil. Approach: A comparison had been made between the effect of artificial ageing, by means of freeze and thaw cycles (where the increase in pores produced by iced water mechanically weakens the stone) and the effect of saturation on sound specimens subjected to flexural strength tests. Results: The results had shown that the three stones were very resistant to freeze and thaw cycles, but their mechanical strength decreases in wet condition. Conclusion/Recommendations: On the basis of the obtained results, it can be stated that mechanical strength values in wet conditions can be considered, in the planning of structural stonework for exterior use. As demonstration the case of a Pietra di Luserna balcony, where fault is occurred, a is reported.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajessp.2012.158.161
Copyright: © 2012 Bellopede Rossana and Marini Paola. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Keywords
- Influence of water
- mechanical resistance
- saturation