Impact of relative humidity variations on Carrara marble mechanical properties investigated by nonlinear resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

Abstract

Like many other stones, marble mechanical properties can be significantly changed in presence of water. Water most often induces a weakening which can lead to marble degradation when coupled to temperature variations. Yet, marble artefacts are more frequently subjected to relative humidity (RH) variations than episodes of water imbibition and/or drastic temperature variations. Thus, one could wonder how do variations of RH alone impact marble mechanical state. In this study, Carrara Gioia marble samples are subjected to adsorption-desorption cycles. They were previously thermally-damaged between 40 and 105 °C, and their microstructure was characterized for each heating temperature. The evolution of their mechanical properties is monitored non-destructively with two parameters measured by Nonlinear Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy. The resonant frequency decreases weakly with increasing RH, indicating a diminution in sample stiffness due to low moisture-induced softening. The nonlinear parameter increases strongly, probably due to higher capillary pressure associated to a capillary condensation increase with RH. However, these phenomena are reversible: during adsorption-desorption cycling both parameters remain quite constant for a given RH. Therefore, while a RH increase impacts the mechanical properties of Carrara marble, adsorption-desorption cycling shows a reversible behavior which does not induce any permanent change in mechanical properties.