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Physical and micro-structural characteristics of limestone after high temperature exposure

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Abstract

Temperature is a major factor affecting physical and mechanical rock properties. With increasing temperature, a series of variations enlarge the internal defects within rocks, resulting in physical and mechanical rock property variations. To explore the influence of temperature on the physical and micro-structure of limestone, the weighing test and P-wave velocity test were conducted on limestone after exposure to high temperature to reveal the evolution of the limestone mass and P -wave velocity. XRD, XRF, SEM, and mercury intrusion tests were also carried out to examine the mineral composition and content, micro-fracture morphology, porosity, and fractal dimension. The limestone mass and P-wave velocity decrease with increasing temperature. When T ≤ 400 °C, there is no obvious change in chemical composition and crystal structure; when T = 400–500 °C, the diffraction intensity of partial calcite decreases, and dolomite decomposes gradually; when T > 500 °C, illite decomposes gradually, while dolomite decomposes completely; and the diffraction intensity of calcite is significantly reduced. When T ≤ 200 °C, changes in trace minerals or impurities containing K2O and Na2O and the decomposition of illite oxide are dominant; when T = 400–600 °C, illite oxide, trace minerals, or impurities containing K2O and calcium hydroxide begin to decompose. When T = 600–800 °C, magnesite and dolomite begin to decompose. When T ≤ 200 °C, micro-fracture surfaces change slightly. When T = 200–500 °C, micro-fractures begin to develop and propagate gradually, most of which are intergranular cracks with a small number of transgranular cracks. When T > 500 °C, transgranular cracks occur in samples with locally broken crystals, and the cracking of the crystal structure occurs with increasing pore size. With increasing temperature, the limestone pore fractal dimension decreases gradually, and the higher the temperature, the greater the decrease. 400 °C to 500 °C is the temperature threshold interval that causes the pore structure change. These new pores, resulting from the increasing temperature, are primarily mesopores with a pore diameter of 1.0–10.0 μm. This research provides a scientific basis for the design and construction of rock engineering projects to be subjected to high temperatures, deep geological radioactive nuclear waste disposal sites, deep mines, and the exploitation of geothermal resources.

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Funding

The financial and general supports for this research are provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51704280, 51809263), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20160249), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (China University of Mining and Technology) (2015XKZD06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Qing-Bin Meng, Cong-Kai Wang, Jiang-Feng Liu, Ming-Wei Zhang, Meng-Meng Lu & Yu Wu

Authors
  1. Qing-Bin Meng
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  2. Cong-Kai Wang
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  3. Jiang-Feng Liu
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  4. Ming-Wei Zhang
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  5. Meng-Meng Lu
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  6. Yu Wu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiang-Feng Liu.

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Highlights

• The weighing test, P-wave velocity test, XRD test, XRF test, SEM test, and mercury intrusion test are conducted on limestone samples after exposure to high temperature (20–800°C), revealing the physical and micro-structure evolution of limestone.

• With increasing temperature, mineral dilatancy, water loss, decomposition, phase transition of mineral components, and the breakage of chemical bonds result in increasing internal defects, leading to changes in physical and mechanical rock properties.

• With increasing temperature, the original microvoids and micro-fractures in the limestone gradually expand, and intergranular cracks generated in the samples at low temperature gradually change to intergranular cracks and transgranular cracks at high temperature.

• Limestone porosity increases gradually with increasing temperature. T = 400–500 °C can be used as a threshold interval for the change in limestone fractal dimension and mineral phase transition.

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Meng, QB., Wang, CK., Liu, JF. et al. Physical and micro-structural characteristics of limestone after high temperature exposure. Bull Eng Geol Environ 79, 1259–1274 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-019-01620-0

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