Abstract
Granite is one of the most applied building materials globally. Salt weathering affects the aesthetic properties of granite and reduces its durability. Accelerated granite weathering tests were conducted to study the combined effects of salts and wetting–drying cycles. Granite samples were soaked in solutions of Na2SO4 and MgSO4 at different concentrations (0%, 5%, 10% and 20%) before drying. The mass loss, colour, roughness and surface hardness of the granite samples were measured after repeated cycling (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 55, 65, 80, 90 and 100). The key research findings were as follows: (1) an increase in the number of wetting–drying cycles affected the properties of the granite samples significantly (i.e. mass loss, colour, surface roughness and hardness). (2) The effects of Na2SO4 on the accelerated weathering of granite were greater than those of MgSO4. (3) Higher salt concentrations (0%–20%) accelerated granite weathering.
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Acknowledgements
We also thank the technicians who helped during the experiments and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
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This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41672279 and 41807233) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20180662).
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Zhao, F., Sun, Q. & Zhang, W. Combined effects of salts and wetting–drying cycles on granite weathering. Bull Eng Geol Environ 79, 3707–3720 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01773-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01773-3