Flaw propagation and buckling in clay-bearing sandstones

Timothy P. Wangler, Alisa Stratulat, Philippa Duffus, Jean H. Prévost, George W. Scherer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Many historically and culturally significant buildings have sandstones that contain swelling clay inclusions in the binding phase. Differential strains that evolve during wetting and drying cycles can generate stresses that are on the order of the strength of the stone, leading to degradation. Most damage observed in the field is surface delamination and buckling of the stone over a flaw, indicating that the damage is occurring during wetting. Classical buckling theory predicts buckling to occur at a particular aspect ratio, or flaw size. The results of this study confirm buckling theory experimentally. Through finite-element simulation and experiment, the study then explores a potential flaw propagation mechanism whereby nonuniform wetting patterns generate stress intensities capable of flaw propagation. As a result, small natural flaws can grow to the critical size necessary for buckling.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1565-1572
Number of pages8
JournalEnvironmental Earth Sciences
Volume63
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Soil Science
  • Pollution
  • Geology
  • Earth-Surface Processes

Keywords

  • Buckling
  • Clay
  • Crack growth
  • Cultural heritage
  • Finite-element analysis
  • Stress
  • Swelling

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