TEXTURE, SPATIAL AND ORIENTATION DEPENDENCE OF INTERNAL STRAINS IN MARBLE: A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE BOWING OF MARBLE PANELS?

Abstract

A Carrara marble sample was measured using neutron time-of-flight diffraction on its crystallographic preferred orientation (texture), a strain scan through the sample and strain pole figures to explain the effect of deformation of marble plates. Strong compressional residual strain values of up to epsilon = - 1.3 x 10(-3) measured with residual strain pole figures in a virgin bulk sample have, been found. Obviously, the magnitude of residual strain depends on the sample size. Features of the observed texture pole figures and internal strain pole figures are related to each other by their sample orientations. Texture and residual strain measurements were combined with investigations of thermal expansions under dry and wet conditions in different directions to the main stress direction.