Impacts of anisotropy coefficient and porosity on the thermal conductivity and P-wave velocity of calcarenites used as building materials of historical monuments in Morocco

It is essential to study the porosity,thermal conductivity,and P-wave velocity of calcarenites,as well as the anisotropy coefficients of the thermal conductivity and P-wave velocity,for civil engineering,and conservation and restoration of historical monuments.This study focuses on measuring the thermal conductivity using the thermal conductivity scanning(TCS)technique and measuring the P-wave ve-locity using portable equipment.This was applied for some dry and saturated calcarenite samples in the horizontal and vertical directions(parallel and perpendicular to the bedding plane,respectively).The calcarenites were selected from some historical monuments in Morocco.These physical properties were measured in the laboratory to find a reliable relationship between all of these properties.As a result of the statistical analysis of the obtained data,excellent linear relationships were observed between the porosity and both the thermal conductivity and porosity.These relationships are characterized by relatively high coefficients of determination for the horizontal and vertical samples.Based on the thermal conductivity and P-wave velocity values in these two directions,the anisotropy coefficients of these two properties were calculated.The internal structure and the pore fabric of the calcarenite samples were delineated using scanning electron microscopy(SEM),while their chemical and mineral compositions were studied using the energy dispersive X-ray analysis(EDXA)and X-ray diffraction(XRD)techniques.

Prediction of elastic and acoustic behaviors of calcarenite used for construction of historical monuments of Rabat, Morocco

Natural materials(e.g. rocks and soils) are porous media, whose microstructures present a wide diversity.They generally consist of a heterogeneous solid phase and a porous phase which may be fully or partially saturated with one or more fluids. The prediction of elastic and acoustic properties of porous materials is very important in many fields, such as physics of rocks, reservoir geophysics, civil engineering, construction field and study of the behavior of historical monuments. The aim of this work is to predict the elastic and acoustic behaviors of isotropic porous materials of a solid matrix containing dry, saturated and partially saturated spherical pores. For this, a homogenization technique based on the Morie Tanaka model is presented to connect the elastic and acoustic properties to porosity and degree of water saturation. Non-destructive ultrasonic technique is used to determine the elastic properties from measurements of P-wave velocities. The results obtained show the influence of porosity and degree of water saturation on the effective properties. The various predictions of Morie Tanaka model are then compared with experimental results for the elastic and acoustic properties of calcarenite.

Prediction of Porosity and Density of Calcarenite Rocks from P-Wave Velocity Measurements

Petrophysical proprieties such as porosity, density, permeability and saturation have a marked impact on acoustic proprieties of rocks. Hence, there has been recently a strong incentive to use new geophysical techniques to invert such properties from seismic or sonic measurements for rocks characterization. The P-wave velocity, which is non-destructtive and easy method to apply in both field and laboratory conditions, has increasingly been conducted to determine the geotechnical properties of rock materials. The P-wave velocity of a rock is closely related to the intact rock properties, and been measuring the velocity in rock masses describes the rock structure and texture. The present work deals with the use of a simple and non-destructive technique, ultrasonic velocity, to predict the porosity and density of calcarenite rocks that are characteristic in historical monument. The ultrasonic test is based on measuring the propagation time of a P-wave in the longitudinal direction. Good correlations between P-wave velocity, porosity and density were found, which indicated them as an appropriate technique for estimating the porosity and density.

Effect of the Number and Orientation of Fractures on the P-Wave Velocity Diminution: Application on the Building Stones of the Rabat Area (Morocco)

This study is focused on two types of Moroccan rocks, among the most widely used as building stones: the calcarenite of Salé (CS) and the marble of oued Akrech (MA). The two rocks, lithologically different, show a clear contrast of their P-wave velocities (Vp): 3.90 vs 5.10 km/s at dry state and 4.29 vs 5.64 km/s at saturation. The “Artificial fractures” created in the two rock types reveal that their Vp undergo diminutions which the rates vary depending of the number and the plane orientation of the fractures. In the CS, Vp shows an increasing of cumulative diminution (Dc) according to the number of fractures, but with a variable rate of unitary diminution (Du) from one fracture to the other. This defines a linear regression with a low coefficient of determination (Dc = 10.18NbFr + 10.96;r2 = 0.87). The mode of the Vp evolution would be related to the roughness of fractures surface, which itself depends upon the petrographic nature of the calcarenite (friable structure, high porosity and heterogenous composition). The MA manifested an increasing Dc with a fairly constant rate of Du from a fracture to another, giving a regression line with a high coefficient of determination (Dc = 12.17NbFr – 10.69;r2 = 0.99). This steady diminution of Vp would be related to the granoblastic texture and the monomineral composition of the marble, which engender smoother fracture surfaces. The rates of Vp diminution also depend on the orientation plane of the fractures relative to the direction of wave propagation. The fractures parallel (θ = 0°) amplify slightly the Vp, playing a significant role of “waveguide”. The fractures oriented at 45° lead to a diminution lower than those of fractures oriented at 25° and 90°. The same trend of diminution, but at variable rates, appears on the samples of the two types of stones at dry and saturated state. This can be explained by the compressive nature of P-waves, which obey the physic laws of the transmission of the constraints in the solid mediums.