Decay Process of Serpentinite: The Case of the San Giovanni Baptistery (Florence, Italy) Pavement

Serpentinite is a low-grade metamorphic rock derived from the transformation of ultramafic rocks. Mainly because of its aesthetic characteristics it has been widely used as a building and ornamental stone. “Verde di Prato” is the most common local name used in Tuscany to refer to this type of rock, historically quarried in this area and used for many centuries in a large number of monuments of this region. In this paper, we report the results of a study carried out on the serpentinite from the pavement of the Florence baptistery, to properly characterize it from a physical point of view, describe the rock conservation state, and understand the phenomena responsible for its decay. The studied rock displays numerous forms of decay including fractures, loss of material, erosion, discolouration and efflorescence. X-ray diffractometer analyses of the efflorescence revealed the presence of numerous salts whose formation can be imputed to multiple, possibly concomitant, causes such as the high relative humidity and the variation of inside temperature, the presence of concrete and/or cementitious mortars in the subsoil, atmospheric pollution and the burial ground existing close the baptistery.

Effect of Ornamental Stone Waste Incorporation on the Rheology, Hydration, Microstructure, and CO2 Emissions of Ordinary Portland Cement

The ornamental stone industry generates large amounts of waste thus creating environmental and human health hazards. Thus, pastes with 0–30 wt.% ornamental stone waste (OSW) incorporated into ordinary Portland cement (OPC) were produced and their rheological properties, hydration kinetics, and mechanical properties were evaluated. The CO2 equivalent emissions related to the pastes production were estimated for each composition. The results showed that the paste with 10 wt.% of OSW exhibited similar yield stress compared to the plain OPC paste, while pastes with 20 and 30 wt.% displayed reduced yield stresses up to 15%. OSW slightly enhanced the hydration kinetics compared to plain OPC, increasing the main heat flow peak and 90-h cumulative heat values. The incorporation of OSW reduced the 1-, 3-, and 28-days compressive strength of the pastes. Water absorption results agreed with the 28 days compressive strength results, indicating that OSW increased the volume of permeable voids. Finally, OSW incorporation progressively reduced the CO2 emission per m3 of OPC paste, reaching a 31% reduction for the highest 30 wt.% OSW content. Overall, incorporating up to 10 wt.% with OSW led to pastes with comparable fresh and hardened properties as comported to plain OPC paste.

Physical Mechanical Properties and Producing Areas of Greek Dimension Stones

The most important Greek ornamental stone types are marbles, limestones, schists, slates, travertines and sandstones. Since ancient times, quarryinghas been connected to history and civilisation, i.e., the white “Pentelikon” marble being famous for the construction of Parthenon (Acropolis). Greek marble industry is a dynamic sector, among the top world producers of dimension stones, concerning both the volume of production and exports. This paper describes the current status of the major ornamental stone producing areas in Greece and presents typical average values of physical mechanical properties of the extracted stones, determined in LITHOS laboratory.

Ornamental Stone Cutting Processing and Sludge Production Evaluation with the Goal of Ending Waste

In the quarry sector, the reduction of landfill material may be obtained not only by finding a suitable recovery of the material as a by-product, but also by identifying the best available cutting technique to be used on the basis of the physical, chemical, and mechanical characteristics of the stones. The choice of the best cutting technique could lead to high efficiency and performance, high quality of the cut surfaces, and a very low environmental impact by reducing energy consumption, decreasing the concentration of heavy metals in the sludge, and producing less waste. In this context, an analysis of the procedures for cutting different types of ornamental stones into slabs together with the evaluation of sludge production for the different cutting methods has been carried out. Two types of analysis were carried out in parallel: evaluation of the stones workability and calculation of the amount of sludge produced in the three different cutting technologies and from the cutting of blocks. A comparison was carried out on the quality of the sludge produced, on type and quantity of metals present, taking into account the different cutting technologies. The performed tests were: chemical analysis, magnetic separation test, and SEM analysis of the metal fraction. The study could provide stone producers with a technological, scientific instrument to identify the best cutting techniques for the processing of their stones, in order to obtain a high-efficiency process, optimize the recovery process, increase the economic advantages, and evaluate the possible reuse of the sludge through a proactive waste management strategy.

Radiological Hazard Evaluation of Some Egyptian Magmatic Rocks Used as Ornamental Stone: Petrography and Natural Radioactivity

Magmatic rocks represent one of the most significant rocks due to their abundance, durability and appearance; they can be used as ornamental stones in the construction of dwellings. The current study is concerned with the detailed petrography and natural radioactivity of seven magmatic rocks. All are commercial granitic rocks and are identified as black Aswan, Nero Aswan, white Halayeb, Karnak, Verdi, red Hurghada and red Aswan. Their respective mineralogical compositions are classified as porpheritic granodiorite, granodiorite, tonalite, monzogranite, syenogranite, monzogranite and syenogranite. A total of nineteen samples were prepared from these seven rock types in order to assess their suitability as ornamental stones. Concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K radionuclides were measured using NaI (Tl) scintillation gamma-ray spectrometry. Among the studied magmatic rocks, white Halayeb had the lowest average values of 226Ra (15.7 Bq/kg), 232Th (4.71 Bq/kg) and 40K (~292 Bq/kg), all below the UNSCEAR reported average world values or recommended reference limits. In contrast, the other granitic rocks have higher values than the recommended limit. Except for the absorbed dose rate, other radiological hazard parameters including radium equivalent activity, annual effective dose equivalent, external, and internal hazard indices reflect that the White Halyeb rocks are favorable for use as ornamental stone in the construction of luxurious and high-demand residential buildings.

Nephrite of Bazhenovskoye Chrysotile–Asbestos Deposit, Middle Urals: Localization, Mineral Composition and Color

In the Bazhenovskoye chrysotile–asbestos deposit (Middle Urals), nephrite bodies of the serpentinite type were found on the contact of after gabbro rodingites and serpentinites. The color is uniform to non-uniform, green to light green, bluish green, greyish green, and whitish. Spots, streaks, lenticules of bright bluish-green or, on the contrary, light green color are sometimes noted. The nephrite is mostly comprised of tremolite. Chromite decreases the quality of the ornamental stone, but it is replaced by chrome grossular, which gives the nephrite a brighter bluish-green color locally. Crushed grains of chromite contain increased concentrations of Zn and Mn. The quality of the nephrite is decreased by serpentine and talc, as well as by fractures due to drilling and blasting works. The specific feature of the nephrite in the Bazhenovskoye deposit is the formation of nickeline, maucherite, and uvarovite. The green color is associated with Fe2+ ions. The nephrite of the Bazhenovskoye deposit meets the requirements for an ornamental stone. The origin of this nephrite includes a combination of metasomatic and metamorphic processes.

Gloss and Modelling Studies of Stone Polishing, Using Linear Polishing Machines With Rotating Heads

The ornamental stone industry has always played an important role in the world economy, particularly in building construction. Polishing the slabs to increase its gloss, is an important processing operation to enhance the beauty and richness of these natural materials. Many industrial polishing machines rely on rotating heads movement along zigzag trajectories, eroding the surface as stochastically as possible, to avoid scratches and other visual defects caused by paths too symmetric. The displacement of the polishing head after a single zigzag movement and after a single rotation have been used to quantify the polishing process as these two parameters are related with the final stone gloss and are a measure of the efficiency of the polishing process. Applying experimental and new computer simulation techniques, we studied the influence of these two tool displacement parameters on the final stone gloss, and acquired insight into the accuracy of the simulation techniques that were applied here for the first time. We concluded that: 1) a clear correlation can be established between experimental and simulation data; 2) the two displacement parameters represent an effective way to control the quality and efficiency of the polishing process; 3) there is a limit for the gloss acquired through polishing processes, so polishing above a given threshold decreases the efficiency without increasing the quality.

Artificial Thermal Decay: Influence of Mineralogy and Microstructure of Sandstone, Calcarenite and Marble

Within a major framework of studies around artificial weathering and its effects on different lithotypes, in this work we study the effects of thermal stresses after artificial thermal decay on different types of stones used in historical buildings: a sandstone, a calcarenite and a marble. The sandstone belongs to the so called “Macigno” Formation and mainly outcrops along the northern Apennine (North Western Tuscany) and it has been widely used around Tuscany for building purposes (e.g., in Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, etc.); the analysed calcarenite (Gravina) comes from the surrounding of Matera Town and has been deeply used for the construction of the ancient buildings of the town itself; and the marble comes from the Carrara marble district (Northern Tuscany), a highly used stone throughout the centuries as ornamental stone. All these types of stone for their physical and mechanical properties, and aesthetic appearance, have been extensively used as both ornamental stones and as construction materials. To reproduce a plausible effect of natural thermal decay of the stones due to day-to-night and season-to-season fluctuations, we subjected the samples to artificial thermal decay. We carried out different thermal cycles on the samples by using a stove at 150°C and a muffle furnace at 300°C and 450°C. We analysed the physical and mechanical properties before and after each cycle to compare and evaluate the effects of thermal stresses on the stones. Among the different analyses: mass and volume measurements, water absorption tests, mercury intrusion porosimetry, thin-section observations and determination of chromatic alterations through image analysis and Munsell charts method. It was then possible to evaluate the influence of both mineralogy and microstructures on thermal decay of the studied stones (variations in fabric and modifications on physical and mechanical properties).

Use of geotechnologies in mining planning in Quarries carbonated rocks - Contribution to the digital transition (Industry 4.0)

As part of the strategy for Industry 4.0, this work was developed to outline a methodology that is an important contribution to improve the efficiency and productivity of processes in the ornamental stone extraction industry. Since this sector is important for the Portuguese economy, it is imperative to optimize processes to improve their efficiency in the use of resources, economic valuation, and economic viability. Knowing that one of the main factors to take into account in the feasibility of an exploration of ornamental rocks is the density, persistence and attitude of the discontinuities present in the rock mass, a methodology is proposed that aims to map and characterize the existing discontinuities in the using the latest digital technologies and whenever possible open access (CloudCompare, Stereonet, 3D Block Expert). To this end, work was initially carried out on an active exploration front, identifying and characterizing, through the traditional method (compass and clinometer) and photogrammetry, existing discontinuities and statistically analysing their occurrence. The data analysis shows a variation in the attitude of the discontinuities in a range of -17.72 ° to 14.7 °, this variation corresponding to the strike. As a percentage, there is also a variation in the range of values, from -5.30% to 4.91%, with the reference value being the value obtained by the photogrammetric method. This step was also used to compare the acquired data and verify the variations between them depending on the method used. Photogrammetry was used with another complementary purpose, but very important for the proposed methodology, which is related to the 3D modelling of the fronts and the subsequent projection or extraction of the existing discontinuity plans. The determination of the attitude of the discontinuities was obtained through the manipulation of the point clouds obtained by the photogrammetric modelling, based on the technique of Structure for Motion [SfM] and application of the RANSAC Shape Detection algorithm of the CloudCompare® program, which allows the determination of the attitude of the discontinuities. The characterization of the discontinuities by the photogrammetric method provided the data that was used in the present study to calculate the blocometry in that sector. This was calculated using the 3D BlockExpert software, based on the exploration sequences. The program calculated the predicted volumes in each one, based on a standard dimension for the block of 2.7 × 3.0 × 2.0 meters. As a result, it was possible to compare a number of blocks the value predicted by the 449 modellings and the number of blocks produced 490. This difference of approximately 10% for this order of magnitude is acceptable and confirms the reliability of the proposed methodology. This evaluation using Geotechnologies allows data modelling to be effectively an important process in the planning of the extractive process, and with the development of this approach, it may introduce in a second phase the decision automation of the extractive process, based on economic and commercial criteria and last and third stage, the automation of the extractive process.

Technological Trends in the Use of Natural Marble Residue in the Cement Portland Production from Prospecting in Patent Documents

The civil construction industry affects the environment mainly due to the high generation of waste and extraction of natural raw materials. However, this industry is also responsible for absorbing a large part of the waste, not only generated by itself, but also those generated in other production cycles. These residues are often reused as an alternative raw material, after some treatment. The use of ornamental stone cutting waste has already been studied by many authors, and it is a technically viable alternative in cement matrix products for civil construction. Thus, this technological prospection work analyzed the technological trends regarding the use of marble waste in cement production, based on the registration of patents in recent years. For this, a search was carried out in the Brazilian Nacional Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) and Dewert Innovation Index (DII) databases, in April 2021, with no period limitation. The main documents were found in the DII database, and the results showed that among the countries that filed a patent on this subject, China is the country with the highest number of filings, with the majority of these filings occurring between 2014 and 2020, suggesting a reflection of the current interest in ways to give an adequate destination to ornamental stone waste.