Correlations among textural, mechanical, physical properties based on petrographical classification of some natural stones

Natural stones shall be classified related with their qualities. The quality of the natural stones can be determined by quantifying the mechanical and physical properties from experiments. Texture of natural stones also carries important clues regarding the quality of materials. Texture coefficient (TC) is mainly calculated by the relations of the grains and matrix as well as the grain properties. In this study, correlations among the textural, physical and mechanical properties have been investigated by using natural stone samples gathered from 19 different locations in Turkey. Firstly, thin sections of samples were prepared and these thin sections were used to determine mineralogical and petrographical properties and the TC value of each sample as well. The samples are mainly classified in three groups based on petrography. After that, images of the thin sections were photographed under the microscope and image analysis methods are applied to the photos to obtain the TC values. At the same time, mechanical and physical properties were determined in laboratory. After that, the data set is used to understand the relations. The results show that although the correlations are medium and poor before grouping the texture, the relations between the properties are highly correlated after grouping which gives illuminating interpretations.