Cross-scale study of pore fractal characteristics and the pore structure of weathered granite

Abstract

Weathering of granite leads to weakening of its crushing and mechanical properties, as well as changes in mineral composition. In order to investigate the correlation between the effects of weathering on granite and the characterization of the pore structure at the micro- and fine-scale, in this paper the pore structure of weathered granite is tested by the NMR technique. The pore distribution characteristics of weathered granite were explored in conjunction with T 2 spectral relaxation time and fractal theory. The microstructure of weathering-prone granite was monitored using scanning electron microscopy equipment. The results show that the pores can be classified into the three categories of small, medium and large pores based on their pore size distribution characteristics. Weathered granite has fractal features in the mesopores and macropores. Compared with unweathered granite, weathered granite has significantly more small pore throats and fewer medium and large pore throats, which expand into microfissures and micropores under conditions of weathering. The microstructure of weathered granite is mainly flaky and shell-like, with good connectivity, resulting in the poor overall structure of weathered granite.