Research Information System
BULLETIN OF ENGINEERING GEOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, vol.81, no.1, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
Tuff located in Central Anatolia (Cappadocia) has been used as a building stone in many historical monuments, churches, and mosques. Although some of the tuffs used in those historical structures show good performances, the others yield poor performances with their physical and mechanical properties varying in large ranges. This study aims to assess the durability of the tuffs using factor analysis (FA), multiple regression analysis (MRA), and analytical hierarchy process (AHP). In current study, thirteen tuff samples from nine different quarries located in the region of Cappadocia were examined by using the physical and mechanical characteristics of the tuffs. Aging tests namely wetting-drying, freezing-thawing, and salt crystallization were performed on the fresh tuff samples. For mineralogical and petrographic analyses, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were applied. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for selecting the most effective properties (variables) of the tuffs. PCA indicated that effective porosity, dry unit weight, dry sonic velocity, uniaxial compressive strength, and salt crystallization weight loss are the most effective variables of the tuffs for the purpose of durability assessment. Considering the analyzed tuffs, field evaluations, and laboratory performances, one tuff belongs to high durability class; the others fall into moderate durability class tuffs. Comparison of the results from the statistical analysis results and the field performances of the tuffs indicate that AHP and MRA methods can predict the long-term durability of the tuffs better than the FA method.