Stone is a ‘naturally available building material’ which
has been used from the early age of civilization. It is available in the form of rocks, which is cut to required size and shape and used as building
block. It has been used to construct small
residential buildings to large palaces
and temples all over the world.
Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Vidhan Sabha at Bangalore and several palaces
of medieval age all over India are the famous stone buildings.
1.1.1 Type of Stones
Stones used for civil engineering works may be classified in the following
three ways:
• Geological
• Physical
• Chemical
Geological Classification
Based on their origin of formation
stones are classified into three main groups—Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
(i) Igneous Rocks: These rocks are formed
by cooling and solidifying of the rock masses from their molten magmatic
condition of the material of the earth. Generally igneous rocks are strong and
durable. Granite, trap and basalt are the rocks belonging to
this category, Granites are formed
by slow cooling of the lava under thick cover on the top. Hence they have
crystalline surface. The cooling of lava at the top surface of earth results
into non-crystalline and glassy texture.
Trap and basalt belong to
this category.
(ii) Sedimentary Rocks: Due to weathering action of water, wind and frost existing rocks disintegrates. The disintegrated
material is carried by wind and water; the water being most powerful medium. Flowing
water deposits its suspended materials
at some points of obstacles
to its flow. These deposited
layers of materials get consolidated under pressure and by heat. Chemical agents also contribute
to the cementing of the
deposits. The rocks thus formed are
more uniform, fine grained and compact in their nature. They represent a bedded
or stratified structure in general. Sand stones, lime stones, mud stones etc. belong to this class of rock.
(iii) Metamorphic Rocks: Previously formed igneous and sedimentary rocks under go changes
due to metamorphic action of pressure and internal heat. For example
due to metamorphic action granite becomes greisses, trap and basalt change to schist and laterite,
lime stone changes
to marble, sand stone
becomes quartzite and mud stone becomes slate.
Physical Classification
Based on the structure, the rocks may be classified
as:
• Stratified rocks
• Unstratified rocks
(i) Stratified Rocks: These rocks are having layered structure. They possess planes of stratification or cleavage. They can be easily split
along these planes.
Sand stones, lime stones, slate
etc. are the examples of this class of stones.
(ii) Unstratified Rocks: These
rocks are not stratified. They possess crystalline and compact grains. They
cannot be split in to thin slab. Granite, trap, marble etc. are the examples of
this type of rocks.
(iii) Foliated Rocks: These rocks have a tendency to split along a definite
direction only. The direction need not be parallel to each other as in case of stratified rocks. This type of structure
is very common in case of metamorphic rocks.
Chemical Classification
On the basis of their chemical composition engineers prefer to classify
rocks as:
• Silicious rocks
• Argillaceous rocks and
• Calcareous rocks
(i) Silicious
rocks: The main content of these rocks is silica. They are hard and durable. Examples
of such rocks are granite,
trap, sand stones etc.
(ii) Argillaceous rocks: The main constituent of these rocks is argil i.e.,
clay. These stones are
hard and durable but they are brittle.
They cannot withstand
shock. Slates and laterites are examples of this
type of rocks.
(iii) Calcareous rocks: The main constituent of these rocks is calcium carbonate. Limestone
is a calcareous rock of sedimentary origin while marble is a calcareous
rock of metamorphic origin.
1.1.2 Properties
of Stones
The following
properties of the stones should be looked into before selecting them for engineering works:
(i) Structure: The structure of the stone may be stratified (layered)
or unstratified. Structured
stones should be easily dressed
and suitable for super structure. Unstratified stones are hard and difficult
to dress. They are preferred
for the foundation works.
(ii) Texture:
Fine grained stones with homogeneous distribution look attractive and hence
they are used for carving. Such stones are usually strong and durable.
(iii) Density: Denser stones
are stronger. Light weight
stones are weak.
Hence stones with specific
gravity less than 2.4 are considered unsuitable
for buildings.
(iv) Appearance: A stone with uniform and attractive colour is durable, if grains are compact. Marble and granite get very good
appearance, when polished. Hence they are used for face works in buildings.
(v) Strength: Strength
is an important property to be looked into before selecting stone as building
block. Indian standard code recommends, a minimum crushing strength of
3.5 N/mm2 for any building block. Table 1.1 shows the crushing strength of
various stones. Due to non-uniformity of
the material, usually a factor of safety of 10 is used to find the permissible stress
in a stone. Hence even laterite can be used safely for a single storey
building, because in such structures expected load can hardly give
a stress of 0.15 N/mm2. However in stone masonry
buildings care should be taken to check the stresses when the beams (Concentrated Loads) are placed on laterite
wall.
Table 1.1. Crushing strength of common building stones
Name of Stone
|
Crushing Strength
in N/mm2
|
Trap Basalt Granite Slate
Marble Sand stone Lime stone Laterite
|
300 to 350
153 to 189
104 to 140
70 to 210
72
65
55
1.8 to 3.2
|
(vi) Hardness:
It is an important property
to be considered when stone is used for flooring
and pavement. Coefficient of
hardness is to be found by conducting test on standard specimen in
Dory’s testing machine. For road works coefficient of hardness should be at least 17. For building
works stones with coefficient of hardness less than 14 should not be used.
(vii) Percentage wear: It is measured
by attrition test. It is an important
property to be considered
in selecting aggregate for road works and railway ballast.
A good stone should not show wear of more than
2%.
(viii) Porosity and Absorption:
All stones have pores and hence absorb water. The reaction of
water with material of stone cause disintegration. Absorption test is specified
as percentage of water
absorbed by the stone when it is immersed under water for 24 hours. For a good
stone it should be as small as possible
and in no case more than 5.
(ix) Weathering: Rain and wind cause loss of good appearance of stones. Hence stones with good
weather resistance should be used for face works.
(x) Toughness: The resistance to impact is called toughness.
It is determined by impact test.
Stones with toughness index more than 19 are preferred for road works. Toughness index 13 to 19 are considered as medium tough and stones with toughness
index less than 13 are poor stones.
(xi) Resistance to Fire: Sand stones resist fire better. Argillaceous materials, though poor in strength, are good in resisting fire.
(xii) Ease in Dressing:
Cost of dressing
contributes to cost of stone masonry to a great extent.
Dressing is easy in stones with lesser strength.
Hence an engineer
should look into sufficient
strength rather than high strength while selecting stones for building
works.
(xiii) Seasoning:
The stones obtained from quarry contain moisture in the pores. The strength of the stone improves
if this moisture is removed
before using the stone. The process of removing moisture from pores is called seasoning. The best way of seasoning
is to allow it to the action of nature for 6 to
12 months.
This is very much required
in the case of laterite
stones.
1.1.3 Requirements
of Good Building
Stones
The following are the requirements of good building
stones:
(i) Strength:
The stone should be able to resist the load coming on it. Ordinarilly this is not of
primary concern since
all stones are having good strength. However
in case of large structure, it may be necessary to check the strength.
(ii) Durability: Stones selected should be capable of resisting adverse effects of natural forces like wind, rain and heat.
(iii) Hardness: The stone used in floors and pavements should be able to resist abrasive forces caused by movement of men
and materials
over them.
(iv) Toughness: Building stones should be tough enough to sustain stresses developed due to
vibrations. The vibrations may be due to the machinery mounted over them or due
to the loads moving over them. The stone aggregates
used in the road constructions should be tough.
(v) Specific Gravity:
Heavier variety of stones should be used for the construction of dams,
retaining walls, docks and harbours.
The specific gravity
of good building stone is between 2.4 and 2.8.
(vi) Porosity and Absorption: Building stone should not be porous. If it is porous rain water
enters into the pour and reacts with
stone and crumbles it. In higher
altitudes, the freezing of water in pores takes place and it results
into the disintegration of the stone.
(vii) Dressing: Giving
required shape to the stone is called dressing. It should be easy to dress so
that the cost of dressing
is reduced. However
the care should be taken so that, this is not be at the cost of the required strength and the durability.
(viii) Appearance: In case of the stones to
be used for face works, where appearance is a primary requirement, its colour and ability to receive polish is an important factor.
(ix) Seasoning: Good
stones should be free from the quarry sap. Laterite
stones should not be
used for 6 to 12 months after quarrying.
They are allowed to get rid of quarry sap by the action of nature. This process of removing quarry sap is called seasoning.
(x) Cost: Cost is an important
consideration in selecting
a building material.
Proximity of the quarry
to building site brings down the cost of transportation and hence the cost of stones comes
down.
However it may
be noted
that not a single stone can
satisfy all the requirements of a good building
stones, since one requirement may contradict another. For example, strength and durability requirement contradicts ease of dressing
requirement. Hence it is necessary that site engineer
looks into the properties
required for the inteded work and selects the stone.