Effects of freeze-thawing cycles on the physical and mechanical properties of basaltic and dolomitic rocks evaluated with a decay function model

Basalts from Çorlu Karatepe and dolomite from Kırklareli subjected to freeze-thawing (F-T) cycles were studied, and the resulting changes were analyzed. The unweathered rocks and those subjected to 50 F-T cycles after every 10 cycles were tested for the water absorption by weight and volume, P-wave velocity, uniaxial compression strength, point load strength index, and Schmidt hardness values under laboratory conditions. In addition, the relationship between physical and mechanical properties was examined after every 10 cycles, and an exponential model was proposed for the mechanical properties. Two model-generated parameters, i.e., the decay constant and half-life value for each mechanical property, were used to evaluate the disintegration rate of the rocks under the cyclical action of F-T. The evaluation suggests that disintegration behavior was not comparable between the two types of rocks. However, the basalt samples had similar mechanical properties, which indicated a high degree of correlation.