Laboratory Modelling of Fire Effects on Monuments Built With Pyroclastic Rocks: Niğde Region, Turkey

Abstract

Fires can have devastating effects on cultural stone heritage. Micro and macro changes occur in building stones exposed to high temperatures. Micro changes also cause changes in the physical properties of rocks. These changes not only cause instant damage to the monuments, but also make them less resistant to atmospheric processes and increase the rate of deterioration. Modelling these changes in cultural heritage in a laboratory environment can play an important role in ensuring the continuity of monuments. For this purpose, pyroclastic rock taken from the Ni & gbreve;de (Turkey) region was subjected to heat-treatment and the changes in the samples were investigated with XRD, SEM-EDX, TGA, spectrophotometry, porosity, P-wave velocity, capillary water absorption, and heat treatment loss. It was determined that the mineralogical changes in the structure of the rock with the increase in temperature affected various micro and macro properties.