Microstructure and functional properties of rock materials

The properties of stone materials maybe divided into intrinsic properties such as chemical and mineralogical composition, grain size and porosity, and into functional properties related to a technical application. The latter describe how the stone responds to conditions in the environment such as mechanical load, freeze–thaw cycles and exposure to moisture, and are controlled by the intrinsic properties. This implies that intrinsic properties can be used in order to assess the functional properties of the stone if it is possible to identify and quantify the related critical parameters. While this is an accepted approach for metals and ceramics, it has not been applied to the same extent to rock materials. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that this approach also has potential in petrographic analysis.