Nondestructive evaluation of dimension stone using impulse generated stress waves: Part 3 - Microstructure characterization

A nondestructive testing and evaluation approach is presented to retrieve the microstructural characteristics and the grain size distribution of dimensional stone. The dimension stone test samples are typical of polycrystalline aggregations that represent quasi-monophasic rock structures with densely packed, elastic, and untextured grains. The grains of the test sample have a size distribution ranging approximately from 4 to 9 mm, and exhibit randomness in shape and in crystallographic axis orientation. Results indicate that this approach has the potential of being used for fast retrieval of microstructural features of dimension stone in the laboratory or in-situ.