High-level and long-term noise effect on soft rock building materials

In recent years, due to an increase in the number of tourists and music concerts in historical areas and a rise in the noise level caused by transport in these regions, an increase in noise-induced damage has been seen in historic structures. In the literature, few studies have examined the impact of sound sources on old buildings. In this study, two types of ignimbrite from the Cappadocia region, fossiliferous limestone used in historical Ottoman buildings, mudstone from the Kula Geopark area, and sandstone used in historic buildings in Erzurum were tested at different sound levels to determine the effect of noise on the rock samples. A new laboratory test setup was developed for noise-effect testing. The rock samples were placed in the sound-test cabinet and exposed to sound levels of 80-130 dB at 1-1200 min duration. Changes in the sonic velocity, porosity, water absorption by weight, and uniaxial compressive strengths of the samples were measured, as well as the deformation caused by the sound waves on the surface of the samples. At 80 dB, the surface of the mudstone samples began to disperse. Above 120 dB, small cracks occurred on the surfaces of all the samples.