ORIGINAL PAPER Mechanical and physical properties of the Kandira stone, Kandira, Turkey Hasan Arman Æ Sefik Ramazanoglu Æ Akin Akinci Received: 6 August 2006 / Accepted: 6 November 2006 / Published online: 20 January 2007 Ó Springer-Verlag 2007 Abstract Kandira stone, extensively used for building stone in northwest Turkey, consists of approximately 91% calcium carbon and 9% clay minerals. The mechanical and physical properties are reported. It is of note that the Brazilian strength is approximately one quarter of the unconfined compressive strength. Keywords Kandira stone Á Building stone Á Physical properties Á Mechanical properties Re ´ sume ´ La pierre de Kandira, tre `s utilise ´e comme mate ´riau de construction dans le nord-ouest de la Turquie, est constitue ´e pour 91% de carbonate de calcium et pour 9% de mine ´raux argileux. Ses propri- e ´te ´s physiques et me ´caniques sont pre ´ sente ´es. Il faut noter que la re ´ sistance de la roche dans l’essai bre ´silien est environ le quart de la re ´ sistance dans l’essai de compression simple. Mots cle ´s Pierre de Kandira Á Pierre de construction Á Proprie ´te ´ s physiques Á Proprie ´te ´s me ´ caniques Introduction Kandira is situated in the northwest of Turkey, within 10 km of the Black Sea (Fig. 1). The limestones of the Akveren Formation of Late Cretaceous age, which outcrop between Kandira and Akcaova, are exten- sively used as a cladding material for buildings, garden walls and other hard landscapings, pavements and roads, and the restoration of historical buildings, both with and without processing. As it does not readily conduct heat, it is also frequently used for decorative fireplaces. Figure 2 shows the lithologies in the 114.5 m thick Akveren Formation (Sariaslan et al. 1998; Tansel 1989a, 1989b). Limestone and sandy limestone are common throughout, while towards the base dolomitic limestone is present. Interbedded with the limestones are bands of marl and sandstone. Where the Kandira stone is quarried, the change in lithology is sharp, hence it is possible to excavate good bands of the beige to cream biomicrite. Laboratory testing Microscopic examination indicated a significant pro- portion of the material to be microfossils and the presence of clay minerals. By placing samples in hydrochloric acid it was found that up to some 9% of the material was argillaceous rather than calcareous. The mechanical properties of the Kandira stone were established from 43 specimens; the results are given in Table 1. The unconfined compressive strength test results were established on 2:1 cylindrical dry samples. The strength varied between 33 and 52 MPa H. Arman (&) Department of Civil Engineering, Sakarya University, Esentepe Campus, Sakarya, Turkey e-mail: harman@sakarya.edu.tr S. Ramazanoglu Department of Geophysical Engineering, Sakarya University, Esentepe Campus, Sakarya, Turkey A. Akinci Department of Metallurgy and Material Engineering, Sakarya University, Esentepe Campus, Sakarya, Turkey 123 Bull Eng Geol Environ (2007) 66:331–333 DOI 10.1007/s10064-006-0082-x