SEDL / STP / STP1177-EB / STP15936S

Fractals, Pore Potential, and Sphinx Limestone Durability

Yerrapragada, SS
Research Associate, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

Tambe, SS
Research Associate, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

Gauri, KL
Professor, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

Pages: 8    Published: Jan 1993

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Abstract

A study of the porosimetric data of limestone samples from the region of the Sphinx reveals that the pore volume distributions obey a power law. It should be possible, therefore, to treat these strata as a fractal structure. We found that each lithologic unit of the Sphinx, below the neck, can be characterized by a fractal dimension D, the values of which range from 2.54 to 2.77. The volume of small pores, radii < 0.9μm, ranges from 19% for D = 2.54 to 61% for D = 2.77.

A good correlation, with a correlation coefficient of 0.97, was found between the durability factors as previously determined through pore-size distributions and those determined through the fractal dimension.