PETROPHYSICAL AND MINERALOGICAL STUDIES OF BURNT SANDSTONES

SUMMARY Historical monuments have always been in the centre of scientific interest. Natural disasters like fire can strongly damage or even may ruin these ancient buildings. Fire disaster related changes in the petrological and petrophysical properties of the building materials can often lead to stability problems. Historical monuments built of sandstone were studied. The results of the petrological, petrophysical and thermal analyses often refer to the behaviour of the supporting structures exposed to fire. Sandstones with different cement types may show different fire resistance. The comparison of the results can provide useful information when replacing historical stone material, or one have to choose the suitable restoring method for the damaged building part.