7.3 Mass, surface hardness and P-wave velocity test
The variations in mass, surface hardness and P-wave velocity with the increasing periods are normalized using the ratio of the value at the end of each period to the initial value (0 period). The fitting curves of these normalized values versus the number of periods are shown in Figs.15, 16, and 17, respectively.
7.3.1 Massvariation
Fig.15 indicates that the sample mass varies in the same manner under the effects of different experiments. The sample mass increased initially because each sample imbibed water at the early stage of the experiment (0-3 periods) and decreased subsequently. The sample mass decreases the most in response to the effects of acid rain cycle, followed by the saturated group. Whilst the deterioration of samples is less severe in the dry-wet cycle, it is greater than that of the dry group. Obviously, the mass deterioration of LA samples is faster than that of LB samples under the same experimental treatment.