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This study used various test methods to analyze the impact resistance of marble, limestone, and travertine to determine their breaking potential when they are used for interior and exterior floor covering. A total of 17 kinds of natural rocks (7 marbles, 5 travertines, and 5 limestones) were categorized according to their commonly used geological formations and were subjected to various characterization tests (mineralogical and petrographic characteristics, chemical properties, as well as physical and mechanical properties). The rupture energy caused by an impact on natural rocks was determined according to the BS EN 14158 standard, whereas restitution coefficients were determined according to the BS EN ISO 10545-5 standard. The impact resistance, rupture energy, and restitution coefficient of polished natural stone plates that were used in the tests were statistically analyzed. The parameters that affected these variables of natural rocks were plate thickness, mineralogical and petrographic characteristics, and physical and mechanical properties. Finally, the potential fractures of the specimens were classified based on impact resistance, rupture energy, and restitution coefficient.

The consumption of electricity during the cutting processes of natural building stones by using block cutters is investigated in this study. To achieve this goal, a power analyzer was installed on the line that transfers electrical power to the vertical saw of the block cutters that are used in natural building stone-processing plants in 11 regions nationwide in Turkey, and the electrical power-consumption readings were taken during the natural stone-cutting processes accordingly. Electrical power-consumption data were recorded at the natural building stone-processing plants under 69 different cutting conditions on 24 different limestone marbles for a range of feed rates and cutting depths during and prior to the cutting process as a result of the measurements taken. It was determined that the power-consumption readings taken exhibited variations in three different regions based on the recorded data. Consequently, a model curve was proposed that explains the electrical power consumption during the cutting process of limestone marbles by using block cutters as a result of the analysis of the data obtained. Furthermore, a novel approach was proposed for the calculation of specific cutting energy during the natural building stone-cutting processes based on the model curve.