Abstract:  In order to find a suitable restoration material for the effective restoration and protection of sandstone cultural relics, we selected  three kinds of restoration materials such as epoxy resin, waterhard lime in 5% and waterhard lime in 12%   to discuss the strength and durability of restored cultural relic sandstone under the influence of temperature and humidity. By setting different temperature, freezethaw cycles and different saturation levels to simulate natural environment, the strength changes of the rock samples were analyzed using tensile strength and shear strength tests. The test results show that the rock samples are not significantly affected by temperature in a short period of time. Under the influence of humidity, the overall mechanical strength showed a decreasing trend. The strength of specimens bonded with epoxy resin is higher than that with waterhard lime, and the strength of bonding with waterhard lime in 12% is higher than that with waterhard lime in 5%. The tensile strength of the epoxy resin bonded rock sample is always at a high level during multiple freezethaw processes, which has better durability compared with the bonding of the other two materials. 

Key words: temperature, moisture, cultural relic sandstone, restoration materials, strength