Multiscale Evaluation of Mechanical, Microstructural, and Chemical Properties of Weathered Aggregates on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau presents a unique challenge for infrastructure development due to its extreme geological and climatic conditions-high elevation, large diurnal temperature fluctuations, frequent freeze-thaw cycles, intense ultraviolet radiation, and seasonal precipitation. These factors greatly accelerate the weathering of rock materials, leading to aggregates with increased porosity, microcracking, and weakened mechanical properties. While the engineering implications of such degradation are evident, the underlying material science of weathered aggregates-particularly their microstructure-property relationships-remains insufficiently explored, necessitating further investigation to inform material selection and design. In this study, three representative types of weathered aggregates (silica-rich, carbonaceous, and alumina-rich), alongside unweathered natural aggregates, were examined through both macro-scale (density, water absorption, crushing value, abrasion resistance) and micro-scale (scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS)) analyses. To capture the material evolution, we introduced a simplified classification framework based on the Si/Al ratio and porosity and applied a gray entropy correlation model to quantify the coupling between microstructure and mechanical performance. Results show that weathering reduces the Si/Al ratio from 2.45 to 1.82, increases porosity from 4.2% to 12.7%, enlarges the average pore size to 0.85 μm, raises microcrack density to 1.40 μm/μm², and increases the proportion of connected pores to 68.2%. These microstructural degradations correlate with decreased aggregate density, increased water absorption (up to 8.0%), higher crushing value (27.4%), and abrasion resistance loss (26.0%). Based on these findings, a weathered aggregate classification and pretreatment strategy is proposed, offering a practical reference for engineers to improve material performance in high-altitude road construction.