ABSTRACT Coral reefs provide habitat for most oceanic life forms, however, they are declining worldwide due to pollution, increased ocean temperature, diseases and other factors. In this paper, structural and mechanical properties of endangered coral (Acropora cervicornis) skeletons cleaned by chemical bleaching and biological processes were studied. The structure of CaCO3 aragonite skeleton is porous and very complex and affects the deformation behaviour of coral skeletons. The average compressive strength was equal to 9.5 ± 2.3 MPa and 14.5 ± 6.4 MPa, while Vickers hardness was measured to be equal to 3.67 ± 0.33 GPa and 3.65 ± 0.24 GPa for the chemically bleached and biologically cleaned skeletons, respectively, thus showing similar values regardless of the cleaning techniques. The results are important for understanding the fundamental relationship between the coral skeleton’s microstructure and mechanical behaviour.

中文翻译：

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鹿角珊瑚 (Acropora cervicornis) CaCO3 文石骨架的结构和机械性能，通过化学漂白和生物过程清洁

摘要 珊瑚礁为大多数海洋生命形式提供了栖息地，然而，由于污染、海洋温度升高、疾病和其他因素，它们在世界范围内正在减少。在本文中，研究了通过化学漂白和生物过程清洁的濒危珊瑚（Acropora cervicornis）骨骼的结构和力学性能。CaCO3 文石骨架结构多孔且非常复杂，影响珊瑚骨架的变形行为。平均抗压强度等于 9.5 ± 2.3 MPa 和 14.5 ± 6.4 MPa，而化学漂白和生物清洁骨架的维氏硬度测量值分别等于 3.67 ± 0.33 GPa 和 3.65 ± 0.24 GPa，因此显示出相似的值无论清洁技术如何。