Mechanical and Elastic Properties of Transversely Isotropic Slate

Planes of weakness like schistosity and foliation affect the strength and deformational behaviors of rocks. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the elastic and strength behavior of slate rocks obtained from foundation of Sardasht dam site in Iran. Wet and dry specimens with different orientation of foliation were evaluated under uniaxial, triaxial, and Brazilian tests. According to the results obtained, slate mechanically pronounced U-shaped anisotropy in uniaxial and triaxial compression tests. In addition, the degree of anisotropy for the slates tested in current study was relatively high, showing the effect of foliation plane on strength and elastic parameters. It was concluded that stiffness of the samples decrease as the angle of anisotropy reaches 30–40°. This change was more pronounced for wet comparing to dry samples. However, the tensile strength obtained during Brazilian tests indicated that there is no apparent relationship between angle of anisotropy and tensile strength. However, increasing the water saturation decreased the tensile strength of the samples. The calculated elastic moduli referring to different anisotropy angles could be valuable for the design of various engineering structures in planar textured rock masses.