Use of the Boussinesq Equation for Determining the Distribution of Stress Within a Diametrical Point Load Test

Summary The maximum tensile stress at failure for a dry specimen, as determined by the Boussinesq equation for the diametrical point load test, was found to be in very good agreement with the diametrical point load tensile strength (Is) as defined by ISRM (1985). The force at failure for specimens of different geometry was used to determine the stress distribution along the line of loading. Distinctive tensile stress gradients dominate almost 84 percent of the specimen radius regardless of the size of the specimen. The maximum tensile stress is located away from the centre of the specimen at a distance approximately 76 percent along the specimen radius, measured from the centre. The stress magnitude at the centre of the specimen is small and represents about 13 percent of the maximum tensile stress calculated, which suggests that the initiation of the fracture is not from the specimen centre. At the zone of contact between the specimen and the loading cones there exists great compressive stress in areas where much material destruction occurs under the loading platen cones. The value of this compressive stress varies from specimen to specimen and, for the material used in these experiments (Oolitic limestone), ranges from 5.3 to 7.2 times the dry unconfined compressive strength of the material. According to the ISRM Suggested Method for Point Load Test, Is ₍₅₀₎ is approximately 0.8 times the uniaxial tensile strength. The maximum tensile stress revealed by the Boussinesq equation (Bs) was correlated with Is ₍₅₀₎ and found to be in the order of 0.9 times the uniaxial tensile strength.