Experimental and Numerical Studies on Determination of Indirect Tensile Strength of Rocks

Indirect tension tests using Brisbane tuff Brazilian disc specimens under standard Brazilian jaws and various loading arcs were performed. The standard Brazilian indirect tensile tests caused catastrophic, crushing failure of the disc specimens, rather than the expected tensile splitting failure initiated by a central crack. This led to an investigation of the fracturing of Brazilian disc specimens and the existing indirect tensile Brazilian test using steel loading arcs with different angles. The results showed that the ultimate failure load increased with increasing loading arc angles. With no international standard for determining indirect tensile strength of rocks under diametral load, numerical modelling and analytical solutions were undertaken. Numerical simulations using RFPA^2D software were conducted with a heterogeneous material model. The results predicted tensile stress in the discs and visually reproduced the progressive fracture process. It was concluded that standard Brazilian jaws cause catastrophic, crushing failure of the disc specimens instead of producing a central splitting crack. The experimental and numerical results showed that 20° and 30° loading arcs result in diametral splitting fractures starting at the disc centre. Moreover, intrinsic material properties (e.g. fracture toughness) may be used to propose the best loading configuration to determine the indirect tensile strength of rocks. Here, by using numerical outcomes and empirical relationships between fracture toughness and tensile strength, the best loading geometry to obtain the most accurate indirect tensile strength of rocks was the 2α?=?30° loading arc.     

On the Measurement of the Tensile Strength of Soft Rocks

Summary. This paper reports on a comparative study of various types of experimental tests for measuring the tensile strength of rocks and rock-like materials. A critical assessment is presented of some widely used laboratory techniques on the basis of experimental data from the literature and from the laboratory investigation performed in this study.Tests were carried out using a triaxial apparatus recently set up at Milan University of Technology. This was designed to reduce random misalignments between specimen and loading frame, which are typical of conventional triaxial cells with external tie bars. The apparatus was then modified to perform various types of tests for determining the tensile strength of materials. An artificial building stone and a natural calcarenite of the Gravina di Puglia geological formation, sampled at Montescaglioso (Matera-Italy) were tested in this research. The experimental investigation included various types of tests, namely the uni-axial, the Brazilian, the ring, the three and four points bending and the Luong test. Specimens of both materials were also compressed to failure in unconfined conditions and loaded cyclically in unconfined tension and compression, Young’s moduli being measured by means of local instrumentation.     

Mixed-Mode Fracturing of Rocks Under Static and Cyclic Loading

Static diametrical compression tests conducted on inclined cracked chevron notched Brazilian disc (CCNBD) Brisbane tuff specimens showed that the notched cracks at the centre of the specimens opened (Mode I) up to 30° crack inclination angle (β), whereas crack closure (Mode II) started for β > 33°, and closure became more pronounced at even higher β of 45° and 70°. Both the experimental and numerical results showed that the crack initiation angle (θ) was a function of the β. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that fatigue damage on cyclic loading of Brisbane tuff is strongly influenced by the failure of the matrix due to both intergranular and transgranular fracturing.     

岩石在循环荷载作用下的强度及变形特征

本文着重研究了岩石在循环荷载作用下的强度及变形特征。实验结果表明,岩石在循环荷载作用下的强度低于其静力强度,而这个循环疲劳强度极限与振幅、频率有关;岩石在循环荷载作用下的变形特征类似于静力蠕变特征。     

周期荷载下岩石大型三轴试件的变形和强度特性研究

本文介绍了作者在联邦德国卡尔斯鲁厄大学土岩力学研究所利用该所研制的大型三轴试验机进行周期荷载下大型三轴试验的情况和结果。岩石为薄层灰岩,试件直径为60cm,高为120cm。整个研究工作是基于分析不可逆变形的观点来探讨变形和强度特性的。在周期荷载作用下,不可逆变形的总量随着循环次数的增加而增长;但在不同的应力水平下,不可逆变形的发展趋势具有显著的,甚至是质的差异。应力水平很低时,最初几次的循环荷载将导致产生较大的不可逆变形;随着循环次数之增加,其不可逆变形的增长率逐步衰减,最终趋向于一个比较稳定的常值。但是当应力水平达到某一“门槛”值后,情景则迥然不同;循环次数之增加将促使不可逆变形的加速增长,最终导致整个试件的破坏。试验结果表明,这一特征应力值略低于常规三轴试验中的所谓“屈服值”。研究结果表明,每一个加荷-卸荷循环过程中的不可逆变形主要发生在超过这一“门槛”值后的区段内。研究这样的特征值对于探讨周期荷载作用下岩体的力学性质是十分重要的。由试验获得的不可逆变形与循环次数的关系曲线在形态上与流变曲线十分相似。     

Study on Deformation and Strength Behavior of the Large-sized Triaxial Rock Samples under Cyclic Loading

When in Institute of Soil and Rock Mechanics, Karlsruhe University, Federal Germany, the author of this paper performed some cyclic loading tests on the large-sized triaxial testing machine developed in this institute. The rock sample used were 60cm in diameter and 120cm in height. The work mainly included the study of deformation and strength behavior of the samples and was based on the viewpoint of analyzing the irreversible deformation. Under cyclic loading, although the irreversible deformation generally increased with the n umber of cycles, the deformation trends obtained at various stress levels distinctly differed from each other. At low stress levels a comparatively large irreversible deformation arouse from the first few cycles of loading. With the increase of the number of cycles its growth decayed gradually and tended finally to a stable constant value. When the stress level reached a certain “threshold” value, the situation became entirely different. The increase of the number of cycles caused an acclecrated growth of the irreversible deformation till a complete failure of the whole sample. The test results also illustrated that this characteristic stress value was slightly lower than the so-called “yield” value. The study of such a characteristic value is of great importance for under-standing the mechanical properties of rock masses under cyclic loading. The experimental curves of irreversible deformation vs. the number of cycles show a remarkable resemblance to corresponding rheological curves, which, perhaps, may not be accidental. It is propose in this paper that the relation of the strength obtained in conventional tests, the long-term strength in rheological tests and the strength under cyclic loading should be studied. Undoubtedly, it is significant for evaluating the strength and safety factor in rock engineering problems.     

Prediction of Uniaxial Compressive Strength,Tensile Strength and Porosity of Sedimentary Rocks Using Sound Level Produced During Rotary Drilling

The main purpose of the study is to develop a general prediction model and to investigate the relationships between sound level produced during drilling and physical properties such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength and percentage porosity of sedimentary rocks. The results were evaluated using the multiple regression analysis taking into account the interaction effects of various predictor variables. Predictor variables selected for the multiple regression model are drill bit diameter, drill bit speed, penetration rate and equivalent sound level produced during rotary drilling (L _eq). The constructed models were checked using various prediction performance indices. Consequently, it is possible to say that the constructed models can be used for practical purposes.     

冻结粉土动强度的荷载效应及长期极限动强度

荷载效应包括速率效应和疲劳效应两部分．速率效应使冻土的动强度和退荷回弹动弹模随应变速率加快而提高;疲劳效应使冻土的动强度随振频增加而下降,但在低应变速率下却使动强度略有提高．在高应变速率下动强度大于静强度,在低应变速度下动强度小于静强度,其间存在一个临界应变速率．通过动强度－破坏振次关系,可确定长期极限动强度．     

A Study on the Peak Strength of Brittle Rocks

Summary A study on the peak strength of brittle rock materials having random strength distributions was carried out using the re-normalization group theory approach. A major advantage of the approach is that it is scale invariant, and therefore, one can relate the micro-fractures with macro-fractures of rocks at the critical state. The stress transfer from the broken sub-sections to the unbroken sub-sections is defined by a conditional probability. The critical probability P ^* and the relation between the peak strength and the mean strength of the elements have been obtained theoretically. On the other hand, the whole process of rock brittle fracture has also been simulated numerically from micro-fracture to macro-fracture by using the Rock Failure Process Analysis (RFPA) code. The peak strengths obtained by the numerical model agree fairly well with those obtained by the re-normalisation group theory. Due to the stress transfer from the broken subsections to the unbroken subsections, the peak strength is considerably less than the mean strength of the elements. Received October 24, 2000; accepted February 26, 2002 Published online September 2, 2002     

Importance of Tensile Strength on the Shear Behavior of Discontinuities

In this study, the shear behavior of discontinuities possessing two different rock wall types with distinct separate compressive strengths was investigated. The designed profiles consisted of regular artificial joints molded by five types of plaster mortars, each representing a distinct uniaxial compressive strength. The compressive strengths of plaster specimens ranged from 5.9 to 19.5 MPa. These specimens were molded considering a regular triangular asperity profile and were designed so as to achieve joint walls with different strength material combinations. The results showed that the shear behavior of discontinuities possessing different joint wall compressive strengths (DDJCS) tested under constant normal load (CNL) conditions is the same as those possessing identical joint wall strengths, but the shear strength of DDJCS is governed by minor joint wall compressive strength. In addition, it was measured that the predicted values obtained by Barton’s empirical criterion are greater than the experimental results. The finding indicates that there is a correlation between the joint roughness coefficient (JRC), normal stress, and mechanical strength. It was observed that the mode of failure of asperities is either pure tensile, pure shear, or a combination of both. Therefore, Barton’s strength criterion, which considers the compressive strength of joint walls, was modified by substituting the compressive strength with the tensile strength. The validity of the modified criterion was examined by the comparison of the predicted shear values with the laboratory shear test results reported by Grasselli (Ph.D. thesis n.2404, Civil Engineering Department, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2001). These comparisons infer that the modified criterion can predict the shear strength of joints more precisely.     

Role of Crystal Interlocking on the Strength of Brittle Rocks

Results of an experimental programme on heterogeneous rock-like specimens of dental plaster confirm the pronounced role of tensile microcracks on brittle failure. Microbuckling of very small rock-columns formed amid closely located tensile cracks was observed as the key incident connecting stable phenomenon of tensile cracking to unstable phenomenon of shearing and subsequent macroscopic failure. Using the classical beam and buckling theories and considering geometry of the problem a new failure criterion is proposed. As a novel attempt, this new failure criterion relates the compressive strength of rock to three basic microstructural properties, i.e. degree of crystal interlocking, average Young modulus and average tensile strength of rock forming minerals.     

人工冻土单轴抗拉,抗压强度的试验研究

简述了国内外冻土单轴抗拉、抗压强度的试验方法，分别在３个不同温度下（－７℃、－１２℃、－１７℃）进行了单轴抗拉、抗压强度测定。试验表明，采用劈裂法测定冻上抗拉强度是可行的。试验的结论对冻土工程的设计与施工有一定参考作用。     

冻结黄土抗拉强度的试验研究

冻结饱水黄土的拉伸试验表明，拉伸破坏均属脆性破坏类型，拉断面上矿物颗粒剪移错粒，裂隙发育。拉伸的应力－应变过程，视荷载作用的快慢大致可分为粘弹－塑性、粘－弹性有脆性破坏三类，它们可用统一的方程形式加以描述，此外，对饱水冻结黄土的峰值应力、破坏应变和破坏时间等特性进行了分析，对抗拉、抗压强度作分析比较后指出，它们的比值为０．４４－０．６３，与负温和加载速率的关系不大。