Strength Characteristics of Sedimentary Rock in Daegu-Gyungbuk Area Followed by Saturation and Crack Initiation

대구경북지역 퇴적암의 포화 및 균열 유발에 따른 강도 특성

Abstract

Shale and mudstone in Daegu-Gyungbuk area have low strength and resistance to weathering compared to other rocks. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate their strength depending on the degree of saturation and crack development. In this study, shales and mudstones were collected from several construction sites in Daegu-Gyungbuk area. Their basic material properties such as porosity, SEM, chemical component, and durability were tested. A porosity (absorptivity) of mudstone was 31% (25%), which was 6 (8) times higher than that of shale. Some mudstone was easily disintegrated with water and it consisted of highly-active clay mineral such as smectite type. These rocks were prepared by small cube specimens for unconfined compression test. An unconfined compressive strength of dry rock was compared with saturated one. Microwave oven was operated step by step to stimulate void water within a saturated rock, which resulted into high temperature and micro crack initiation within rocks. A strength of microwaved rocks was compared with operation time and crack initiation. As a result, the average unconfined compressive strength of dry and saturated shale was 62 and 33 MPa, respectively. The strength of mudstone for each condition was 11 and 4 MPa. When a rock became saturated, its strength decreased by 47% and 64% for shale and mudstone at average. In addition to saturation, a rock was in the microwave for 15 secs, its strength decreased into 49% for shale and 52% for mudstone. When a microwave oven operated up to 20 sec, a rock was crushed into several pieces and its temperature was approximately 200 degrees.

대구경북지역 셰일 및 이암은 다른 암석에 비해 강도가 낮고 풍화에 약하므로 이러한 암석의 포화상태나 균열 발달 정도가 강도에 미치는 영향에 대해 분석할 필요가 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 대구경북지역 토목공사 현장에서 셰일 및 이암을 채취한 다음 흡수율, SEM, 화학성분, 내구성시험과 같은 기본 물성시험을 실시하였으며, 셰일에 비해 이암의 공극률(흡수율)은 31%(25%) 정도로 6(8)배 정도 높은 값을 보였다. 물에 쉽게 풀리는 이암의 경우 활성도가 높은 스멕타이트 군의 점토광물이 많이 포함되어 있는 것으로 나타났다. 채취한 암석을 소형 정육면체로 가공한 다음 일축압축시험을 실시하여 암석의 건조 및 포화 상태에 따른 일축압축강도를 비교하였다. 또한, 전자레인지를 이용하여 암석 공극 내 물을 가열시켜 내부에서 균열이 발생하도록 유도하였으며, 작동시간을 달리하여 내부 균열의 발생 정도에 따른 강도를 비교하였다. 건조된 셰일과 이암의 일축압축강도는 평균 62MPa, 11MPa이며, 이를 포화시키면 일축압축강도는 셰일은 평균 33MPa, 이암은 4MPa로 47% 및 64% 정도 감소하였다. 전자레인지로 15초 작동시켜 균열을 유발할 경우 포화 상태보다 셰일은 49%, 이암은 52% 정도 강도가 감소하였다. 20초 정도 작동 시 대부분의 암석이 여러 조각으로 파쇄되었으며, 이때 소형 암석 내부의 온도는 200도 정도였다.

Fig. 1. Mudstone 2 before and after soaking

Fig. 2. SEM photographs of the specimens at ×5000 magnification and result of XRD analysis (a) Red shale 1, (b) Red shale 2, (c)Mudstone 1 (d) Mudstone 2

Fig. 3. Result of slake durability test

Fig. 4. Rock samples (Red shale 1, Red shale 2, Mudstone 1)

Fig. 5. Saturation time for rocks

Fig. 6. UCS of dry and saturated samples

Fig. 7. Dry (left) and saturated (right) shale specimens after microwave oven operation and temperature

Fig. 8. Capsule and remolded specimen

Fig. 9. Crack development due to microwave oven operation

Fig. 10. UCS of saturated and microwave

Fig. 11. Specimens after microwave oven operation and temperature

Fig. 12. Rock temperature increase by drying oven and microwave oven

Table 1. Physical properties of sedimentary rocks

Table 2. Quantitative analysis on specimens of composition using WDS system in EPMA

Table 3. Results of various strength tests for sedimentary rocks

Table 4. Summary of unconfined compression tests under dry and saturated conditions

Table 5. Summary of unconfined compression tests under saturated and microwave conditions