• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.343-351
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• 2018

Brazilian disc test is one of the most widely used experiments in the literature of geo-mechanics. In this work, the pre-holed concrete Brazilian disc specimens are numerically modelled by a two-dimensional discrete element approach. The cracks initiations, propagations and coalescences in the numerically simulated Brazilian discs (each containing a single cylindrical hole and or multiple holes) are studied. The pre-holed Brazilian discs are numerically tested under Brazilian test conditions. The single-holed Brazilian discs with different ratios of the diameter of the holes to that of the disc radius are modelled first. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an internal hole with varying diameters is measured and the crack propagation mechanism around the wall of the ring is investigated. The crack propagation and coalescence mechanisms are also studied for the case of multi-holes' concrete Brazilian discs. The numerical and experimental results show that the breaking mechanism of the pre-holed disc specimens is mainly due to the initiation of the radially induced tensile cracks which are growth from the surface of the central hole. Radially cracks propagated toward the direction of diametrical loading. It has been observed that for the case of disc specimens with multiple holes under diametrical compressive loading, the breaking process of the modelled specimens may occur due to the simultaneous cracks propagation and cracks coalescence phenomena. These results also show that as the hole diameter and the number of the holes increases both the failure stress and the crack initiation stress decreases. The experimental results already exist in the literature are quit agree with the proposed numerical simulation results which validates this simulation procedure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.675-687
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• 2018

In the previous studies on the porous rock strength the effect of pore number and its diameter is not explicitly defined. In this paper crack initiation, propagation and coalescence in Brazilian model disc containing a single cylindrical hole and or multiple holes have been studied numerically using PFC3D. In model with internal hole, the ratio of hole diameter to model diameter was varied between 0.03, 0.17, 0.25, 0.33, and 0.42. In model with multiple hole number of holes was different in various model, i.e., one hole, two holes, three holes, four holes, five holes, six holes, seven holes, eight holes and nine holes. Diameter of these holes was 5 mm, 10 mm and 12 mm. The pre-holed Brazilian discs are numerically tested under Brazilian test. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an internal hole with varying diameters is measured. The mechanism of cracks propagation in the wall of the ring type specimens is also studied. In the case of multi-hole Brazilian disc, the cracks propagation and b cracks coalescence are also investigated. The results shows that breaking of the pre-holed disc specimens is due to the propagation of radially induced tensile cracks initiated from the surface of the central hole and propagating toward the direction of diametrical loading. In the case of disc specimens with multiple holes, the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence may occur simultaneously in the breaking process of model under diametrical compressive loading. Finally the results shows that the failure stress and crack initiation stress decreases by increasing the hole diameter. Also, the failure stress decreases by increasing the number of hole which mobilized in failure. The results of these simulations were comprised with other experimental and numerical test results. It has been shown that the numerical and experimental results are in good agreement with each other.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.353-360
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• 2019

The elastic modulus is an important parameter to characterize the property of rock. It is common knowledge that the strengths of rocks are significantly different under tension and compression. However, little attention has been paid to the bi-modularity of rock. To validate whether the rock elastic moduli in tension and compression are the same, Brazilian disc, direct tension and compression tests were conducted. A horizontal laser displacement meter and a pair of vertical and transverse strain gauges were applied. Four types of materials were tested, including three types of rock materials and one type of steel material. A comprehensive comparison of the elastic moduli based on different experimental results was presented, and a tension-compression anisotropy model was proposed to explain the experimental results. The results from this study indicate that the rock elastic modulus is different under tension and compression. The ratio of the rock elastic moduli under compression and tension ranges from 2 to 4. The rock tensile moduli from the strain data and displacement data are approximate. The elastic moduli from the Brazilian disc test are consistent with those from the uniaxial tension and compression tests. The Brazilian disc test is a convenient method for estimating the tensile and compressive moduli of rock materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2000.09a
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• pp.67-75
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• 2000

The numerical simulation of Brazilian fracture toughness test is carried out using PFC code and the influence parameters are analyzed such as shape of loading plane, size of Brazilian disc and unit panicle of model, loading angle and loading rate. The flattened Brazilian disc is adopted for applying uniform load. The range of loading angle(2$\alpha$) necessary to induce the tensile crack at disc center and to obtain the load-displacement curve giving the critical load for the stable crack propagation is shown as 20$^{\circ}$~40$^{\circ}$. In condition that the loading angle is 20$^{\circ}$, the mode-I fracture toughness is evaluated almost constant in the range of particle size less than I mm and loading rate less than 0.01 mm/s. This range of influence parameters seems appropriate condition for the tensile crack initiation at disc center and the control of stable crack propagation, which can give the reliance in evaluation of fracture toughness by Brazilian test.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.320-328
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• 2000

The numerical simulation of Brazilian fracture toughness test is carried out using PFC code and the influence parameters are analyzed such as shape of loading plane, size of Brazilian disc and unit particle of model, loading angle and loading rate. The flattened Brazilian disc is adopted for applying uniform load. The range of loading angle(2$\alpha$) necessary to induce the tensile crack at disc center and to obtain the load-displacement curve giving the critical load for the stable crack propagation is shown as 20°∼40°. In condition that the loading angle is 20°, the mode-I fracture toughness is evaluated almost constant in the range of particle size less than 1 mm and loading rate less than 0.01㎜/s. This range of influence parameters seems appropriate condition for the tensile crack initiation at disc center and the control of stable crack propagation, which can give the reliance in evaluation of fracture toughness by Brazilian test.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.373-381
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• 2018

Hollow center cracked disc (HCCD) in Brazilian test was modelled numerically to study the crack propagation in the pre-cracked disc. The pre-existing edge cracks in the disc models were considered to investigate the crack propagation and coalescence paths within the modelled samples. The effect of particle size on the hollow center cracked disc (HCCD) in Brazilian test were considered too. The results shows that Failure pattern is constant by increasing the ball diameter. Tensile cracks are dominant mode of failure. These crack initiates from notch tip, propagate parallel to loading axis and coalescence with upper model boundary. Number of cracks increase by decreasing the ball diameter. Also, tensile fracture toughness was decreased with increasing the particle size. In this research, it is tried to improve the understanding of the crack propagation and crack coalescence phenomena in brittle materials which is of paramount importance in the stability analyses of rock and concrete structures, such as the underground openings, rock slopes and tunnel construction.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.643-662
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• 2018

One of the methods for investigation of mechanical behavior of materials is numerical simulation. For simulation, its need to model behavior is close to real condition. PFC is one of the rock mechanics software that needs calibration for models simulation. The calibration was performed based on simulation of unconfined compression test and Brazilian test. Indeed the micro parameter of models change so that the UCS and Brazilian test results in numerical simulation be close to experimental one. In this paper, the effect of four micro parameters has been investigated on the uniaxial compression test and Brazilian test. These micro parameters are friction angle, Accumulation factor, expansion coefficient and disc distance. The results show that these micro parameters affect the failure pattern in UCS and Brazilian test. Also compressive strength and tensile strength are controlled by failure pattern.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.54-58
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• 2000

Methanol extracts of 27 Brazilian plant samples and 10 oriental medicinal plant samples (27 families), using spectrophotometric and paper disc agar diffusion methods under anaerobic conditions, were tested in vitro for their growth-inhibiting activities against Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Clostridium perfringens, and Bacteroides fragilis. The responses varied with bacterial strains, plant species, and tissues sampled. In a test with B. longum and B. bifidum(20 mg/disc), extracts of Acanthopanax sessilifolinus stem bark and Ampelozizyphus amazonicus leaves strongly inhibited the growth of B. longum, whereas other plant samples did not inhibit any intestinal bacteria tested. At 5 mg/disc, adding extracts of Aralia eleta, Euterpe oleracea, and Syzygium guineense to the media strongly inhibited the growth of C. perfringens and B. fragilis without growth inhibition of B. adolescentis, B. longum, and B. bifidum. Extracts of Jacaranda mimosifolia and Ulmus paraifolia significantly inhibited the growth of C. perfringens and B. fragilis as well as B. adolescentis. These results may be indications of at least one of the pharmacological actions of the five Brazilian plants but not oriental medicinal plants tested.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.5
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• pp.537-547
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• 2018

This research presents the effect of anisotropy of the hollow disc mode under Brazilian test using PFC3D. The Brazilian tensile strength test was performed on the hollow disc specimens containing the bedding layers and then these specimens were numerically modeled by using the two dimensional discrete element code (PFC3D) to calibrate this computer code for the simulation of the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence in the anisotropic bedded rocks. The thickness of each layer within the specimens varied as 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm and the layers angles were changed as $0^{\circ}$, $25^{\circ}$, $50^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$. The diameter of internal hole was taken as 15 mm and the loading rate during the testing process kept as 0.016 mm/s. It has been shown that for layers angles below $25^{\circ}$ the tensile cracks produce in between the layers and extend toward the model boundary till interact and break the specimen. The failure process of the specimen may enhance as the layer angle increases so that the Brazilian tensile strength reaches to its minimum value when the bedding layers is between $50^{\circ}$ and $75^{\circ}$ but its value reaches to maximum at a layer angle of $90^{\circ}$. The number of tensile cracks decreases as the layers thickness increases and with increasing the layers angle, less layer mobilize in the failure process.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.919-933
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• 2017

A series of Brazilian tests under diameter compression for disc specimens was carried out to investigate the strength and failure behavior by using acoustic emission (AE) and photography monitoring technique. On the basis of experimental results, load-displacement curves, AE counts, real-time crack evolution process, failure modes and strength property of granite specimens containing two pre-existing holes were analyzed in detail. Two typical types of load-displacement curves are identified, i.e., sudden instability (type I) and progressive failure (type II). In accordance with the two types of load-displacement curves, the AE events also have different responses. The present experiments on disc specimens containing two pre-existing holes under Brazilian test reveal four distinct failure modes, including diametrical splitting failure mode (mode I), one crack coalescence failure mode (mode II), two crack coalescences failure mode (mode III) and no crack coalescence failure mode (mode IV). Compared with intact granite specimen, the disc specimen containing two holes fails with lower strength, which is closely related to the bridge angle. The failure strength of pre-holed specimen first decreases and then increases with the bridge angle. Finally, a preliminary interpretation was proposed to explain the strength evolution law of granite specimen containing two holes based on the microscopic observation of fracture plane.