• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.131-146
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• 2008

Many attempts have been made to determine the uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of regular specimens of rock indirectly. But little experimental work has been done to find above two parameters using Brazilian test value up to date. This paper employs Brazilian test value to estimate uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of sedimentary (sand stone, shale) and metamorphic (gneiss) rocks. High reliability of Brazilian test has been supported by the established conclusions drawn from point load test and Schmidt hammer strike values. It has also been found that this method can be applied easily and rapidly to the estimation of uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of rock cores when direct tests are not available.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.445-452
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• 2018

In this paper the effects of particle size and model scale of concrete have been investigated on point load index, tensile strength, and the failure processes using a PFC2D numerical modeling study. Circular and semi-circular specimens of concrete were numerically modeled using the same particle size, 0.27 mm, but with different model diameters of 75 mm, 54 mm, 25 mm, and 12.5 mm. In addition, circular and semi-circular models with the diameter of 27 mm and particle sizes of 0.27 mm, 0.47 mm, 0.67 mm, 0.87 mm, 1.07 mm, and 1.27 mm were simulated to determine whether they can match the experimental observations from point load and Brazilian tests. The numerical modeling results show that the failure patterns are influenced by the model scale and particle size, as expected. Both Is(50) and Brazilian tensile strength values increased as the model diameter and particle sizes increased. The ratio of Brazilian tensile strength to Is(50) showed a reduction as the particle size increased but did not change with the increase in the model scale.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.450-462
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• 2009

To analyze the behavioral characteristics of rocks on indirect tests and uniaxial compressive strength, researchers have investigated 1417 pieces of rock block, which include igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks in Korea. The same behavioral characteristics have been shown in every type of sedimentary rock and in the same species of rock in the case of Brazilian strength application. This suggests that correlations of rocks for geological considerations can lead to high reliability of the experimental results in case of an indirect method.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2017

In this paper, mode I fracture toughness of rock was determined by direct and indirect methods using Particle Flow Code simulation. Direct methods are compaction tension (CT) test and hollow centre cracked quadratic sample (HCCQS). Indirect methods are notched Brazilian disk (NBD) specimen, the semi-circular bend (SCB) specimen, hollow centre cracked disc (HCCD), the single edge-notched round bar in bending (SENRBB) specimen and edge notched disk (END). It was determined that which one of indirect fracture toughness values is close to direct one. For this purpose, initially calibration of PFC was undertaken with respect to data obtained from Brazilian laboratory tests to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical models response. Furthermore, the simulated models in five introduced indirect tests were cross checked with the results from direct tests. By using numerical testing, the failure process was visually observed. Discrete element simulations demonstrated that the macro fractures in models are caused by microscopic tensile breakages on large numbers of bonded discs. Mode I fracture toughness of rock in direct test was less than other tests results. Fracture toughness resulted from semi-circular bend specimen test was close to direct test results. Therefore semi-circular bend specimen can be a proper test for determination of Mode I fracture toughness of rock in absence of direct test.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.29-40
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• 2020

In this study, various laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of the moisture conditions of Jeju basalt on the mechanical properties. Twenty specimens were produced respectively from basalts collected from Sangga-ri and Eoeum-ri in northwestern Jeju. The tests were performed under saturated and dry conditions, and the results of these tests were used to examine the relationship with the physical properties and the mechanical properties depending on the moisture conditions. As a result of analysis with the test results and references, it was found that the uniaxial compressive strength, Brazilian tensile strength and elastic modulus in the saturated condition decrease at a similar ratio as compared with the dry condition. Also, the Brazilian tensile strength and the uniaxial compressive strength were in a linear proportional relationship, and in the moisture conditions, this relationship was not significantly affected.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.379-386
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• 2018

The present study addresses the direct and indirect methods of determining the mode-I fracture toughness of concrete using experimental tests and particle flow code. The direct method used is compaction tensile test and the indirect methods are notched Brazilian disc test, semi-circular bend specimen test, and hollow center cracked disc. The experiments were carried out to determine which indirect method yields the fracture toughness closer to the one obtained by the direct method. In the numerical analysis, the PFC model was first calibrated with respect to the data obtained from the Brazilian laboratory test. The crack paths observed in the simulated tests were in reasonable accordance with experimental results. The discrete element simulations demonstrated that the macro fractures in the models are caused by microscopic tensile breakages on large numbers of bonded particles. The mode-I fracture toughness in the direct tensile test was smaller than the indirect testing results. The fracture toughness obtained from the SCB test was closer to the direct test results. Hence, the semi-circular bend test is recommended as a proper experiment for determination of mode-I fracture toughness of concrete in the absence of direct tests.

• 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.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.2 no.6
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• pp.499-516
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• 2005

A composite model is used to represent the heterogeneity of plain concrete consisting of coarse aggregates, mortar matrix and the mortar-aggregate interface. The composite elements of plain concrete are modeled using triangular finite element units which have six interface nodes along the sides. Fracture is captured through a constitutive single branch softening-fracture law at the interface nodes, which bounds the elastic domain inside each triangular unit. The inelastic displacement at an interface node represents the crack opening or sliding displacement and is conjugate to the internodal force. The path-dependent softening behaviour is developed within a quasi-prescribed displacement control formulation. The crack profile is restricted to the interface boundaries of the defined mesh. No re-meshing is carried out. Solutions to the rate formulation are obtained using a mathematical programming procedure in the form of a linear complementary problem. An event by event solution strategy is adopted to eliminate solutions with simultaneous formation of softening zones in symmetric problems. The composite plain concrete model is compared to experimental results for the tensile crack growth in a Brazilian test and three-point bending tests on different sized specimens. The model is also used to simulate wedge-type shear-compression failure directly under the loading platen of a Brazilian test.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.316-326
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of cleavages on indirect tensile strength (ITS) of the granite. Brazilian disc tests and ring tests with three different hole sizes were performed. 2D DEM (Discrete Element Method) simulation was employed to further understand the failure process during the tests and the mechanism behind. Results show that ITS decreases across hardway, grain and rift cleavage. Measured average ITS from ring tests is about 2.5 ~ 6.4 times of those measured from Brazilian disc tests, and it decreases with increasing ratio of diameters of inner hole and specimen. Failure pattern in ring tests is influenced by both hole size and relative positions of cleavages parallel and perpendicular to the loading direction.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.15-20
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• 2017

In order to obtain the dynamic response behavior of the rock subjected to blasting loading, a shock-proof high sensitivity impact sensor which can measure high frequency dynamic force and strain events should be adopted. Because the impact sensors which uses quartz and piezoelectric element are costly, generally the strain measurement-based impact (SMI) sensors are applied to high speed loading devices. In this study, dynamic Brazilian tension tests of granitic rocks was conducted using the Nonex Rock Cracker (NRC) reaction driven-high speed loading device which adopts SMI sensors. The dynamic response of the granite specimens were monitored and the intermediate strain rate dependency of Brazilian tensile strengths was discussed.