• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.133-141
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• 2002

Isotropic rock and anisotropic rock have different tensile strength which has the greatest influence on rock failure. In this study, elastic modulus of anisotropic rock is obtained through uniaxial compression test, and tensile strength and tension failure behavior are analyzed through indirect tensile strength test. Stress concentration factor of a specimen at the center is obtained from anisotropic elastic modulus and strain by indirect tensile strength test. Theoretical solutions for tensile strength of isotropic and anisotropic rock are compared. Stress concentration factor of anisotropic rock is either higher or lower than isotropic rock depending on the inclination angle of bedding plane. The use of stress concentration factor of isotropic rock resulted in overestimation or underestimation of tensile strength.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2003

The fracture processes under static tensile loading were simulated using a proposed numerical simulation method, based on finite element method and fracture mechanism, and analyzed to verify an influence of rock inhomogeneity on static tensile strength. Static tensile strengths for the specimen models with different spatial microscopic tensile strength when m=5 and m=50 were estimated. These analyses revealed that the static tensile strength becomes closer to the mean microscopic tensile strength at a higher uniformity coefficient and the scatter of the strength data decreases in increasing the uniformity coefficients. Therefore, it could be concluded that rock inhomogeneity has an effect on static tensile strength.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.883-898
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• 2017

To eliminate the holding and gluing problems making the direct tensile strength test hard to be applied, a new method of testing specimens prepared using lathe machine to make the dog bone shape is assessed whether it could be applied to determine accurate direct tensile strength values of rock materials. A series of numerical modelling analyses was performed using finite element method to investigate the effect of different specimen and steel holder geometries. In addition to numerical modelling study, a series of direct tensile strength tests was performed on three different groups of rock materials and a rock-like cemented material to compare the results with those obtained from the finite element analyses. A proper physical property of the lathed specimens was suggested and ideal failure of the dog bone shaped specimens was determined according to the results obtained from this study.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.349-358
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• 2021

The Brazilian test has been widely used to determine the indirect tensile strength of rock, concrete and other brittle materials. The basic assumption for the calculation formula of Brazilian tensile strength is that the elastic moduli of rock are the same both in tension and compression. However, the fact is that the elastic moduli in tension and compression of most rocks are different. Thus, the formula of Brazilian tensile strength under the assumption of isotropy is unreasonable. In the present study, we conducted Brazilian tests on flat disk-shaped rock specimens and attached strain gauges at the center of the disc to measure the strains of rock. A tension-compression bi-modular model is proposed to interpret the data of the Brazilian test. The relations between the principal strains, principal stresses and the ratio of the compressive modulus to tensile modulus at the disc center are established. Thus, the tensile and compressive moduli as well as the correct tensile strength can be estimated simultaneously by the new formulas. It is found that the tensile and compressive moduli obtained using these formulas were in well agreement with the values obtained from the direct tension and compression tests. The formulas deduced from the Brazilian test based on the assumption of isotropy overestimated the tensile strength and tensile modulus and underestimated the compressive modulus. This work provides a new methodology to estimate tensile strength and moduli of rock simultaneously considering tension-compression bi-modularity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2020

This paper investigates the effect of the jaw's curvature, also known by contact angle and jaw arc central angle (2α), of the Brazilian test apparatus on indirect tensile strength of various rock types. That's why, ten rock samples including limestone, marble, skarn, granite, diorite, and granodiorite were collected from some quarries in different provinces of Iran. Petrographic, mineralogical and textural investigations were performed using thin section analyses. Physical properties of the selected rock samples namely dry and saturated unit weights, porosity, water absorption, and specific gravity were determined for the rock samples. In addition, Brazilian tensile strength at different 2α angles (i.e., 2α = 0°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 45°, and 60°) were determined for the rocks in the laboratory. Results show that the parameter for the rocks is between 3.81 MPa at 2α=0° and 54.76 MPa at 2α=60°. This means that Brazilian tensile strength increased with increasing 2α angle from 0° to 60°. Also, it was found that the highest change rate of the Brazilian tensile strength occurs in range of 2α=15°-30° for most studied rock samples. In some tested samples, the parameter is decreased only at 2α = 60°. The values of Brazilian tensile strength of the rocks tested by flat and standard jaws are near to each other.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.180-186
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• 2003

The fracture processes under dynamic loading in tension were simulated using a proposed numerical approach and analyzed to determine dynamic tensile strength. The dynamic tensile strength and the scatter of the strength data decreased with increasing uniformity coefficients. The differences of static and dynamic tensile strength were due to the stress concentrations and redistribution mechanisms in the rock specimen. Although there were different mechanisms for the static and dynamic fracture processes, the static and dynamic tensile strengths were close to the mean microscopic tensile strength at high values of the uniformity coefficient. This paper shows that the rock inhomogeneity has an effect on dynamic tensile strength and is a factor that contributes to the different specimen strengths under dynamic and static loading conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.194-201
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• 2008

In order to investigate the characteristics in tensile strength of transversely isotropic rock, a new anisotropic tensile failure function was suggested. According to the function, the tensile strength is minimum in the normal direction to a weakness plane and rises exponentially to its maximum on a plane perpendicular to the weakness plane. The anisotropic function is defined in terms of three strength parameters which can be identified trom direct tensile tests of transversely isotropic rocks. By incorporating the suggested function into the critical plane approach, a numerical procedure which enables to search the tensile strength and the direction of critical plane at failure was presented. The validity of the suggested numerical procedure was checked through the simulation of direct tensile tests reported in a literature. The numerical results from the simulation were in good agreements with those from the laboratory tests.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2010

Hopkinson's effect tests were carried out for various strain rates on three different types of rock in both saturated and dry states in order to examine the effects of strain rate and water saturation on tensile strength. The tensile strength increased with the increase of the strain rate not only in dry state but also in saturated state. It was also especially recognizable that the dynamic tensile strength of rock in the dry state was proportional to approximately a one-third multiple of strain rate no matter what the type of rock. It was found that water saturation decreased tensile strength in the dry state of sandstone and tuff, both with high porosity, but no significant difference could be recognized between the dry and the saturated states of granite, which has a low porosity of 0.49%.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.224-236
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• 1992

It is very important to determine the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the rock mass surrounding the repository of radioctive waste and the LPG storage cavern. In this study, Hwasoon-Shist. Dado-Tuff adn Chunan-Tonalite were the selected rock types. Temperature dependence of the mechanical properteis such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, Young's modulus was investigated by measuring the behaviour of these properties due to the variation of temperature. Also, the characteristics of strength and deformation of these rocks were examined through high-temperature triaxial compression tests with varing temperatures and confining pressures. Important results obtained are as follows: In high temperature tests, the uniaxial compressive strength and Yong's modulus of Tonalite showed a sligth increase at a temperature up to 300$^{\circ}C$ and a sharp decrease beyond 300$^{\circ}C$, and the tensile strength showed a linear decrease with increasing heating-temperature. In high-temperature triaxial compression test, both the failure stress and Young's modulus of Tonalite increased with the increase of confining pressure at constant heating-temperature, and the failure stress decreased at 100$^{\circ}C$ but increased at 200$^{\circ}C$ under a constant confining pressure. In low temperature tests, the uniaxial compressive and tensile strengths and Young's modulus of these rocks increased as the cooling-temperature is reduced. Also, the uniaxial compressive and tensile strengths of wet rock specimens are less than those of dry rock specimens.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.261-270
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• 2019

Because the estimation of the tensile strength is very important in any geotechnical project, many attempts have been made to determine. But the immediate determination of the tensile strength is usually difficult owing to well-shaped specimens, time-consuming, expensive and sometimes unreliable. In this study, engineering properties of several ultramafic rock samples were measured to assess the correlations between the Brazilian Tensile Strength (BTS) and degree of serpentinization, physical, dynamic and mechanical characteristics. For this purpose, a comprehensive laboratory testing program was conducted after collecting thirty-two peridotite and fifty-one serpentinite rock samples, taken from central Greece, in accordance with ASTM and ISRM standards. In addition, a representative number of them were subjected to petrographic studies and the obtained results were statistically described and analysed. Simple and multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the relationships between the Brazilian Tensile Strength and the other measured properties. Thus, empirical equations were developed and they showed that all of the properties are well correlated with Brazilian Tensile Strength. The curves with the $45^{\circ}$ line (y = x) were extracted for evaluating the validity degree of concluded empirical equations which approved approximately close relationships between Brazilian Tensile Strength and the measured properties.