• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.491-498
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• 2018

The Earth Mechanics Institute (EMI) was established at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in 1974 to develop innovations in rock mechanics research and education. During the last four decades, extensive rock mechanics research has been conducted at the EMI. Results from uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS), point load index (PLI), punch penetration (PP), and many other types of tests have been recorded in a database that has been unexamined for research purposes. The EMI database includes over 20,000 tests from over 1,000 different projects including mining and underground construction, and analysis of this database to identify relationships has been started with preliminary results reported here. Overall, statistically significant correlations are identified between bulk density and mechanical strength properties through UCS, BTS, PLI, and PP testing of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. In this paper, bulk density is considered as a surrogate metric that reflects both mineralogy and porosity. From this analysis, sedimentary rocks show the strongest correlation between the UCS and bulk density, whereas metamorphic rocks exhibit the strongest correlation between UCS and PP. Data trends in the EMI database also reveal a linear relationship between UCS and BTS tests. For the singular case of rock coral, the database permits correlations between bulk density of the core versus the deposition depth and porosity. The EMI database will continue under analysis, and will provide additional insightful and comprehensive understanding of the variation and predictability of rock mechanical strength properties and density. This knowledge will contribute significantly toward the increasingly safe and cost-effective geostructures and construction.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1045-1055
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• 2017

Tensile strength is considered key properties for characterizing rock material in engineering project. It is determined by direct and indirect methods. Point load test is a useful testing method to estimate the tensile strengths of rocks. In this paper, the effects of rock shape on the point load index of gypsum are investigated by PFC2D simulation. For PFC simulating, initially calibration of PFC was performed with respect to the Brazilian experimental data to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical models response. In second step, nineteen models with different shape were prepared and tested under point load test. According to the obtained results, as the size of the models increases, the point load strength index increases. It is also found that the shape of particles has no major effect on its tensile strength. Our findings show that the dominant failure pattern for numerical models is breaking the model into two pieces. Also a criterion was rendered numerically for determination of tensile strength of gypsum. The proposed criteria were cross checked with the results of experimental point load test.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.17-30
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• 2009

Underground construction such as tunneling can induce damages on the surrounding rock mass, due to the stress concentration of in situ stresses and excessive energy input during construction sequence, such as blasting. The developed damage on the rock mass can have substantial influence on the mechanical and hydraulic behaviors of the rock masses around a tunnel. In this study, investigation on the generation of damage around an opening in a jointed rock model under biaxial compression condition was conducted. The joint dip angles employed are 30, 45, and 60 degrees to the horizontal, and the synthetic rock mass was made using early strength cement and water. From the biaxial compression test, initiation and propagation of tensile cracks at norm to the joint angle were found. The propagated tensile cracks eventually developed rock blocks, which were dislodged from the rock mass. Furthermore, the propagation process of the tensile cracks varies with joint angle: lower joint angle model shows more stable and progressive tensile crack propagation. The development of the tensile crack can be explained under the hypothesis that the rock segment encompassed by the joint set is subjected to the developing moment, which can be induced by the geometric irregularity around the opening in the rock model. The experiment results were simulated by using discrete element method PFC 2D. From the simulation, as has been observed from the test, a rock mass with lower joint angle produces wider damage region and rock block by tensile cracks. In addition, a rock model with lower joint angle shows progressive tensile cracks generation around the opening from the investigation of the interacted tensile cracks.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 1991

9 nuclear power plants are presently in operation in Korea. They produce radioactive waste of which the most long-lived radioactive elements need to be safely stored for hundreds of thousands of years, isolated from humanity and the environment. The safe disposal of high level radioactive waste in mined cavities requires knowledge of the mechanical. thermal and fluid flow characteristics of rock as perturbed by a thermal pulse The literature review was performed to assemble data on the following properties: modulus tensile strength compressive strength thermal expansion specific heat, thermal conductivity thermal diffusivity and permeability.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2017

During the past decades, development of reinforcing materials caused a revolution in the structure of high strength and high performance cement-based concrete. Among the most important and exciting reinforcing materials, Steel Fiber (SF) becomes a widely used in the recent years. The main reason for addition of SF is to enhance the toughness and tensile strength and limit development and propagation of cracks and deformation characteristics of the SF blended concrete. Basically this technique of strengthening the concrete structures considerably modifies the physical and mechanical properties of plain cement-based concrete which is brittle in nature with low flexural and tensile strength compared to its intrinsic compressive strength. This paper presents an overview of the work carried out on the use of SF as reinforcement in cement-based concrete matrix. Reported properties in this study are fresh properties, mechanical and durability of the blended concretes.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.30-37
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• 2020

In this study the split ring (SR) test was investigated for its applicability to the measurement of the tensile strength of rock specimen of NX size. The concept of the SR test is the same as the half ring (HR) test (Choi et al., 2019) except that the expected fracture plane is perpendicular to the loading direction. Because of this perpendicularity, however, it was believed that the SR test could be more accurate than the HR test. Like the HR specimen, the SR specimen is a curved prismatic bar with a uniform section. Appealing to a basic bending theory in strength of materials, the tensile strength for the special bar can be calculated analytically. Numerical simulations using LS-DYNA revealed, as expected, that the strength errors were 1% and 5% for the tensional and compressional SR tests, respectively, which were much lower than that (12%) of the HR test. To identify the performance of the two SR tests, laboratory experiments were conducted. The HR and Brazilian tests were also performed for comparison. The experiments showed that the ratios of the tensional and compressional SR to Brazilian strengths were 1.2~1.4 and 1.1~1.2, respectively, which are too small compared to empirical values in ordinary bend tests. Consequently, it is concluded that the SR test is not appropriate for use in tensile strength test of rock specimen of NX size. But the ratio of the HR to Brazilian strengths was within 1.7~2.0 for both the previous and present studies, showing a good consistency in their test results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.1057-1062
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• 2008

In order to investigate a strength anisotrophy of basalt in Cheju Island, rock samples of Pyosenri basalt, trachy-basalt and scoria were taken from Seoguipo-Si Seongsan-Eup area, and a series of uniaxial compressive strength test and Brazilian test were carried out. The strengths were decreased with increasing the moisture contents in rock sample by pore water. As the result of test considering the anisotropy of rock strength, the compressive strength in condition of failure occurred parallel to stratified layer is decreased about 12-26% more than that in condition of failure occurred inclined to stratified layer.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.391-399
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• 2020

Brittleness is one of the most important properties of rock which has a major impact not only on the failure process of intact rock but also on the response of rock mass to tunneling and mining projects. Due to the lack of a universally accepted definition of rock brittleness, a wide range of methods, including direct and indirect methods, have been developed for its measurement. Measuring rock brittleness by direct methods requires special equipment which may lead to financial inconveniences and is usually unavailable in most of rock mechanic laboratories. Accordingly, this study aimed to develop a new strength-based index for predicting rock brittleness based on the obtained base form. To this end, an innovative algorithm was developed in Matlab environment. The utilized algorithm finds the optimal index based on the open access dataset including the results of punch penetration test (PPT), uniaxial compressive and Brazilian tensile strength. Validation of proposed index was checked by the coefficient of determination (R²), the root mean square error (RMSE), and also the variance for account (VAF). The results indicated that among the different brittleness indices, the suggested equation is the most accurate one, since it has the optimal R², RMSE and VAF as 0.912, 3.47 and 89.8%, respectively. It could finally be concluded that, using the proposed brittleness index, rock brittleness can be reliably predicted with a high level of accuracy.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.535-547
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• 2022

Failure patterns of rock specimens represent valuable information about the mechanical properties and crack evolution mechanism of rock. Several kinds of research have been conducted regarding the failure mechanism of brittle material, however; the influence of brittleness on the failure mechanism of rock specimens has not been precisely considered. In the present study, experimental and numerical examinations have been made to evaluate the physical and mechanical phenomena associated with rock failure mechanisms through the uniaxial compression test. In the experimental part, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests equipped with Acoustic Emission (AE) have been conducted on rock samples with three different brittleness. Then, the numerical models have been calibrated based on experimental test results for further investigation and comparing the micro-cracking process in experimental and numerical models. It can be perceived that the failure mode of specimens with high brittleness is tensile axial splitting, based on the experimental evidence of rock specimens with different brittleness. Also, the crack growth mechanism of the rock specimens with various brittleness using discrete element modeling in the numerical part suggested that the specimens with more brittleness contain more tensile fracture during the loading sequences.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2022

This paper presents the results of full-scale load tests performed frictional anchors to various lengths at several sites in Korea. Various rock types were tested, ranging from highly weathered shale to sound gneiss. In many tests, rock failure was reached and the ultimate loads were recorded along with observations of the shape and extent of the failure surface. Laboratory tests were also conducted to investigate the influence of the corrosion protection sheath on the bond strength. Based on test results, the main parameters governing the uplift capacity of the rock anchor system were determined. By evaluation of the ultimate uplift capacity of anchor foundations in a wide range of in situ rock masses, rock classification suitable for structural foundation was developed. Finally, a very simple and economical design procedure is proposed for rock anchor foundations subjected to uplift tensile loads.