Effects of Testing Conditions on Intact Rock Strength and Variability

Widjojo Adi Prakoso, Fred H. Kulhawy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The strength of intact rock is a fundamental and integral part of many aspects of engineering and geologic practice. It is necessary to understand how testing conditions influence this strength and its variability, especially for use in reliability-based design. In this study, the effect of sample diameter and moisture content on the strength and its variability was examined in detail. Correlations are given for assessing the effect of sample diameter on the laboratory uniaxial compressive strength (qu), Brazilian indirect tensile strength (qt-Brazilian), and point load strength (Is), and the associated direct correlations among these tests. Correlations also are given for assessing the effect of sample moisture content on qu, qt-Brazilian, and Is. The statistics of data scatter suggest these correlations can introduce large uncertainties. The effect of sample diameter and moisture content on the coefficients of variation was examined subsequently, and it was found to be relatively minor.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)101-111
Number of pages11
JournalGeotechnical and Geological Engineering
Volume29
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2011

Keywords

  • Moisture content
  • Rock strength correlation
  • Rock strength properties
  • Sample diameter
  • Variability

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