Evaluation of empirical estimation of uniaxial compressive strength of rock using measurements from index and physical tests

The uniaxial compressive strength(UCS) of rock is an important parameter required for design and analysis of rock structures,and rock mass classification.Uniaxial compression test is the direct method to obtain the UCS values.However,these tests are generally tedious,time-consuming,expensive,and sometimes impossible to perform due to difficult rock conditions.Therefore,several empirical equations have been developed to estimate the UCS from results of index and physical tests of rock.Nevertheless,numerous empirical models available in the literature often make it difficult for mining engineers to decide which empirical equation provides the most reliable estimate of UCS.This study evaluates estimation of UCS of rocks from several empirical equations.The study uses data of point load strength(Is(50)),Schmidt rebound hardness(SRH),block punch index(BPI),effective porosity(n) and density(ρ)as inputs to empirically estimate the UCS.The estimated UCS values from empirical equations are compared with experimentally obtained or measured UCS values,using statistical analyses.It shows that the reliability of UCS estimated from empirical equations depends on the quality of data used to develop the equations,type of input data used in the equations,and the quality of input data from index or physical tests.The results show that the point load strength(Is(50)) is the most reliable index for estimating UCS among the five types of tests evaluated.Because of type-specific nature of rock,restricting the use of empirical equations to the similar rock types for which they are developed is one of the measures to ensure satisfactory prediction performance of empirical equations.

Estimate of Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Hydrothermally Altered Soft Rocks Based on Strength Index Tests

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships between results of index tests and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) in hydrothermally altered soft rocks of the Upper Miocene, which are typical of the soft rock found in northeastern Hokkaido, Japan. Index tests were performed using point load testing machine and needle penetrometer with irregular lump specimens under forced-dry, forced-wet, and natural-moist states. The relationships between irregular lump point load strength (IPLS) index and UCS, and needle penetration (NP) index and UCS were “UCS = approximately 19 IPLS index” and “UCS = 0.848 (NP index)0.619”, respectively, in soft rocks with a UCS below 25 MPa. These relationships could be applied to on-site tests of rocks with natural moisture content. The UCS could be calculated from IPLS and NP tests on soft rocks only when UCS was below 25 MPa, using the equations obtained as a result of this study.

Inconsistency of changes in uniaxial compressive strength and P-wave velocity of sandstone after temperature treatments

It is generally accepted that the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)and P-wave velocity of rocks tend to decrease simultaneously with increasing temperature.However,based on a great number of statistical data and systematic analysis of the microstructure variation of rocks with temperature rising and corresponding propagation mechanism of elastic wave,the results show that(1)There are three different trends for the changes of UCS and P-wave velocity of sandstone when heated from room temperature(20C or 25C)to 800C:(i)Both the UCS and P-wave velocity decrease simultaneously;(ii)The UCS increases initially and then decreases,while the P-wave velocity decreases continuously;and(iii)The UCS increases initially and then fluctuates,while the P-wave velocity continuously decreases.(2)The UCS changes at room temperaturee400C,400Ce600C,and 600Ce800C are mainly attributed to the discrepancy of microstructure characteristics and quartz content,the transformation plasticity of clay minerals,and the balance between the thermal cementation and thermal damage,respectively.(3)The inconsistency in the trends of UCS and P-wave velocity changes is caused by the change of quartz content,phase transition of water and certain minerals.

Predicting uniaxial compressive strength of serpentinites through physical,dynamic and mechanical properties using neural networks

The uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of intact rock is one of the most important parameters required and determined for rock mechanics studies in engineering projects.The limitations and difficulty of conducting tests on rocks,specifically on thinly bedded,highly fractured,highly porous and weak rocks,as well as the fact that these tests are destructive,expensive and time-consuming,lead to development of soft computing-based techniques.Application of artificial neural networks(ANNs)for predicting UCS has become an attractive alternative for geotechnical engineering scientists.In this study,an ANN was designed with the aim of indirectly predicting UCS through the serpentinization percentage,and physical,dynamic and mechanical characteristics of serpentinites.For this purpose,data obtained in earlier experimental work from central Greece were used.The ANN-based results were compared with the experimental ones and those obtained from previous analysis.The proposed ANN-based formula was found to be very efficient in predicting UCS values and the samples could be classified with simple physical,dynamic and mechanical tests,thus the expensive,difficult,time-consuming and destructive mechanical tests could be avoided.

Estimating uniaxial compressive strength of rocks using genetic expression programming

The aim of this paper is to estimate the uniaxial compressive strength（UCS） of rocks with different characteristics by using genetic expression programming（GEP）.For this purpose,five different types of rocks including basalt and ignimbrite（black,yellow,gray,brown） were prepared.Values of unit weight,water absorption by weight,effective porosity and UCS of rocks were determined experimentally.By using these experimental data,five different GEP models were developed for estimating the values of UCS for different rock types.Good agreement between experimental data and predicted results is obtained.

Evaluation of granule structure and strength properties of green packed beds in iron ore sintering using high-resolution X-ray tomography and uniaxial compression testing

The strength properties of green sinter beds,including the Young’s modulus and maximum bed strain,were evaluated using uniaxial compression tests.The green-sinter-bed samples were scanned using X-ray computed tomography(XCT),and the geometry characteristics of the granules were quantified by XCT image analysis.The orthogonal array method was applied to determine the concomitant effects of the moisture,hydrated lime,and concentrate contents on the bed strength characteristics.Less bed strain was observed when the granules had a thin adhering layer and increased interlock contacts,which had a great capacity to resist the applied load collectively.The optimal combination for decreasing the bed maximum strain was 5.8%moisture,2%hydrated lime,and 0%concentrate.The moisture and concentrate contents were the most significant factors determining the green bed strength.Increasing the moisture and concentrate contents produced granules with a thicker and more deformable adhering layer,resulting in a more compact bed.The addition of hydrated lime inhibited rearrangement,deformation,and fracture of the granules in green sinter bed during compression.

Correlations between direct and indirect strength test methods

The difficulties associated with performing direct compression strength tests on rocks lead to the development of indirect test methods for the rock strength assessment. Indirect test methods are simple, more economical, less time-consuming, and easily adaptable to the field. The main aim of this study was to derive correlations between direct and indirect test methods for basalt and rhyolite rock types from Carlin trend deposits in Nevada. In the destructive methods, point load index, block punch index, and splitting tensile strength tests are performed. In the non-destructive methods, Schmidt hammer and ultrasonic pulse velocity tests are performed. Correlations between the direct and indirect compression strength tests are developed using linear and nonlinear regression analysis methods. The results show that the splitting tensile strength has the best correlation with the uniaxial compression strength.Furthermore, the Poisson's ratio has no correlation with any of the direct and indirect test results.

Experimental study on dimension-form effect for compressive strength of coal

The uniaxial compression tests of cylinder standard specimens and different dimension cube specimens of No.13 coal seam of Jianxin Colliery were carried out using MTS, and the basic mechanics parameters of Jianxin Colliery 13 coal were studied. The dimension-form effect of uniaxial compression strength was analyzed. The exponent formula σc=6.928＋130.269 8 exp（-0.105 95D）of dimension effect was fitted. While the side length of specimen reaches 80 mm, its unaxial strength tends to a stable value which is called to be the strength of coal mass. Studies indicates that since the cube specimen suffered more shake than the cylinder one during machining and processing and the stress is centralized at four corners of cube during compressive experiment, the coal strength of standard cylinder specimen is higher than that of cube one.

控制UCS条件下的路基无机结合料改良土动力性能评价

针对湖南省四种不同塑性指数(PI)的路基软土,在控制无侧限抗压强度(UCS)为350 k Pa和700k Pa的条件下,研究了采用粉煤灰、石灰、水泥三种无机结合料进行改良的配比组合方案,并对改良土进行了循环加载试验以评价其动力性能(如回弹模量和累积塑性应变)。研究结果表明,各种结合料组合对提高USC的效果排名为:(石灰+水泥)>水泥>(石灰+粉煤灰)>粉煤灰>石灰,为达到目标UCS,土的塑性指数越大,则改良所需的结合料组合排名越靠前。由于素土类型和改良方案的区别,UCS相近的改良土可能呈现较大差异的回弹模量。在同一UCS控制条件下,改良土回弹模量总体随着水/结合料比例的减小而提高,而累积塑性应变则总体随着该比例的减小而降低,回弹模量、累积塑性应变均与土的PI无明显相关性,在7 d的基础上适当延长养护时间可以有效提高回弹模量,在实际工程中,利用改良土应重视压实后的养护工作。

Failure behavior and strength model of blocky rock mass with and without rockbolts

To better understand the failure behaviours and strength of bolt-reinforced blocky rocks,large scale extensive laboratory experiments are carried out on blocky rock-like specimens with and without rockbolt reinforcement.The results show that both shear failure and tensile failure along joint surfaces are observed but the shear failure is a main controlling factor for the peak strength of the rock mass with and without rockbolts.The rockbolts are necked and shear deformation simultaneously happens in bolt reinforced rock specimens.As the joint dip angle increases,the joint shear failure becomes more dominant.The number of rockbolts has a significant impact on the peak strain and uniaxial compressive strength(UCS),but little influence on the deformation modulus of the rock mass.Using the Winkler beam model to represent the rockbolt behaviours,an analytical model for the prediction of the strength of boltreinforced blocky rocks is proposed.Good agreement between the UCS values predicted by proposed model and obtained from experiments suggest an encouraging performance of the proposed model.In addition,the performance of the proposed model is further assessed using published results in the literature,indicating the proposed model can be used effectively in the prediction of UCS of bolt-reinforced blocky rocks.

Strength behaviour of a model rock intersected by non-persistent joint

Several constructions in the field of civil engineering quite often need to deal with rocks.Strength behaviour of rock intersected by a discontinuity or a set of discontinuities has been a topic of keen interest for engineering community.The popular attributes of discontinuities that have been given due importance are their frequency,orientation and surface characteristics.Non-persistency,however,has been given little attention.This article presents an experimental study wherein focus has been made on the effect of non-persistency of the joint on the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of a model rock for various geometries such as orientation,discontinuity length ratio and number of joint segments.The applicability of single plane of weakness theory(SPWT)to assess the strength of jointed specimens has also been evaluated.It has been noticed that SPWT captures the strength behaviour only for a narrow range of discontinuity orientations.As an improvement,an approach is suggested by extending concepts of degree of persistence and joint factor to have a better understanding towards strength behaviour of rocks intersected by non-persistent joints.

Strength of massive to moderately jointed hard rock masses

The Hoek-Brown (HB) failure criterion and the geological strength index (GSI) were developed for the estimation of rock mass strength in jointed and blocky ground where rock mass failure is dominated by sliding along open joints and rotation of rock blocks. In massive, veined and moderately jointed rock in which rock blocks cannot form without failure of intact rock, the approach to obtain HB parameters must be modified. Typical situations when these modifications are required include the design of pillars, excavation and cavern stability, strainburst potential assessment, and tunnel support in deep underground conditions (around σ1/σci > 0.15, where σ1 is the major principal compressive stress and σci is the unconfined compressive strength of the homogeneous rock) in hard brittle rocks with GSI ≥ 65. In this article, the strength of massive to moderately jointed hard rock masses is investigated, and an approach is presented to estimate the rock mass strength envelope using laboratory data from uniaxial and triaxial compressive strength tests without reliance on the HB-GSI equations. The data from tests on specimens obtained from massive to moderately jointed heterogeneous (veined) rock masses are used to obtain the rock and rock mass strengths at confining stress ranges that are relevant for deep tunnelling and mining;and a methodology is presented for this purpose from laboratory data alone. By directly obtaining the equivalent HB rock mass strength envelope for massive to moderately jointed rock from laboratory tests, the HB-GSI rock mass strength estimation approach is complemented for conditions where the GSIequations are not applicable. Guidance is also provided on how to apply the proposed approach when laboratory test data are not or not yet available.

Effect of waste concrete with different strength on mechanical properties of recycled fine aggregate mortar

The influence of source concrete (SC) with different compression strengths on the workability and mechanical properties of recycled mortar made with river sand substituted by 100% fine recycled concrete aggregates (FRCA) is experimentally investigated. The basic physical performance test shows that with the increase in SC strength, FRCA exhibit lower water absorption and crushing index, meanwhile keeping higher densities. Mechanical property tests, including compressive strength, flexural strength and uniaxial compressive stress-strain tests, show that compressive strength,flexural strength and elasticity modulus of recycled sand mortars increase roughly with the increase in SC strength. The proposed mixture design method demonstrates that all of the components can be kept as the same as those in natural mortar mixture design and FRCA must be pre-wetted before making mortar mixture. Meanwhile, the reuse of higher strength SC can ensure that recycled mortar mixtures are able to achieve similar mechanical performance when compared to natural mortar designs.

Determination of blast-induced ground vibration equations for rocks using mechanical and geological properties

In the recent decades, effects of blast loads on natural and man-made structures have gained considerable attention due to increase in threat from various man-made activities. Site-specific empirical relationships for calculation of blast-induced vibration parameters like peak particle velocity （PPV） and peak particle displacement （PPD） are commonly used for estimation of blast loads in design. However, these relation- ships are not able to consider the variation in rock parameters and uncertainty of in situ conditions. In this paper, a total of 1089 published blast data of various researchers in different rock sites have been collected and used to propose generalized empirical model for PPV by considering the effects of rock parameters like unit weight, rock quality designation （ROD）, geological strength index （GSI）, and uniaxial compressive strength （UCS）. The proposed PPV model has a good correlation coefficient and hence it can be directly used in prediction of blast-induced vibrations in rocks. Standard errors and coefficient of correlations of the predicted blast-induced vibration parameters are obtained with respect to the observed field data. The proposed empirical model for PPV has also been compared with the empirical models available for blast vibrations predictions given by other researchers and found to be in good agreement with specific cases.

Sources of variability in laboratory rock test results

Appropriate rock characterization is beneficial in providing a reliable judgment on rock properties which is crucial for the design process of rock engineering applications.However,it can be difficult to obtain consistent mechanical parameters due to substantial variations in rock properties.In this research,uniaxial compression tests on dolerite specimens collected from a gold mine in Western Australia showed substantial scatter in the results.Rock categorization based on the P-wave velocities is as accurate as the thin section analysis,which suggests that they can be used together to gain a more accurate initial understanding of the rock types before any laboratory testing.The quality of specimen preparation and rockemachine interaction greatly affect the test results.For instance,non-parallelness of loading platens can lead to considerable scatter of the testing results,which would be perceived as rock variability.It is suggested that the current testing standards should be modified towards a better control of the loading machine performance and equipment precision.Finally,the possibility of pre-existing microcracks in rock,neither detected by the thin section analysis nor by the ultrasonic measurement,must be examined by computed tomography(CT)scanning as they can affect the test results.This study will enhance our knowledge about the sources of variability in laboratory test results of rock which is essential for obtaining reliable data.

Rock Strength Estimation Using Several Tree-Based ML Techniques

The uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of rock is an essential property of rock material in different relevant applications,such as rock slope,tunnel construction,and foundation.It takes enormous time and effort to obtain the UCS values directly in the laboratory.Accordingly,an indirect determination of UCS through conducting several rock index tests that are easy and fast to carry out is of interest and importance.This study presents powerful boosting trees evaluation framework,i.e.,adaptive boosting machine,extreme gradient boosting machine(XGBoost),and category gradient boosting machine,for estimating the UCS of sandstone.Schmidt hammer rebound number,P-wave velocity,and point load index were chosen as considered factors to forecast UCS values of sandstone samples.Taylor diagrams and five regression metrics,including coefficient of determination(R2),root mean square error,mean absolute error,variance account for,and A-20 index,were used to evaluate and compare the performance of these boosting trees.The results showed that the proposed boosting trees are able to provide a high level of prediction capacity for the prepared database.In particular,itwas worth noting that XGBoost is the best model to predict sandstone strength and it achieved 0.999 training R^(2) and 0.958 testing R^(2).The proposed model had more outstanding capability than neural network with optimization techniques during training and testing phases.The performed variable importance analysis reveals that the point load index has a significant influence on predicting UCS of sandstone.

Revisiting factors contributing to the strength of cemented backfill support system:A review

This paper provides a review of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of cemented tailings backfill(CTB).The consideration is that once CTB is poured into underground stopes,its strength is heavily influenced by factors internal to the CTB as well as the surrounding mining environments.Peer-reviewed journal articles,books,and conference papers published between 2000 and 2022 were searched electronically from various databases and reviewed.Additional sources,such as doctoral theses,were obtained from academic repositories.An important finding from the review is that the addition of fibers was reported to improve the UCS of CTB in some studies while decrease in others.This discrepancy was accounted to the different properties of fibers used.Further research is therefore needed to determine the“preferred”fiber to be used in CTB.Diverging findings were also reported on the effects of stope size on the UCS of CTB.Furthermore,the use of fly ash as an alternative binder may be threatened in the future when reliance on the coal power declines.Therefore,an alternative cementitious by-product to be used together with furnace slag may be required in the future.Finally,while most studies on backfill focused on single-layered structures,layered backfill design models should also be investigated.

点荷载试验在典型露天采场超高边坡工程地质勘察中的应用

夏日哈木镍钴矿山拟建大型超高边坡露天采场,需进行边坡工程地质勘察工作。岩石抗压强度是重要的工程地质参数,如何在青藏高原山区快速获得各类岩石的单轴抗压强度等参数非常关键,尤其是各类难以进行室内压缩试验的风化或蚀变岩石。本次在野外现场采用济南矿岩HDH-1型岩石点荷载仪对矿区内各类岩石进行点荷载试验,并通过前人总结的点荷载强度与单轴抗压强度转换公式计算出了各类岩石的单轴抗压强度及层状(条带状)岩石的各向异性指数。本次点荷载试验克服了昆仑山区岩石测试加工工序复杂、周期较长、成本高等因素,且适用于风化层、蚀变带内不易进行室内压缩试验的岩石,是一种间接测量估算岩石相关强度参数的快捷方法,对以后西部山区的工程地质勘察工作具有较为广泛的借鉴作用。

水泥-粉煤灰基矸石胶结充填体破坏特征及强度形成机制

在煤矿结构充填开采中,不同充填率条件下对矸石胶结充填体强度的需求不同,拟通过改变粉煤灰在水泥–粉煤灰二元胶凝材料用量中的占比(下称“粉煤灰占比”)调控矸石胶结充填体强度,对不同粉煤灰占比(0~90%)矸石胶结充填体进行单轴压缩试验,探明矸石胶结充填体的强度调控范围,结合数字图像相关技术对试样破坏形态进行分析,结合声发射事件对试样脆延性破坏模式进行分析。采用承压筒法和单轴压缩试验分别测定了煤矸石的强度和不同粉煤灰占比水泥–粉煤灰二元胶凝材料的强度,并根据煤矸石的强度与水泥–粉煤灰二元胶凝材料的强度关系揭示矸石胶结充填体的强度形成机制。研究结果表明:矸石胶结充填体强度随着粉煤灰占比的增加而减少,实现了较大的矸石胶结充填体强度调控范围:1.77~30.04 MPa。不同强度范围的矸石胶结充填体试样对应的破坏形态和脆延性破坏模式也不同,材料性质发生了质的变化。随着粉煤灰占比的增加,在破坏形态方面,矸石胶结充填体试样由剪切破坏(0~50%粉煤灰占比)向拉剪复合破坏(60%~80%粉煤灰占比)再向拉伸破坏(90%粉煤灰占比)转变,对应的强度范围分别为20.8~30.04 MPa,5.63~12.35 MPa和1.77 MPa;在脆延性破坏模式方面,试样由脆–延性破坏(0~40%粉煤灰占比)转变为延性破坏(50%~90%粉煤灰占比),对应的强度范围分别为24.64~30.04 MPa和1.77~20.8 MPa。矸石胶结充填体的强度由水泥–粉煤灰二元胶凝材料的强度(1.43~55.5 MPa)和煤矸石的强度(平均强度为4.43 MPa)共同决定。水泥–粉煤灰二元胶凝材料对矸石胶结充填体的强度贡献较大,煤矸石使矸石胶结充填体的强度受限。所得试验结果为结构充填中充填材料的强度选择提供参考。

基于超声横波测试的Na基膨润土充填体强度预测模型研究

充填体作为充填采矿法的核心单元,其强度是保障安全开采的重要指标。Na基膨润土的亚甲基蓝吸附量和生坯抗压强度较高,是制备充填体的优质添加剂,然而鲜有其掺量与充填体强度之间关系的研究成果。本文基于超声波测试技术和单轴压缩试验,分析不同Na基膨润土掺量充填体的横波波速、主频幅值、幅值衰减系数、波形分形维数在各龄期的变化规律,结合敏感性分析遴选出对抗压强度变化最敏感的声学参数。建立了不同Na基膨润土掺量下充填体强度的预测模型,并结合显著性检验及对比分析,对强度预测模型进行了验证。研究成果可为开展充填体单轴抗压强度预测的相关理论研究和工程应用提供参考和帮助。