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The Impact of Axial Load Distribution on Brazilian Tensile Testing on Rock

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Abstract

Tensile strength of rock and rock-like materials is a critical material property in rock engineering and the design of infrastructure that interacts with the geological environment. This study presents findings from an indirect Brazilian Tensile Strength (BTS) laboratory testing program in which platens were aligned to facilitate even loading across the disc specimen and then compared with measured results when platens are misaligned, but within acceptable thresholds defined by the International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (ISRM) Suggested Methods, causing uneven loading across the BTS disc specimen. New data processing techniques involving the use of foil strain gauges were used to measure the horizontal strain response under load and calculate strain thresholds of true tensile strength (TTS) and splitting tensile strength, also referred to as BTS. To test the variability in strain readings at mid-height on a disc specimen, a second BTS laboratory testing program consisting of specimens instrumented with a 10 mm foil strain gauge on one side of the specimen and a 20-mm foil strain gauge on the other was completed. Results from experiments with different strain gauge foil lengths show that for NQ and NQ3 size core, the measured strain response from 10- and 20-mm foil length gauges were similar and can both be effectively used for the measurement of different strain thresholds in BTS tests. However, the results from the platen alignment program demonstrate that uneven loading across the specimen results in significantly lower measured tensile strength values, even though both platen configurations are within the tolerance prescribed by the current ISRM Suggested Methods. We strongly recommend (i) a new maximum tolerance for platen alignment, specifically 0.06°/0.001 radians (26% of the current standards), and (ii) measurement of horizontal strain on both sides of a BTS specimen to validate the platen geometry and tensile strength results, be widely adopted to improve standard practice of BTS laboratory testing.

Highlights

  • Uneven strip loads caused by platen misalignment, even within the tolerance prescribed by ASTM standard and ISRM suggested method, severely reduce tensile strength results by up to 50%.

  • Horizontal strain measurements on both sides of a Brazilian Tensile Strength (BTS) disc specimen, by 10-mm or 20-mm foil strain gauges, are an effective method to validate the platen geometry and tensile strength results.

  • Strain thresholds for True Tensile Strength and Splitting Strength occur at the same strain magnitude regardless of platen alignment.

  • Longer foil strain gauges provide lower strain measurements as a larger percentage of the measurement length is bonded to the specimen surface in areas with lower strain.

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Abbreviations

ASTM:

American Society for Testing and Materials

BTS:

Brazilian tensile strength

D:

Specimen diameter

DTS:

Direct tensile strength

Fa :

Applied load

FS:

Flexural strength

HRC:

Rockwell hardness rating

ISRM:

International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering

NQ:

N-size, Q-group wireline drilling system designation, 47.6-mm-diameter diamond drill core

T:

Specimen thickness

T:D:

Specimen thickness-to-diameter ratio

TTS:

True tensile strength

σt :

Tensile stress

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this research was received from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Canada (NWMO) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through the Discovery Grants program (PI: Jennifer J. Day). Additional support was provided to Timothy R.M. Packulak by NSERC’s Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship Program (NSERC CGS-D 535289–2019). Thanks to Émélie Gagnon and Samuel Woodland for their assistance with laboratory testing.

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  1. Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Timothy R. M. Packulak & Jennifer J. Day

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  1. Timothy R. M. Packulak
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Contributions

Both authors have contributed to this study. Conceptualization: JJD and TRMP; methodology: TRMP and JJD; resources: JJD and TRMP; investigation: TRMP; formal analysis: TRMP; writing—original draft: TRMP; writing—review & editing: JJD and TRMP; visualization: TRMP and JJD; funding acquisition: JJD and TRMP; supervision and project administration: JJD.

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Correspondence to Timothy R. M. Packulak.

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Packulak, T.R.M., Day, J.J. The Impact of Axial Load Distribution on Brazilian Tensile Testing on Rock. Rock Mech Rock Eng 57, 979–991 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-023-03583-x

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