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Static and dynamic compressive performance of coral reef limestone: interpretations of rate effect from laboratory tests

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Abstract

Mechanical performance of coral reef limestone (CRL) is becoming an important topic in recent years due to the boom in offshore construction. However, as there is a lack of rock samples in specific regions, very limited progress has been made in terms of the compressive behaviour (both static and dynamic) of the CRL. Specially, proper descriptions and accurate quantifications of the strain-rate effect upon the compressive performance of the CRL remain to be performed, which will be the main emphasis of this paper. Four types of CRL, namely, coral framework (CF), coral boulder (CB), coral gravel (CG), and coral calcarenite (CC) limestone, were obtained from a human-made coral reef island in South China Sea. Static uniaxial and dynamic split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) compression tests are conducted to obtain the strengths at very low and medium to high compressive strain rates, respectively. The strain-rate effect of the compressive strength is well described with the Herschel-Bulkley model, parameterising the static strength, the viscosity coefficient, the ‘shear-thinning’ index, and the reference strain rate. The overall quality of the CRL rock mass is then classified by the basic quality method, which is based on the uniaxial compressive strength and joint distributions of the rock mass. Variations of the Young’s modulus of the CRL rock mass under different strain rates are also discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 41877267 and No. 42272328) and the Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Science (Grant No. XDA13010201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China

    Qingshan Meng, Haoming Li & Lan Cui

  2. College of Marine Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Youkou Dong

  3. Hubei Key Laboratory of Marine Geological Resources, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Youkou Dong

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  1. Qingshan Meng
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Correspondence to Youkou Dong.

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No conflict of interest exists in the submission of this manuscript, and the manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that the work described is original research that has not been published previously. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed.

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Meng, Q., Dong, Y., Li, H. et al. Static and dynamic compressive performance of coral reef limestone: interpretations of rate effect from laboratory tests. Bull Eng Geol Environ 83, 194 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-024-03700-2

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