The Effect of Loading Rate on Fracture Toughness of Concrete using Type I Fracture Toughness Test Flattened Brazilian Disc (FBD) Mode

Mining activities in open pit and underground mines will always be associated with rock breaking or stripping activities (both mechanical and blasting), so that this can affect the structure and strength of rocks. The strength of the rock is strongly influenced by the presence of initial cracks (pre-existing cracks) and rock anisotropy conditions associated with discontinuous plane conditions. Fracture mechanics is a science that illustrates how a fracture can occur and propagate during applied stress on material. The main parameter in fracture mechanics is called fracture toughness which shows the resistance of the material to propagate the crack. There are several mode in determining type I fracture toughness, one of which is type I fracture toughness Flattened Brazilian Disc (FBD) mode. Type I fracture toughness test is carried out using a compression machine in a laboratory and is conducted on concrete samples consisting of 3 (three) various samples, with a ratio of cement and sand composition of 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1. This test also uses different loading rate values, namely 2.50 mm/min, 2.70 mm/min, and 2.83 mm/min. The results of the type I fracture toughness value from each loading rate will be compared to determine the effect of the loading rate on the value of type I fracture toughness. The obtained fracture toughness value is also related to the physical and mechanical properties of the samples. Based on the results of tests, it can be seen that the loading rate affects the value of fracture toughness, the increase in fracture toughness value is followed by the higher loading rate. In addition, it can be seen that the fracture toughness value is directly proportional to the uniaxial compressive strength value and the indirect tensile strength value. The average correlation value obtained is R2 = 0.9884 (indicating a strong relationship).

Experimental Investigation of the Dynamic Tensile Properties of Naturally Saturated Rocks Using the Coupled Static–Dynamic Flattened Brazilian Disc Method

In a naturally saturated state, rocks are likely to be in a stress field simultaneously containing static and dynamic loads. Since rocks are more vulnerable to tensile loads, it is significant to characterize the tensile properties of naturally saturated rocks under coupled static–dynamic loads. In this study, dynamic flattened Brazilian disc (FBD) tensile tests were conducted on naturally saturated sandstone under static pre-tension using a modified split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) device. Combining high-speed photographs with digital image correlation (DIC) technology, we can observe the variation of strain applied to specimens’ surfaces, including the central crack initiation. The experimental results indicate that the dynamic tensile strength of naturally saturated specimens increases with an increase in loading rate, but with the pre-tension increases, the dynamic strength at a certain loading rate decreases accordingly. Moreover, the dynamic strength of naturally saturated sandstone is found to be lower than that of natural sandstone. The fracture behavior of naturally saturated and natural specimens is similar, and both exhibit obvious tensile cracks. The comprehensive micromechanism of water effects concerning the dynamic tensile behavior of rocks with static preload can be explained by the weakening effects of water on mechanical properties, the water wedging effect, and the Stefan effect.

A New Flattened Cylinder Specimen for Direct Tensile Test of Rock

In recent decades, researchers have paid more attention to the indirect tensile test than to the direct tensile test (DTT) of rocks, mainly due to difficulties in the alignment and the stress concentration at the end of an intact cylindrical specimen. In this paper, a new flattened cylinder specimen and a clamp device were designed to obtain the true tensile strength of the rock in DTT. Stress distributions of the specimen with different lengths (l) and cutting thicknesses (t) were analyzed, and damage processes of the specimen were monitored by the Digital Image Correlation (DIC), the fractured sections were also scanned. Different mechanical parameters were also obtained by the DTT of the flattened cylinder specimens and the intact cylinder specimens, as well as the Brazilian disc. Research results show that the tensile strength obtained by DTT is smaller than the Brazilian disc and is slightly greater than the intact cylindrical specimen. The flattened cylinder specimen with 0.20 ≤ 2t/D < 0.68 and 0.10 ≤ l/D ≤ 0.20 is recommended to measure the true tensile strength of rock material in DTT. This new shape of the specimen is promising to be extended in the uniaxial or triaxial direct tension test.