Correlation of Geo-Mechanics Parameters with Uniaxial Compressive Strength and P-Wave Velocity on Dolomitic Limestone Using a Statistical Method

This paper estimates the correlation between the physical and mechanical characteristics of dolomitic limestone. Forty samples were measured and the results were used to derive the empirical equations for the relations between the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus (E), P-wave velocity (\(v_{p}\)), Poisson’s ratio (μ), point load strength, and density (ρ). The correlation results for the intact dolomitic limestone samples showed high correlation between UCS and the other parameters, and between \(v_{p}\) and the other parameters. Determination of physical and mechanical characteristics in situ or in the laboratory is always a costly process. In this paper, correlation relationships were proposed using \(v_{p}\) and UCS to evaluate the other parameters where the results were in good agreement. To validate the empirical equations, a Student’s t test was conducted on the test data; the calculated t-test values were much higher than the tabulated values, indicating a generally good, linear relationship among the physical and mechanical properties of the intact dolomitic limestone. The results suggest that the \(v_{p}\) and UCS values of dolomitic limestone samples can be used to estimate the ρ, μ, and E of the intact rock.