Behaviour of layered sandstone under Brazilian test conditions: Layer orientation and shape effects

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Abstract

The experimental study in this paper focuses on the effects of the layer orientation and sample shape on failure strength and fracture pattern of samples tested under Brazilian test conditions (i.e. diametrical loading of cylindrical discs) for one particular layered sandstone which is from Modave in the south of Belgium. The variations of the strength in combination with the failure patterns are examined as a function of the inclination angle between the layer plane and the loading direction. The experimental, results clearly show that the induced fracture patterns are a combination of tensile and/or shear fractures. In shape effect experiments the layer thickness and the number of layer boundaries are investigated. Different blocks of Modave sandstone are used to prepare samples. The layer thickness is different among the various blocks, but the layer thickness in each studied rock block can be considered to be constant; hence, the number of layer boundaries changes according to the sample diameter for samples of the same block. The experimental study shows that the layer thickness plays a more important role than the number of layer boundaries per sample.

Keywords

Layered sandstone
Brazilian test
Fracture pattern
Layer activation
Shape effect

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Abbass Tavallali is an Advisor Engineer at International Marine and Dredging Consultants (IMDC) in Belgium. He graduated as a Civil Engineer in 1995 from Shiraz University in Iran. He had an opportunity to participate in the huge geotechnical and structural projects in Iran. He gained nine years of professional experience in the field of dam construction and tunnelling projects prior to continuing his studies for Ph.D. He got his Ph.D. degree in geotechnical engineering from KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) in Belgium in 2010. Then (in 2011) he joined IMDC and he carries out a diverse range of geotechnical and dredging subjects.

Peer review under responsibility of Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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