The effect of high temperature on tensile strength of sandstone

Heating at high temperature will make the tensile strength of sandstone change due to the loss of water and minerals and the effect of thermal stress. In this paper, the sandstone samples are heated from room temperature to 900 degrees C in a high temperature furnace and then are subjected to Brazilian test with a computer-controlled hydraulic universal testing machine. The longitudinal wave velocity, total energy absorbed per unit thickness of disc and mass loss rate are comprehensively investigated. The results show that the tensile strength changes in the following four phases: from room temperature to 300 degrees C, 300-600 degrees C, 600-800 degrees C and 800-900 degrees C, among which the tensile strength decreases rapidly in the second (300-600 degrees C) and fourth phases (800-900 degrees C) owing to the thermal stress that the most conspicuous effect is the expansion of quartz. The changing trends of tensile strength, longitudinal wave velocity and total energy absorbed per unit thickness of disc along with the temperature are similar. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.