An Experimental Study of the Rate Dependence of Tensile Strength Softening of Longyou Sandstone

It is well-known that the strengths of sandstones measured under fully saturated conditions are smaller than those measured under nominally dry conditions. This strength softening phenomenon has profound implications to rock engineering. In this work we investigate the tensile strength softening of Longyou sandstone from China. Defining the strength softening factor as the ratio of the strength under nominally dry conditions over that under saturated conditions, the static compressive strength softening factor of Longyou sandstone is close to 2 and the static tensile strength softening factor is about 7.9. To further address the applications, where the load may be dynamic, we examine the rate dependence of the tensile strength softening of this sandstone. The dynamic tensile strength is measured using the split Hopkinson pressure bar system in combination with the Brazilian disc sample geometry. The results show that the tensile strength softening factor decreases with the loading rate. Because the saturated sample shows stronger loading rate sensitivity than the dry sample, the softening factor decreases with the loading rate.