Assessment of Engineering Properties of Limy Rocks Using Friction-Transfer Test: A Case Study

Some expensive and challenging laboratory or field tests must be done to obtain the engineering properties of rocks. For avoiding time and cost consumption, some researchers have used simple tests to estimate some engineering properties. The friction-transfer test is partially destructive and can estimate the rock uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) using experimental equations or a previously prepared calibration graph. In this study, some engineering properties of seven types of limy rocks from Qom formation, collected from Hamadan province, were estimated using friction-transfer test results. Regression analysis between friction-transfer and physical properties tests show that the best relationship is between porosity (n%) and friction-transfer value (T) and torsion angle (theta) (R-2 = 0.74). Friction-transfer engineering property regression analysis shows that the best relation is obtained between Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) and T, theta, because of the higher R-2 (0.80). Relatively high coefficients of the determination indicate that the friction transfer can successfully predict the UCS of rocks. A conversion factor equal to 0.48 was obtained for estimating UCS by T values for this study data.

Automated summary

Friction-transfer test can estimate the engineering properties of rocks, such as uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and Brazilian tensile strength (BTS). The study found that there is a strong correlation between porosity and friction-transfer value and torsion angle. The relatively high coefficients of determination indicate that friction transfer can successfully predict the UCS of rocks.