A new testing method for investigating the loading rate dependency of peak and residual rock strength

One of the important methods for investigating viscoelasticity is to measure the loading-rate dependency of peak strength; however, no experimental method has been established for accurately measuring the loading-rate dependency of peak strength from a small number of samples. In this study we propose such a method. A single sample is loaded at alternating strain rates to obtain stress-strain curves for both strain rates. The loading-rate dependency of peak strength obtained via this method was compared with the findings of conventional methods. The loading-rate dependency indicated for Tage tuff, Sanjome andesite and Akiyoshi marble was nearly identical to previous results obtained using conventional methods, including results obtained under confining pressure. The loading-rate dependency of peak strength in these experiments shows a close relation with the creep stress-dependency of creep life. We also investigated the loading-rate dependency of the stress-strain curve for the post-failure region for which few results have been published. Under confining pressure, the corrected stress-strain curve, obtained by multiplying the stress of the complete stress-strain curve obtained at the fast strain rate by a constant determined by the ratio between the fast strain rate and slow strain rate, is nearly coincident with the stress-strain curve for the slow strain rate. This is an interesting result and represents new knowledge that may help elucidate failure mechanisms in the post-failure region. The loading-rate dependency of stress in the alternating strain rate experiment proposed here was most clearly observed when the stress-strain curve becomes flat, parallel to the strain axis. Some improvements to the proposed method are required to enable accurate investigations of loading-rate dependency during low stresses immediately after initiation of loading or during the abrupt decreases in stress that occur following peak strength. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.