International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 11131119

Draft ISRM suggested method for determining block punch

strength index (BPI)
R. Ulusay*, C. Gokceoglu, S. Sulukcu
Department of Geological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Applied Geology Division, Hacettepe University, 06532 Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey
Accepted 26 November 2001

1. Introduction
1.1. Rock strength, particularly the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) is an important parameter in rock
mass classication methods and in various rock
engineering design approaches. Measurement of rock
strength requires testing which must be undertaken on
test specimens of particular sizes in order to fulll testing
standards. However, there are some shortcomings
associated with these conventional tests. When rock
cores are only divided into small discs, due to the
presence of thin bedding or schistosity planes, the core
length may be too short to allow preparation of the
specimens long enough even for the point load strength
index test.
1.2. To overcome the above-mentioned difculty, the
possibility of using relatively short samples for a rock
strength or index test has always been attractive. The
block punch strength index (BPI) test apparatus, which
was similar to that used for the measurement of direct
shear strength of a thin plate of rock [12], has been
developed in Delft University, The Netherlands, as an
index test in directly assessing UCS by Schrier [3].
However, in the previous studies, rock-disc specimens of
about 40 mm in diameter and 10 mm in thickness were
tested, and the size effect of the test specimens and the
use of the BPI test in rock engineering have not been
considered.
The studies by Ulusay and Gokceoglu [46] indicated
that size correction was indispensable in the BPI test and
the use of a generalized size correction factor established
from the experimental data should be used. A considerably important correlation found between UCS and BPI
indicates that BPI tests lead to insignicant errors in
determining UCS when compared to those obtained
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-312-297-7767; fax: +90-312-2992034.
E-mail address: resat@hacettepe.edu.tr (R. Ulusay).
1365-1609/01/$ - see front matter r 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
PII: S 1 3 6 5 - 1 6 0 9 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 7 8 - 8

from point load testing, particularly for laminated weak

rocks [47]. It was also suggested that BPI be used as an
alternative input parameter for intact rock strength in
rock mass classication and as a measure of anisotropy
using oriented disc samples [47].
1.3. The BPI test described in this suggested method is
applied to the rock-disc specimens, and involves the use
of size correction, and determination of the strength in
the strongest direction where only core samples from
boreholes drilled at any angle to the weakness planes are
available.
1.4. In this suggested method, the apparatus and
operating procedure are described together with data
evaluation. There is an explanation for the presentation
of the results. The empirical relationships to predict
some strength parameters from BPI are also presented
in the last chapter.

2. Scope
2.1. The block punch strength index test is intended as
an index test for the strength classication of rock
materials. It is also be used to predict other strength
parameters with which it is correlated, for example
uniaxial compressive and tensile strength.
2.2. The test measures the size-corrected block punch
strength index BPIs of rock specimens, and their
strength index in the strongest direction BPIs90 which
is calculated from the multiplication of a strength
anisotropy transformation factor with the BPIs value
of the specimens obtained from cores inclined at any
angle to the weakness planes.
2.3. Rock specimens in the form of thin cylindrical
discs prepared from cores or blocks are placed into an
apparatus which is designed to t the point load device,
and are broken by the application of load by a
rectangular rigid punching block.

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R. Ulusay et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 11131119

2.4. The test can be performed with a portable

apparatus and point load device, and so may be
conducted in the laboratory. However, it can also
be performed in the eld if the facilities for cutting
the specimen into small discs are available.

3. Apparatus
3.1. There are no published standards for construction of the apparatus for a block punch index test, and
since this test apparatus is not commercially available, it
has to be designed and fabricated in-house. The end
result of the design and fabrication process is a unit
consisting of two major parts: a lower platen (base
support) and an upper platen (punching block) as can be
seen in Fig. 1a. Both these platens should be machined
from hardened tool steel with a Rockwell hardness of 40

Fig. 2. BPI test device tted into a point load testing frame (PB:
punching block; BS: base support; R: ram).

Fig. 1. (a) A general view from the BPI test apparatus consisting of
base support, steel bars and punching block; (b) a plan view from the
base support before clamping of the specimen; (c) a perspective view of
the base support after the specimen is xed; and (d) a schematic view
from the punching canal of the base support.

in order to withstand the high stresses generated during

the test.
3.2. The base support is tted to the columns of the
point load test frame through the holes (Fig. 1b) at its
both ends and then it is attached to the ram of the frame
by means of a block with a hole at its bottom (Fig. 1c) as
shown in Fig. 2. Because the punching block is designed
to thread into the base support to allow sandwiching of
the rock-disc specimen, the base support should have a
rectangular canal along the centre of its axis through
which the punching block passes (Fig. 1b). The disc
specimen placed on the base support (Fig. 1b) is
clamped from its two ends by means of clamping bars
which are screwed down as shown in Fig. 1c. The
dimensions and tolerances of the base support are not
given here specically, because they depend on the type
and size of the point load-testing device, particularly
diameter of its reaction rods (columns). However, the
width of the base canal can be taken as 19.75 mm
(Fig. 1c). Some of the information is in Refs. [47] and
further information can be obtained from Professor
Ulusay and Asistant Professor Gokceoglu.
3.3. The second part of the device forms
the rectangular rigid punching block, which transfers
the load onto the specimen. It is designed to thread into
the canal along the axis of the base support. Therefore,
it should easily pass between the walls of the canal with
a clearance of approximately 0.25 mm. Several views
from the punching block and its dimensions are shown

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1115

Fig. 3. Dimensions of the punching block of the BPI apparatus.

in Fig. 3. This part of the apparatus is attached to the

upper rigid block of the point load-testing device by
means of a long screw as can be seen in Figs. 1a and 2.
3.4. The load is provided by a conventional portable
point load-testing device comprising a hydraulic ram
and a manual hydraulic pump equipped with a pressure
gauge. Spherically truncated conical platens of the point
load-testing device are removed during the BPI test. To
apply a load approximately at a given rate, the hydraulic
pump is manually operated while simultaneously both
the pressure gauge and a stopwatch are monitored.
3.5. An instrument, such as caliper is required to
measure diameter D and thickness t of the specimens.
When the test is carried out on cores from boreholes at
any angle to the weakness planes, a device such as a
goniometer should be used to measure the inclination of
the weakness planes.

4. Procedure
4.1. Specimen preparation
4.1. Test specimens should be right cylindrical thin
discs. For the purpose, the cores are cut into discs of
various raw thicknesses ranging between 5 and 15 mm
using a diamond saw perpendicularly to the core axis.
The diameter of the disc specimens should preferably be
not less than BX core size approximately 42 mm.
4.2. Although nearly all of the specimens are prepared
without special treatment, care should be taken to
ensure that the disc faces are as parallel as possible and
the sides of the specimens are smooth and free of abrupt
irregularities. However, if it is required, a surfacegrinding machine can be used to smooth the end faces of
the discs.

4.3. The use of capping material or end surface

treatments between the upper surface of the specimen
and the punching block is not permitted.
4.4. The diameter D of the test specimen should be
measured to the nearest 0.1 mm by averaging two
diameters measured at right angles to each other at
about the mid-height of the specimen. The thickness of
the specimen should also be determined to the nearest
0.1 mm by averaging two thicknesses measured at right
angles to each other. The average values of diameter and
thickness are later used in any subsequent calculations.
4.5. For routine testing and classication, specimens
should be tested either at their natural water content or
air dried. Samples should be stored, for no longer than
30 days, in such a way as to preserve their natural water
content, as far as possible, and tested in that condition.
This moisture content should be reported in accordance
with Suggested method for determination of the water
content of a rock sample, Method 1, ISRM Committee
on Laboratory Tests [8].
4.6. If the BPI test has to be carried out to measure
the strength anisotropy (i.e. to estimate the strength in
the strongest direction from the specimens obtained
from the cores inclined at any angle to the weakness
planes), the inclination of the weakness plane a should
be measured by a goniometer to the nearest 11.
4.7. The number of specimens tested under a specied
set of conditions shall be governed by practical
considerations, but at least ve are preferred.
4.2. Testing
4.8. The base support of the BPI apparatus is
mounted onto the ram of the point load device of which
conical platens have been removed. The punching block
is xed to the upper block of the device by means of a

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1116

Fig. 4. A view from the block punch index testing in point load test
device.

screw. The specimen is then centered on the base

support of the test apparatus (see Fig. 1d) and clamped
to be sure that it does not move and is tightly xed (see
Fig. 1b). By using the hand pump, the base support is
risen up until the punching block is nearly touching the
specimen.
4.9. The load is then gradually applied to the
specimen at a constant rate such that failure occurs
within 1060 s as suggested by ISRM [8] for point load
strength (Fig 4). Fracturing is thus forced to take place
along two parallel planes on which the normal stress is
considered to be zero while the tensile stresses caused by
bending are reduced. The load Ft;D which is the load
required for the failure of a specimen of any diameter
and any thickness, is recorded. After failure, theoretically, the specimen is broken into three parts, the
two ends which are xed in the apparatus and the
middle part of the specimen which is punched out
(Fig. 5). The test should be rejected as invalid if the
parallel fracture planes are either absent or not fully
developed (irregular failure) or cross joints develop as
shown in Fig. 6.
4.10. The procedure (4.8) through (4.9) given above is
repeated for the remaining tests in the sample.

Fig. 5. Schematic illustrations of the BPI test specimen before and

after failure.

Fig. 6. Views from the specimens after BPI test, and the failure
patterns for valid and invalid tests.

where Ft;D is the failure load recorded from the gauge in

kN (and converted to MN by the multiplication of
103), and A is the area (in m2) through which the
shearing takes place. The formula quoted below is for
the area

5. Calculations

A 4tr2  95:10:5  106 m2 ;

5.1. Uncorrected block punch strength index

where t and r are the thickness and radius of a disc

specimen (in mm), respectively (Fig. 7).

5.1. The uncorrected block punch strength index BPI

(in MPa) is calculated from the following equation:

5.2. Size correction

BPI

103 Ft;D
;
A

5.2. BPI varies as a function of D and t [47], so that a

size correction must be applied to obtain a unique block

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Fig. 7. Calculation steps of the area A of the failure surface in the

BPI test.

punch strength index value for the rock sample and one
that can be used for purposes of rock strength
classication.
5.3. The size-corrected block punch strength index
(BPI10;50 or BPIs ) of a rock specimen is dened as
the value of BPI that would have been calculated from a
failure load converted to a corrected load for a nominal 50 mm diameter and 10 mm thickness by multiplying
BPI with the constants Kt and KD ; representing
correction factors for thickness and diameter,
respectively.
Because the load at failure is converted to a corrected
BPI value for a equivalent size (D 50 mm,
t 10 mm), the area of the surface through which
shearing takes place used in calculation of the corrected
BPI should be expressed in terms of equivalent specimen
dimensions. The equivalent area A10;50 is
921  106 m2. When testing single-sized disc specimen
with a diameter and thickness other than 50 mm and
10 mm, respectively, the size correction is accomplished
using the formula

Fig. 8. Charts for the size correction factors to be used in the

calculation of the corrected BPI [7].

the corrected BPI value without considering the failure

area
BPIc 3499D1:3926 t1:1265 Ft;D ;

where D and t are in mm and Ft;D is in kN.

5.3. Strength index in the strongest direction

The correction factors Kt and KD can be obtained

from the charts in Fig. 8 or from the expressions:

5.4. In the case of a testing, which is carried out on

specimens prepared from cores from boreholes inclined
at any angle to the weakness planes, if determination of
the strength index in the strongest direction (i.e. loading
perpendicular to the weakness plane) is considered, an
additional conversion on BPIs should be done. For the
purpose, a strength anisotropy transformation factor of
Ka was suggested by Ulusay and Gokceoglu [46]

Kt 13:741:1265

Ka

BPI10;50 BPIs

F10;50 Ft;D  103  Kt  KD

MPa:
A10;50
921  106
3

thickness correction factor;

KD 234:53D1:3926 diameter correction factor:

4a
4b

Alternatively, the following equation derived from the

combination of Eqs. (3), (4a) and (4b) is used to obtain

BPIs90
;
BPIsa

where BPIs90 is the BPIs of the specimens obtained from

boreholes perpendicular to the weakness planes (strongest direction), and BPIsa is the BPIs of the specimens

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R. Ulusay et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 38 (2001) 11131119

from boreholes inclined at any angle to the weakness

planes.
The relationship between the values of Ka and the
angle a (the angle in degrees between the core axis and
the weakness plane) (Fig. 9) is given by the following
expression:
Ka 4:24e0:0156a :

Corrected BPI value in the strongest direction is

obtained from the expression, which is the combination
of Eqs. (6) and (7)
BPIs90 4:24 e0:0156a BPIsa :

6. Presentation of results
6.1. Results for BPI test should be tabulated (see
typical results shown in Fig. 10). The report should
contain at least the following information for each
specimen tested:
(a) Lithologic description of the rock.
(b) Orientation of the axis of loading with respect to
specimen anisotropy, e.g. bedding planes, foliation,
etc. (angle a).
(c) The sample number, source location and sampling
depth.
(d) Number of specimens tested.
(e) Water content at time of test (air dried, oven dried
or value of water content in per cent).
(f) Date of testing.
(g) Failure pattern.
(h) A tabulation of the values of diameter and thickness
of the specimens, failure load and corrected block
punch strength index, and strength index in the
strongest direction if the angle between the direction
of loading and weakness planes is o901. All BPIc
values should be expressed to three signicant
gures.

7. Notes

Fig. 9. Strength anisotropy transformation factor Ka as a function of

the angle a between the weakness plane and loading direction in the
BPI test [4].

7.1. When rst introduced, the block punch strength

index test, without application of any size correction,
was used to predict uniaxial compressive strength [3].
Then, it was experimentally shown [47] that the BPI
test could be more preferable in the estimation of the
uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), because the BPI

Fig. 10. Typical results for the BPI test.

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Table 1
Classication of block punch strength index [7]
BPIs (MPa)

Strength class

o1
15
510
1020
2050
>50

Very weak
Weak
Moderate
Medium
High
Very high

Acknowledgements

Fig. 11. Rating chart of the block punch strength index and uniaxial
compressive strength for RMR and M-RMR rock mass classication
systems [7].

tests lead to insignicant errors in determining UCS

when compared with those obtained from point load
testing which yields a multiplying factor of k to predict
UCS ranging between 15 and 50 depending on rock
type. The following relation between the UCS and the
corrected BPI was obtained by regression analysis with a
statistically signicant correlation of 0.90 [7]:
UCS 5:1BPIs :

7.2. Assuming a mean of UCS=BPIs ; the ratio of 5.1

leads to errors of maximum 20 per cent in estimations of
the UCS from BPIs [7]. This may be sufciently accurate
for using BPI as an index for intact rock strength in rock
mass classication. Therefore, the BPI can be introduced into rock mass classication systems as an
alternative strength index input parameter, especially
for weak rocks where obtaining a standard specimen
is rather difcult. If the ranges of UCS used in
Bieniawskis Geomechanical Classication (RMR)
System [9], and M-RMR System [1011], which is a
modication of RMR, are divided by the strength
conversion factor of 5.1, and decimals are avoided,
perhaps a more realistic scale for BPIs can be obtained.
For this purpose, a combined chart (Fig. 11) which
considers both rock mass classication systems showing
the variation of the rating both for block punch strength
index and UCS, and the BPI classication (Table 1) can
be used.
7.3. BPI is approximately 0.68 times of the indirect
tensile or Brazilian tensile strength [7].

The authors wish to acknowledge the encouragement

and support given by Professor J.A. Hudson of Imperial
College of Science, Technology and Medicine in the UK.
The co-ordinators are also most grateful to Professor K.
Sugawara of Department of Civil Engineering, Kumamoto University in Japan for his kind interest at the
beginning of the studies on the suggested method.

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