CHAPTER 7:

ROCK MATERIAL TESTING

ACCORDING TO ISRM 1981

ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF ROCKS –

PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL

LECTURER:
Student should be able to: CO4 – PO1, PO8

LESSON OUTCOMES
• Describe the physical properties – density,
porosity, durability, jar slake test, thin section
study

• Explain how to conduct the rock testing

(Mechanical properties) – rebound hardness,
point load strength, UCS, indirect tensile
strength, slake durability
Rock Properties for Engineering

Rock are significant for two major reasons in engineering:

(1) As building materials for constructions;
(2) As foundations on which the constructions are setting;

For the consideration of rocks as construction material the engineers

concern about:

(a) Density to some extent (for calculating the weight, load to the
foundation, etc.);
(b) Strength;
(c) Durability;
STRESS, PRESSURE
 Strength of rock material
• A scale of strength, based on the uniaxial compressive test is
shown in the following table.
• The strength of a rock material determined in the uniaxial
compression or point load test is dependent on the moisture
content of the specimen, anisotropy and the test procedure
adopted, all of which should be reported.
• The use of simpler index tests in the field is recommended to
provide additional data and as a check on the manually
assessed strengths; the Point Load Test [181] and Schmidt
Hammer are amongst the more commonly used.
• The size and shape of lumps, strength of operator, weight of
hammer and surface on which lumps rest affect the
assessment of the strength.
 Slake Durability Test
• To assesses the resistance offered by a rock sample to
weakening and disintegration when subjected to drying and
wetting cycles.

• The apparatus consists of a base-mounted, motor drive unit

which rotates two specimen test drums at a speed of 20
revolutions per minute. Two water troughs with quick release
drive assemblies contain the test drums during the procedure.

Table 2 Description of the degree of slaking by Franklin and Chandra (1972)

Amount of Slake-durability index

slaking (%)*
Very low 0 – 25
Low 25 – 50
Medium 50 – 75
High 75 – 95
Very High over 95
 An SDI value of less than 90 indicates a poor rock
quality. The lower value of SDI, the more scourable and
less durable the rock