PROPOSAL FOR Ph.D.

Civil engineering-Geotechnical and rock Mechanic specialties Submitted by Asaad Mohamad Azhar Misbah Al-omari Long-term behavior of sedimentary stones under climatic conditions Introduction Most of the sedimentary rocks are classified as soft rocks, they are available in many places and at different depth with large quantities in north of Iraq. These rocks are belonging to the lower fars formation (Quaternary age) and exist near the surface and within few meters depth. It contains mainly many types like limestone, Gypsum, Anhydrite, and Marl which are used widely in the construction works. Since the long-term strength is less than that of the short-term, so it is thought that study of long-term strength of the sedimentary rocks is of great importance, because it had been observed to fail under a stress less than that of it's instantaneous strength when the load is sustained for a sufficiently long time. Knowing the longterm strength and deformation behavior will lead to predict the safe age of the stressed rock in the field. The low strength and deformation of the sedimentary rocks are usually affected by the load, temperature, time, water transfer, type of test, size and shape of the tested specimen The sedimentary rocks mainly the gypsum rocks are widespread in Mousl city and its region. These rocks are some times used as a foundation of heavy structures, Also the construction of bridges and tunnels on/in soft rocks increases, which required to make clear the strength and deformation characteristics of these sedimentary soft rocks. Moreover, these rocks are used for the aesthetic role in the modern construction in faade (stone-faced appearance) made of small parts of low thickness of about 12.5 cm. Since most of the rock masses and structures in rock, such as mines, dams or underground excavations, are in contact with water in nature, giving different degree of saturation. So the influence of water on the strength properties of rock is of important consideration to study. Sedimentary rocks are found to be regarded as strain hardening softening inelastic and time dependent material with dilatancy (1). Further more, new failure criteria were proposed for both peak and residual strengths of the intact sedimentary rock as shown in Figure 1 below(2).

Str eng th log ( 1 3 )

Peak strength of intact rock ( upper bound ) transitional stress Strength of rock mass Residual strength of intact rock ( lower bound ) Mean effective stress log m Figure 1, Strength of intact Rock and of Rock mass

From the previous figure, it can be seen that the upper bound of strength of rock mass corresponds to the peak strength of intact rock, where as the lower limit is bounded by the residual strength, and that the rock mass strength in the field at least within these limits. However, the peak strength of material shows the following well known time dependent behaviors. Namely, the strength increases with increase in strain rate, and the creep failure may take place under a sustained creep stress significantly less than the peak strength obtained by standard shear test. To precisely analyze the long term stability problem relating to sedimentary rock mass, it is necessary to determine the longterm strength of the material. OVER VIEW Many Investigators studied the time dependent behavior of different types of Rocks, the long term strength was also found in such investigations. Singh (3) (1971) studied the long term strength of the sandstone rock in a direct method and in different indirect methods which are, loading rate method, volumetric strain method, stress strain method and log stress log strain method in order to find their validity with the long term strength method. All the specimens were tested in the uniaxial compression machine, the axial and lateral strain were measured during the tests. He found that the beginning of the unstable fracture propagation using the short term tests represents the long term strength of the rock. He also concluded that the loading rate method of the indirect methods was the more accurate one. The long term strength determined by the volumetric method was higher than that of the direct methods and the log stress log strain method showed lower values. Sangha and ohir (4) (1972) studied the influence of strain rate on the long term compressive strength, deformation and fracture properties of sandstone. Specimens of 127 mm long by 50.8 mm diam. Were compressed with strain rate varies from 2.5 X 10-3 / sec. to 2.5 X 10-9 / sec. It was found that the long term strength represents the critical stress which was achieved when Poison's ratio becomes equal to (0.5). Modes of rupture were found to be independent on loading system but they depend on the time to failure. Stavrogin and Lodus (5) (1974) carried out an experiments of long term behaviour on potash salt and cambrian clay using prisms of 150 X 150 X 300 mm. in uniaxial compression test. Longitudinal deformation, transverse deformation and time to failure were measured under different stress levels ( 30, 50, 60, 70 and 80% of the breaking stress ). It was found that the creep rate ( ) and the failure time (t) can be related to the applied stress () according to the following relation: = o e 1 and t = to e 2 Where o and to are constants of the material and has nearly a constant absolute value for the study condition. These formulas were suggested to be used for the behaviour of the salt pillars.

Munday et al (6) (1977) studied the long term behaviour of five Scottish rocks: granite, granodiorite, marble and two types of sandstone. Strength of these rocks cover a range of 60 175 N/mm2. the specimens were compressed uniaxially with various strain rates. Accordingly, time to failure was ranging from two seconds to one month. It was observed that the effect of strain rate on the strength was less for rocks of low strength; and the long term to short term strength ratio will increase as the rock strength becomes lower. Adachi and Takase (7) (1981) proposed a method of predicting the long term strength of soft sedimentary rocks using empirical evidence from the results of triaxial creep test at a confining pressures of 1,3,5 and 9 kg / cm2. They found that time to creep failure decreases with increasing the applied stress and the three creep stages were noticed. The following relation was determined to predict the long term strength: ( 1 3 ) = tr mB Where m: the mean stress corresponding to 10-8 / min. of minimum creep strain rate, B: constant depends on the value of confining pressure, : the slope of the linear relationship of ( 1 - 3) versus m and tr is the time to creep failure. Shmidtke and Lajtai (8) (1985) carried out tests to determine the long term strength of a saturated du Bonnet granite in uniaxial compression. Nine stresses of 69 to 95 percent of the compressive strength were applied and time to failure was determined. The following logarithmic equation was reported: ln = 5.42 0.03 ln t Where (t) is the time to failure and is the applied stress. Al Dewani (9) (1988) studied the effect of strain rate on the short and long term strengths of saturated sandstone under uniaxial compression. An increase in strength of about 14 % due to increase in axial strain rate from 0.57 x 10-8 / sec to 0.166 x 10-3 / sec was observed. Specimens subjected to a sustained load for 20 days at which no fracture occurred were found to have a strength of 8 % more than short term strength. He also found that there is a critical stress in the long term loading behaviour below which the specimens will not fail. This critical stress was found to be independent of the strain rate at which the load was applied to reach the required stress level. Locally, Nuri Th. M. (10) (1989) in his study observed that the properties of rock under short and long-term behavior for a type of rock is gypsum which is consider as a soft rock taken from Talkaife quarry located at 10.0 Km to the north of Mosul city. In the study the bending and uniaxial compression system of loading were considered, the effect of the specimen beam thickness and the applied stress level on the long-term behavior were determined, Also, the direct and indirect methods of the long-term strength determination were employed. The investigator concludes that the increasing the beam specimen thickness cause a decrease in indirect tensile strength for short-term tests. He state that the reasons for this phenomenon is the probability of presence the higher number of preexisting flaws and cracks increase statistically with increasing the specimen size, thus decreasing of strength would be expected; for sufficiently large specimen, the flaw distribution would not be affected by size, thus strength would not be changed for larger size. The researcher reported out that the instantaneous strain, creep strain and

creep rate increase with increasing stress level under both bending and uniaxial compression system of loading. On the other hand the above parameters decrease with increasing the beam size for a given stress level at the bending tensile tests. He also found that the failure time of the beam specimen decrease with increasing the stress level for a given beam size, and increase with increasing beam size for a given stress level. Finally, the investigator conclude that the indirect methods of determination the long-term strength under uniaxial compression and bending system of loadings give higher values than those obtained by direct methods of range 7 to 15 %, the longterm strength determined by the direct method under bending system was found to be in the range of 60 to 75 % of the strength while 83 % of the strength for the uniaxial compression system of loading. In the M.Sc. thesis of Hamad S. Kh. (11) (1985) the strength properties of limestone were studied under effect of specimen size and water saturation. The type of rock under the study is limestone which brought from Talafar a town about 65 Km to the west of Mousl city. The behavior of this rock were investigated for five types of loading systems, these were uniaxial compression, point load, bending, Brazilian method, and indentation. The most important findings are: in all the five tests of strength: increasing of specimen size and water saturation lead to decreasing the limestone strength, the more rate of reduction in strength for smaller specimen size than those of larger specimen size, also the rate of reduction decreased with the increase in the degree of saturation. The investigator presented that the Young's Modulus of Elasticity decrease with increasing both of specimen size and degree of saturation. On the other hand, the Poisson's ratio were observed to be increased with increasing of water saturation of rock, while no noticeable effect of size specimen on the Poisson's ratio value. The above conclusions could be represented in details for the one type of loading system (unialxial compression test). To study the size effect on the properties of limestone in uniaxial compression, four different sizes were used having length to diameter ratio (L/D) equal to three. Core diameter of 20, 35, 50, and 75mm were tested in oven dried condition. The results presented in Table (1), it can be seen that a decrease in strength was observed when increasing specimen size (diameter). A rapid decrease in strength is found for a specimen of a diameter up to 50mm, for larger sizes the rate of decrease in strength becomes smaller until the strength becomes almost constant. The explanation for the reduction in strength at size specimen increases as same as reported by Nuri TH. M. (1989). Table (1) Size effect on the uniaxial compressive strength Specimen size Uniaxial diameter x length compressive strength (mm) (N/mm2) 20 x 60 20.15 35 x 105 17.10 50 x 150 15.50 75 x 225 14.91

The variation both of axial and lateral strain with different size of the uniaxial compression specimen are presented in Figure 2 and 3 below:

Figure 2, Axial strain with different size of the uniaxial compression specimen

Figure 3, Lateral strain with different size of the uniaxial compression specimen It is observed that for a given stress the two strains types increase with increasing the specimen size. These findings could be attributed to the existence of more weak planes in a large specimen than in a smaller one. The results of the Young's Modulus for different sizes are showed in Table (2). It is clear to recognize that a constant decrease in the Young's Modulus value with the size. Decrease in strength with specimen size accompanied by a small change in strain see Figure (2 and 3) may be the reason for decreasing the Modulus of elasticity with the size. Table (2) Size effect on the Young's Modulus of elasticity Specimen size Young's Modulus of diameter x length elasticity (mm) (KN/mm2) 20 x 60 25.26 35 x 105 22.37 50 x 150 20.05 75 x 225 18.25

Poisson's ratio for different sizes specimen are presented in Table (3). The results shows a small change in the Poisson's ratio with the specimen size and it can be consider as a constant value of the material. Table (3) Poisson's ratio for various sizes Specimen size diameter x length Poisson's ratio (mm) 20 x 60 0.39 35 x 105 0.41 50 x 150 0.39 75 x 225 0.44 On the other hand, the effect of water saturation on the strength of the uniaxial compression specimen were conduct by using five degrees of saturation 0% (dry condition), 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% . Specimen of 75 mm in diameter by 225 mm in length were used. This size is the specimen at which the strength became constant or nearly constant and no remarkable change in strength was observed for lager size. Results of the uniaxial compressive strength for various degree of saturation are presented in Table (4). A constant reduction c an be seen as the degree of saturation increased form 0% to 50%. The rate of strength reduction decreased for a saturation of more than 50%. A reduction in strength of 31.05% related to dry condition was obtained when the specimen wetted to 50% saturation and of 39.77% at 100% saturation. Table (4) Results of uniaxial compressive strength for different degree of saturation. uniaxial compressive Reduction in strength with Degree of saturation strength respect to dry condition (%) (N/mm2) (%) 0.0 14.91 0.00 25.0 12.52 16.03 50.0 10.28 31.05 75.0 9.50 36.28 100.0 8.98 39.77 Decreasing the strength of limestone under the influence of eater can be explained as follows: - As rock becomes wetted with water, the internal surface of the rock will be absorbed by water. The existence of water will lower the free surface energy of the rock material, causing the fracture strength to decrease, and hence the strength. - Certain minerals may be dissolved or decomposed as the water absorbed by the material, causing weak surface within the rock. - Sometimes water dissolves the cementing material binding the rock grains or crystals together, then loosening the rock and decreases the friction between the grains to reduce the strength of the rock.

Table (5) gives the results of the Modulus of elasticity for various degree of saturation with the corresponding reductions. Table (5) Water effect on the Young's Modulus of elasticity. Young's Modulus of Reduction in strength with Degree of saturation elasticity respect to dry condition (%) (KN/mm2) (%) 0.0 18.25 0.00 25.0 16.45 9.86 50.0 14.38 21.21 75.0 11.60 36.44 100.0 9.78 46.41 The Poisson's ratio for uniaxial compression specimens with different degree of saturation are shown in Table (6). The results shows a small change in the Poisson's ratio due to variation in the degree of saturation and it can be consider as a constant value of the rock material. Table (3) Poisson's ratio for various degree of saturation Degree of saturation Poisson's ratio (%) 0.0 0.44 25.0 0.39 50.0 0.42 75.0 0.46 100.0 0.50 Taking in to the consideration that the results of the other four types of loading system studied by Hamad S. Kh. (1985) which are: point load, bending, Brazilian method, and indentation tests have the same trend exactly. In the M.Sc. thesis of Al-Hayaly M. GH. (12) (2007) studied the effect of moisture content variation on the strength characteristic of sandstone rock located in Al-Intisar at east of Mousl city. Tests of uniaxial compression , triaxial compression, bending, and point load have been carried out on the sandstone rock to find the compressive and tensile strength. The researcher reported that the water has a considerable effect on both the compression and tensile strength. Higher reduction in the compression strength occurred at moisture content ranged between (0 to 4) % and between (0 to 8) % moisture content for tensile strength Figure (4 5, and 6), Also, the effect of moisture content on tensile strength is greater than its effect on compression strength. On the other hand, in dry and saturation samples, increasing confining pressure results in reduction Poisson's ratio see Figure (7), while the modulus of elasticity increase, Figure (8).

U.C.S (N/mm2)

Water Content (%)

Point Load Index ( N/mm2 )

t / U.C.S ( % )

Figure 4, Variation of uniaxial compression strength with different water content

Water Content (%)

Figure 5, Effect of water content on the tensile to the compression strength ratio

Water Content (%) Figure 6, Effect of water content on point load index

Poisson's Ratio ()

Confining Pressure ( N/mm2 ) Figure 7, Effect of confining pressure on the Poisson's ratio at various water content.

SCOPE OF RESEARCH The focal point of the research will be on the effect of sustained vertical loads applied on the sedimentary rocks in the laboratory on their future compressive and tensile strength and the vertical and radial deformations in both dry and wet conditions with temperature changes and water transfer. Confining Pressure ( N/mm2 ) Figure 8, Effect of confining pressure on the Young's Modulus at various water content.

Youngs Modulus of Elasticity ( KN/m2 )

OBJECTIVES Since the long term strength is less than that of the short term, so it is thought that study of the long term strength of the sedimentary rocks is of great importance. Knowing the long term strength and deformation behavior will lead to predict the safe age of the stressed rock in the field. In this research the following items will be studied: 1. The long term strength of the three types of the selected sedimentary rocks in compression by means of uniaxial system and in tension by means of bending system. 2. The effect of saturation state on the long term strength and making a comparssion with dry state to know the amount of strength reduction. 3. The effect of different stress and humidity levels on the long term strength. 4. Cyclic water and humidity transfer effects. 5. Microscopic investigation to analyse the engineering behavior of the studied rocks. Factors to be considered 1. Strength: Uniaxial compressive strength and indirect tensile strength by means of bending and Brazelian tests. 2. Stress level: in both uniaxial compression and bending tests, different stress levels as a percent of the strength will be considered. 3. Cyclic water and humidity transfer effects: this effect will be consider for the sedimentary rocks in both short and long term tests, then compression method will be applied with the dry state of the specimen. 4. Rock type. 5. Combination of previous cyclic effects: (HR, water and temperature) as the applied cycles induce fatigue in the stones and reduces their durability. 6. Microscopic investigation: to analyze the engineering behavior of studied rocks.

Note: This study requires the manufacture of environmental chamber imposing temperature and humidity for the study of cyclic effects on the mechanical behavior of the tested stones.

REFERENCES 1. Toshihisa Adachi (1981), " Prediction of long term strength of soft sedimentary rock ". proceeding of the international symposium on weak rock, Tokyo. PP. (21 24). 2. Adachi, T & K. Kanaya, (1981), " Time dependency of residual strength of soft rock " , proceeding Annual Meeting of JSSMFE, PP. (1341 1344). 3. Singh, D. P. (1971), " The prediction and measurement of long term strength of rocks " , proc. First aeo. Mech. Conference, Australia, PP. (37 44). 4. Sangha, C. M. and Dhir, R. K. (1972), " influence of time on the strength deformation of sandstone ", int. J. Rock Mech., vol 9, PP. (343 354). 5. Stavrogin, A. N. and Lodus, E. V. (1974), " Creep and the Time Dependent of the strength in rocks " , Sov. Min. Sci., Vol. 10, No. 6 PP. (653 658). 6. Munday, J. G., Mohammed, A. E. and Dhir, R. K., (1977), " A criterion for predicting the long term compressive strength of rock ", proceeding conference on rock Engineering, British Geot. Soci. Univ. of New Castle, U. K., Vol. 1 PP, (127 135). 7. Adachi, T. and Takase, (1981) A. " Prediction of long term strength of soft sedimentary rocks " proceedings of the international symposium on weak rock, Tokyo, PP. (99 104). 8. Shmidtke, R. H. and Lajtai, E. Z. (1985) " Technical Note, The long term strength of Lac du Bonnet Granite " , int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci., Vol. 22, PP. (461 465). 9. Al Dewani, S. A. and Abdulla, F. A., (1988) " Study on the effect of strain rate on the long term strength of sandstone rock " proceedings of the 2nd . Iraqi conference on Engineering, PP. (115 128). 10. Nuri Th. M., (1989) " Study of the long term strength of gypsum" M. Sc. Thesis, Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Mosul. 11. Hamad S. Kh., (1985) "Effect of size and water saturation on strength properties of limestone " M. Sc. Thesis, Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Mosul. 12. Al-Hayaly M. GH. (2007) " Effect of moisture content on some of the strength characteristics of sandstone rock in Mosul city" M. Sc. Thesis, Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Mosul.