• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.203-209
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• 2018

Reliable estimation of compressive as well as tensile in-situ stresses is critical in the design and analysis of underground structures and openings in rocks. Kaiser effect technique, which uses acoustic emission from rock specimens under cyclic load, is well established for the estimation of in-situ compressive stresses. This paper investigates the Kaiser effect on marble specimens under cyclic uniaxial compressive as well as cyclic uniaxial tensile conditions. The tensile behavior was studied by means of Brazilian tests. Each specimen was tested by applying the load in four loading cycles having magnitudes of 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of the peak stress. The experimental results confirm the presence of Kaiser effect in marble specimens under both compressive and tensile loading conditions. Kaiser effect was found to be more dominant in the first two loading cycles and started disappearing as the applied stress approached the peak stress, where felicity effect became dominant instead. This behavior was observed to be consistent under both compressive and tensile loading conditions and can be applied for the estimation of in-situ rock stresses as a function of peak rock stress. At a micromechanical level, Kaiser effect is evident when the pre-existing stress is smaller than the crack damage stress and ambiguous when pre-existing stress exceeds the crack damage stress. Upon reaching the crack damage stress, the cracks begin to propagate and coalesce in an unstable manner. Hence acoustic emission observations through Kaiser effect analysis can help to estimate the crack damage stresses reliably thereby improving the efficiency of design parameters.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 1997

Disc-type and ring-type specimens of four different materials were tested to investigate the tensile characteristics and their brief results are presented. Materials tested were marble, granite, cement mortar and plaster. Unizxial tensile strengths are compared with Brazilian and ring test strengths. It was found that Brazilian strengths were usually greater than uniaxial tensile strengths and affected by loading rates. In the ring tests, tensile strengths were generally found to be decreased as relative hole radius being increased. Ring test strengths, however, converged to some value in r$\geq$0.45 of marble, r$\geqq$0.29 of cement mortar and r$\leq$0.5 of plaster specimens. In such range of r, furthermore, transverse cracking of specimens were observed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.871-882
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• 2017

Indirect measure of the tensile strength of laboratory samples is an important topic in rock engineering. One of the most important tests, the Brazilian strength test is performed to obtain the tensile strength of rock, concrete and other quasi brittle materials. Because the measurements are provided indirectly and the inspected rock materials may have heterogeneous properties, uncertainty quantification is required for a reliable test evaluation. In addition to the conventional measurement evaluation uncertainty methods recommended by the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM), such as Taylor's and Monte Carlo Methods, a fuzzy set-based approach is also proposed and resulting uncertainties are discussed. The results showed that when a tensile strength measurement is measured by a laboratory test, its uncertainty can also be expressed by one of the methods presented.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.491-498
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• 2018

The Earth Mechanics Institute (EMI) was established at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in 1974 to develop innovations in rock mechanics research and education. During the last four decades, extensive rock mechanics research has been conducted at the EMI. Results from uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS), point load index (PLI), punch penetration (PP), and many other types of tests have been recorded in a database that has been unexamined for research purposes. The EMI database includes over 20,000 tests from over 1,000 different projects including mining and underground construction, and analysis of this database to identify relationships has been started with preliminary results reported here. Overall, statistically significant correlations are identified between bulk density and mechanical strength properties through UCS, BTS, PLI, and PP testing of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. In this paper, bulk density is considered as a surrogate metric that reflects both mineralogy and porosity. From this analysis, sedimentary rocks show the strongest correlation between the UCS and bulk density, whereas metamorphic rocks exhibit the strongest correlation between UCS and PP. Data trends in the EMI database also reveal a linear relationship between UCS and BTS tests. For the singular case of rock coral, the database permits correlations between bulk density of the core versus the deposition depth and porosity. The EMI database will continue under analysis, and will provide additional insightful and comprehensive understanding of the variation and predictability of rock mechanical strength properties and density. This knowledge will contribute significantly toward the increasingly safe and cost-effective geostructures and construction.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2019

Water-induced strength reduction is one of the most critical causes for rock deformation and failure. Understanding the effects of water on the strength, toughness and deformability of rocks are of a great importance in rock fracture mechanics and design of structures in rock. However, only a few studies have been conducted to understand the effects of water on fracture properties such as fracture toughness, crack propagation velocity, consumed energy, and microstructural damage. Thus, in this study, we focused on the understanding of how microscale damages induced by water saturation affect mesoscale mechanical and fracture properties compared with oven dried specimens along three notch orientations-divider, arrester, and short transverse. The mechanical properties of calcite-cemented sandstone were examined using standard uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) tests. In addition, fracture properties such as fracture toughness, consumed energy and crack propagation velocity were examined with cracked chevron notched Brazilian disk (CCNBD) tests. Digital Image Correlation (DIC), a non-contact optical measurement technique, was used for both strain and crack propagation velocity measurements along the bedding plane orientations. Finally, environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) was employed to investigate the microstructural damages produced in calcite-cemented sandstone specimens before and after CCNBD tests. As results, both mechanical and fracture properties reduced significantly when specimens were saturated. The effects of water on fracture properties (fracture toughness and consumed energy) were predominant in divider specimens when compared with arrester and short transverse specimens. Whereas crack propagation velocity was faster in short transverse and slower in arrester, and intermediate in divider specimens. Based on ESEM data, water in the calcite-cemented sandstone induced microstructural damages (microcracks and voids) and increased the strength disparity between cement/matrix and rock forming mineral grains, which in turn reduced the crack propagation resistance of the rock, leading to lower both consumed energy and fracture toughness ($K_{IC}$).

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2006

Fracture toughness is a material property for crack initiation and propagation in fracture mechanics. For mode I fracture toughness measurement in concrete, RILEM committees 89-FMT proposed three-point bend tests based on the two-parameter fracture model. But, there is no proposed test method as a standard for mixed mode test for now. And RILEM three-point bend test procedure is complicate. Therefore, in this study, brazilian disks of various size were designed as the concrete with a similar specified concrete strength and maximum size of coarse aggregate($G_{max}$) were respectively 20mm and 40mm. And mode I fracture toughness of brazilian disks was compared with that of RILEM three-point bend test. As a result, it was suggested appropriate size(thickness, diameter) and notch length ratio of brazilan disk on the $G_{max}$. And it was verified that stress intensity factors for mixed mode can be easily calculated with the disk specimen. Stress intensity factors of a concrete brazilian disk were evaluated with finite element analysis and five terms approximation for comparison.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.39-51
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• 2016

This paper considers the tensile strength of concrete samples in direct, CTT, modified tension, splitting and ring tests using both of the experimental tests and numerical simulation (particle flow code 2D). It determined that which one of indirect tensile strength is close to direct tensile strength. Initially calibration of PFC was undertaken with respect to the data obtained from Brazilian laboratory tests to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical models response. Furthermore, validation of the simulated models in four introduced tests was also cross checked with the results from experimental tests. By using numerical testing, the failure process was visually observed and failure patterns were watched to be reasonable in accordance with experimental results. Discrete element simulations demonstrated that the macro fractures in models are caused by microscopic tensile breakages on large numbers of bonded discs. Tensile strength of concrete in direct test was less than other tests results. Tensile strength resulted from modified tension test was close to direct test results. So modified tension test can be a proper test for determination of tensile strength of concrete in absence of direct test. Other advantages shown by modified tension tests are: (1) sample preparation is easy and (2) the use of a simple conventional compression press controlled by displacement compared with complicate device in other tests.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.239-244
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• 2016

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the use and acceptance of digital radiographic examinations by Brazilian dental practitioners in daily practice and to evaluate the advances that have occurred over the past 5 years. Materials and Methods: Dental practitioners enrolled in extension courses at the Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Brazil, responded to a self­administered questionnaire in the years 2011 and 2015. They were asked about sociodemographic factors and their knowledge and use of digital radiographic examinations. Descriptive analysis was performed, as well as the chi-square and Fisher exact tests, with a significance level of 5% (${\alpha}=0.05$). results: A total of 181 participants responded to the questionnaire in the years 2011 and 2015. Most of the respondents worked in private practice, had graduated within the last 5 years, and were between 20 and 30 years old. In 2011, 55.6% of respondents reported having ever used digital radiographic examinations, while in 2015 this number increased significantly to 85.4% (p<.0001), out of which 71.4% preferred it to conventional images. Moreover, 21.4% of respondents reported having used digital radiographic examinations for more than 3 years. A significant increase in use of intraoral digital radiography (p = 0.0316) was observed in 2015. In both years, image quality and high cost were indicated, respectively, as the main advantage and disadvantage of digital radiographic examinations. conclusion: This study showed that digital radiology has become more common in Brazil over the past 5 years. Most of the Brazilian dental practitioners evaluated in 2015 used digital radiographic examinations.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.339-345
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• 2012

Information on the deformation behavior and fracture strength of rocks subjected to dynamic loadings is important to stability analyses of underground openings underground vibration due to rock blasts, earthquakes and rock bursts. In this study, Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) system was applied to estimate dynamic compressive and tensile fracture strengths of limestone and also examine deformation behavior of limestones under dynamic loadings. A micro-focus X-ray CT scanner was used to observe non-destructively inside the impacted limestone specimens. From the dynamic tests, it was revealed that the limestone have over 140MPa dynamic compressive strength and the strain-rate dependency of the strength. Dynamic Brazilian tensile strength of the limestone exceeds 21MPa and shows over 3 times static Brazilian tensile strength.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.307-330
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• 2012

This work intends to contribute for the improvement of the procedure suggested by Brazilian Technical Code that takes into account the cracked concrete stiffness in the estimative of the displacement of reinforced concrete beams submitted to service loads. A damage constitutive model accounting for induced anisotropy, plastic deformations and bimodular elastic response is used in order to simulate the concrete behaviour, while an elastoplastic behaviour is admitted for the reinforcement. The constitutive models were implemented in a program for bars structures analysis with layered finite elements. Initially, the damage model is briefly presented as well as the parametric identification of the materials that have been used in the reinforced concrete beams. After that, beams with different geometries and reinforcement area are analyzed and a statistical method (ANOVA) is employed in order to identify the main variables in the problem. Soon after, the same procedure is used with another resistance of concrete, where the compression strength is changed. The numerical responses are compared with the ones obtained by Brazilian Technical Code and experimental tests in order to validate the use of the damage model. Finally, some remarks are discussed based on responses presented in this work.