• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.03a
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• pp.159-166
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• 1999

One of the most general methods that can evaluate the rippability is the seismic exploration. However, most field engineers have hardly used the seismic exploration. Instead of using the seismic exploration, they have usually used rock hammer and naked eyes to confirm the degree of rippability for soil, ripping rock and blasting rock. Therefore, to excavate the ground rationally, it is required to establish a quantitative criterion that can be used for distinguishing rippability. In this study, we find out the characteristics of rock strength through laboratory and field tests. The weathering condition of rock exposed to air due to excavation of soil layer and the variation of rock strength caused by weathering were investigated. A relationship between rock strength values that are obtained from uniaxial compression test, slaking durability test, point load test, schmidt hammer test and absorption ratio test is analyzed. The relationship is expressed in a form of equation by which we can evaluate the rock strengths obtained from simple laboratory and field tests. To evaluate rippability in a reasonable manner, a quantitative approach is proposed and a check list of rippability is developed based on the proposed methodology. It is recommended to modify the proposed method for evaluation of rippability in the field.