Abstract
This paper investigates the fatigue life of weathered granite and weathered sandstone using a stress ratio of R = 0.17. A small stress ratio is adopted to control data discrepancy between weathered rocks for which stress amplitude is known to affect the fatigue life. The range of varying static strength between weathered rocks, especially for highly weathered rock (grade IV) which has lower static strength, resulted in adopting this small stress ratio. The details of rocks tested, including microscopic petrographic characterization as well as their physical properties obtained from laboratory work, is also explained in this paper. Weathered rock specimens from slightly weathered to highly weathered (grade II, grade III and grade IV) granite and sandstone were used during the investigation. The specimens were representative of rock collected in Sungai Buloh (granite) and Puncak Perdana (sandstone) in Selangor, Malaysia. In order to eliminate the influence of frequency and waveform, all rock specimens (54 in total) were tested under a cyclic compression load with a frequency of 1 Hz using a constant sinusoidal waveform. Result shows that grade IV specimens are the least affected by the small cyclic stress ratio as compared to grade II and grade III specimens. The number of cycles to failure is not dependent on rock weathering grade; it is greatly related to the petrological and microstructure of the individual rock. However, the weathering degree of a rock does contribute to the weakening of the rock's structure, consequently affecting the life of the rock.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bagde MN, Petros V (2005) Fatigue properties of intact sandstone samples subjected to dynamic uniaxial cyclical loading. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 42:237–250
Bagde MN, Petros V (2009) Fatigue and dynamic energy behaviour of rock subjected to cyclical loading. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 46:200–209
Brand EW, Phillipson HB (1984) Site investigation and geotechnical engineering practice in Hong Kong. Geotech Eng 15:97–153
Bieniawski ZT (1976) Rock mass classification in rock engineering. Proc Symp Exploration Rock Eng Johannesburg South Africa 1:97–106
Dearman WR, Baynes FJ, Irfan TY (1978) Engineering grading of weathered granite. J Eng Geol 12:345–374
Ergüler ZA, Ulusay R (2009) Water-induced variations in mechanical properties of clay-bearing rocks. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 46(2):355–370
Farmer I (1983) Engineering behaviour of rocks. Chapman and Hall, London
Geological Society Engineering Group Working Party (1995) The description and classification of weathered rock for engineering purposes. Q J Eng Geol 28(3):207–242
He M, Chen Y, Li N, Zhu C (2015) Strength and fatigue properties of sandstone under dynamic cyclic loading. Shock Vib 2016:1–8
International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) (1981) Rock Characterization, Testing and Monitoring, ISRM Suggested Methods, Brown, E. T. (Editor). Pergamon Press, Oxford
Ishizuka Y, Koyama H, Komura S (1993) Effect of strain rate on strength and frequency dependence of fatigue failure of rocks, in Assessment and Prevention of Failure Phenomena in Rock Engineering, Turkey, pp. 321–327
Islam MR, Stuart R, Risto A, Vesa P (2002) Mineralogical changes during intense chemical weathering of sedimentary rocks in Bangladesh. J Asian Earth Sci 20:889–901
Khanlari GH, Momeni AA (2014) Assessment of fatigue behavior of Alvand Monzogranite rocks. J Eng Geol 8:2003–2020
Lamond JF, Pielert JH (2006) Significance of tests and properties of concrete & concrete-making materials. USA: ASTM International
Lee JU, Rhee CG, Kim J, Kim YS (1992) A study on the fatigue behaviour of Cheon-ho Mt. limestone under cyclic loading. J Korean Nucl Soc 24(1):98–109
Martin CD, Stimpson B (1994) The effect of sample disturbance on laboratory properties of Lac du bonnet granite. Can Geotech 31:692–702
Mohamad ET, Latifi N, Arefnia A, Isa MF (2016) Effects of moisture content on the strength of tropically weathered granite from Malaysia. Bull Eng Geol Environ 75:369–390
Mohamed Z, Rafek AG, Komoo I (2007) Characterization and classification of the physical deterioration of tropically weathered Kenny Hill rock for civil works. Electron J Geotech Eng 12(A):16–30
Nurul AMS, Zainab M, Mohamad NB (2012) Behaviour of weathered granite under cyclic loading. IRJES 2(2):1–10
Pelleg J (2013) Cyclic stress – Fatigue, in mechanical properties of materials. vol. 190, ed: Springer Netherlands, 2013, pp 339–447
Santi PM (2006) Field methods for characterizing weak rock for engineering. Environ Eng Geosci XII:1–11
Wylie DC (1999) Foundation on rock, 2nd edn. Chapman & Hall, London
Yusof NQAM, Zabidi H (2016) Correlation of mineralogical and textural characteristics with engineering properties of granitic rock from Hulu Langat, Selangor. Procedia Chem 19:975–980
Zhang W, Bao Z, Jiang S, He J (2016) An artificial neural network-based algorithm for evaluation of fatigue crack propagation considering nonlinear damage accumulation. Materials 9(6):483
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia for providing scholarship and facilities to the authors to conduct the study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
bt Mohd Salim, N.A., Mohamed, Z. & Berhan, M.N. Stress ratio effect on fatigue life of tropically weathered rock. Bull Eng Geol Environ 77, 1505–1514 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-017-1181-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-017-1181-6