Application of geological strength index for characterization of weathering-induced failures

Abstract

Application of geological strength index for characterization of weatheringinduced failures This study investigates weathering induced failures of the heterogeneous fissile rock mass consisting of sandstone and shale. Discontinuity data was collected and the geological strength index (GSI) value was determined immediately after excavation based on the quantified GSI chart. Slake durability tests were performed up to the fifth cycle. Samples were exposed to natural climatic conditions during a twelvemonth period, in order to quantify slaking process by means of disintegration ratio. As a consequence of exposure, samples disintegrated into smaller fragments. On these bases, the model aimed at addressing delayed failure of cuts is proposed in the paper.

Impact of slaking shale behaviour on damage of engineering structures, Saudi Arabia

“…Five cycles were performed to ensure complete disintegration of the shale samples, which was useful in evaluating and classifying the durability of the shale. Previous research studies (Berisavljević et al, 2018;Gamble, 1971;Gautam, 2012;Zhu and Deng, 2019) suggest that more than two standardised cycles of wetting and drying, usually between three and ten cycles, can be performed for rocks of higher durability. The test procedure is described as follows.…”