Correlation between Uniaxial Compressive Strength and Point Load Strength of Penang Island Granites

Abstract

Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) is one of the most widely used strength parameters in geotechnical design. The value is obtained through direct testing method, carried out through careful procedures of testing in a laboratory setting. As such, it is relatively more expensive, more tedious and requires longer time to complete. Considering that UCS is highly important, Engineers often utilize indirect methods, namely the Point Load Test, to obtain the Point Load Index Strength (Is(50)). From this test, the results are correlated in order to predict the UCS value. One of the general correlations is provided by ISRM where UCS=20-25 Is(50). However, it is highly contested as it is not universal for all types of rocks. The main focus of this research is to find the correlation of UCS and Is(50) in the Penang Island area. This research would also attempt to classify the granites according to strength. This study showed that the Penang Island Granites are “weak to very strong” granites with UCS values between 24.76 to 156.82MPa. The granites from the North Pluton are classified as “medium strong to very strong” with UCS values between 37.11 to 156.82MPa. The granites from the South Pluton are classified as “weak to very strong” with UCS values between 24.76 to 141.59 MPa. The recommended correlation between UCS and Is(50) are (1) Overall: 8.385 Is(50) + 30.016 (2) North Pluton: 7.93 Is(50)+ 35.606 (3) South Pluton: 9.03Is(50)+20.138.

Supervised Statistical Optimization of Interfaced Geophysical–Geotechnical Datasets for Holistic Surface–Subsurface Modeling

“…The Sungai Ara granite, representing 20% of the area, is predominantly microcline granite with fine-grained biotite granite characteristics. On the other hand, medium-to coarse-grained biotite granite constitutes approximately 80% of the microcline granite found in the Batu Maung granite (Mohamad et al, 2022).…”

“…The Batu Ferringhi group, dating back to the Early Jurassic, consists of medium-to coarsegrained biotite granite. The South Penang Pluton (SPP) comprises the Sungai Ara and Batu Maung granites (Ong, 1993;Mohamad et al, 2022). The Sungai Ara granite, representing 20% of the area, is predominantly microcline granite with fine-grained biotite granite characteristics.…”

“…Moreover, the techniques mentioned above hold significant promise for the detailed characterization of the intricate soil-rock profiles and structures beneath Penang Island, Peninsular Malaysia, which is the study area. This is crucial due to the region's annual torrential downpours, highly diverse residual soil profiles, and varied topographic relief (Bery and Saad, 2012a;Akingboye and Bery, 2021;Mohamad et al, 2022). Additionally, with the yearly growth in tourism and population in the area, there is a pressing need for thorough investigations to support sustainable infrastructure design and groundwater development.…”