Tensile Behavior of Sandstone Under Different Testing Conditions Available to Purchase

Tensile failure characteristics for rock material is significant to be identified as most rock failure under tension mode of failure especially in tunnel and slope excavation influence the stability analysis of these rock mass structures. The tensile behavior and its mode of failures for rock material has important correlation with stress distribution, material strength and pattern of crack propagation, whereby these attributes are importantly to be understand the rock material testing result interpretation. In this study, Brazilian indirect tensile tests were performed on sandstone specimen under two different loading platens, i.e. curve and flat. Each curve and flat loading platen were using solid and ring circular disc specimen respectively. Whereas during the indirect tensile test with flat loading platen, six variants of circular disc specimen diameter ratio were adopted. From this study, it was found that the indirect tensile strength of ring specimen is higher compared with solid specimen, in which, for the ring specimen, as the diameter ratio increased, the tensile strength decreased. The used of different loading platen also shows that the tensile strength of sandstone tested under flat loading platen was higher compared to curved loading platen. Comparison for tensile strength and modulus of elasticity in tension then were made based on the indirect and direct tensile test respectively. Significantly, these two parameters for indirect testing method on solid disc specimen indicated higher values compared to the results from direct tensile test method.