Modeling Brazilian Tensile Strength Tests on a Brittle Rock Using Deterministic, Semi-Deterministic, and Voronoi Bonded Block Models

Details

• Personal Author:
  Contreras Inga CE ; Holley E ; Sinha S ; Walton G
• Description:
  This study aims to numerically investigate how various common simplifications of grain structure representation in bonded block models affect simulations of rock mechanical behavior. Specimens of Wausau granite were characterized mechanically through Brazilian tensile strength tests for this work. The samples were also characterized petrographically using thin section microscopy, scanning electron microscopy-based automated mineralogy, and visual inspection. Four types of representations of the Wausau granite samples were developed, including 6 detailed manually developed deterministic models, 6 semi-deterministic models, and 120 randomly generated representations (Voronoi models). First, a calibrated set of micro-properties was determined using the deterministic representations to simulate the Brazilian tensile strength measurements. Next, the study examined the ability of different Voronoi tessellations to adequately represent the grain structure for the purposes of accurate tensile strength simulation. This was evaluated by comparing Voronoi model results to the deterministic grain structure model results and laboratory test results. The findings of the study show that the four types of models used in this study can all provide realistic representations of the mechanical behavior of rock. The study confirms that standard Voronoi approximations of grain structures can be reasonably used in lieu of less practical, manually developed representations of the grain structure. Specifically, Voronoi models can properly replicate the geometric heterogeneity within the grain structure, even though they simplify some of its geometric attributes. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Grain Structure Representation Bonded Block Models Geologic Models Geotechnical Engineering Heterogeneity Micro-properties Mining Engineering Rock Mechanics Tensile Strength Voronoi Tessellations
• ISSN:
  0723-2632
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; Colorado ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  56
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067660
• Citation:
  Rock Mech Rock Eng 2023 Jul; 56(7):5293-5313
• Contact Point Address:
  Carlos E. Contreras Inga, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 1516 Illinois St., Golden, CO, USA
• Email:
  ccontreras@mines.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado School of Mines, Golden
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20160915
• Source Full Name:
  Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
• End Date:
  20210914
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aaac6eebe466fa6b3b02994e4d3ae6213f3c3153f297c4c91c04d659f87fc26fbe602bb6749dfcad0cc2ad1b05ee703416bd410003bebd02d79b6196fd7c2353
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229929/cdc_229929_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.13 MB ]