Abstract
Nondestructive testing techniques have attracted growing interest in the last few years due to their ability to assess material properties without damaging the specimens. The free-free resonance method is a nondestructive testing technique based on the analysis of the natural frequencies of a sample. This study presents and discusses the applicability of this technique, traditionally used on soils, for the mechanical characterization of rocks. With this aim, the free-free resonance method is used to obtain the dynamic elastic modulus and shear modulus of four carbonate rocks that have been widely used as construction materials in southern Spain. The results from the nondestructive evaluation of dry and saturated rocks, in combination with petrographic characterization and uniaxial compression tests, make it possible to assess the existing relationships between the mechanical properties of carbonate rocks and to evaluate the impact of porosity and moisture content on their mechanical behavior.
Highlights
Nondestructive testing techniques have attracted growing interest in the last few years due to their ability to assess material properties without damaging the specimens
This paper presents the application of another nondestructive testing (NDT) technique, the so-called free-free resonance (FFR) method or free-free resonance frequency method, to calculate the mechanical properties of rocks that are commonly used as construction materials
It is possible that these variations were caused by the anisotropy of the materials; in this regard, previous studies indicate a total anisotropy for P waves ( ) of 13.0 % for White Macael marble (WM) [26], 9.2 % for Santa Pudia limestone (SPL), 1.5 % for Albox travertine (AT) [28] and 10.2 % for Ronda sandstone (RS) [27]
Summary
Nondestructive testing techniques have attracted growing interest in the last few years due to their ability to assess material properties without damaging the specimens. This study presents and discusses the applicability of this technique, traditionally used on soils, for the mechanical characterization of rocks With this aim, the free-free resonance method is used to obtain the dynamic elastic modulus and shear modulus of four carbonate rocks that have been widely used as construction materials in southern Spain. With the aim of avoiding the destruction and deterioration of the tested material, since the 20th century, and especially over the last few decades, several nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques have been developed [1, 3, 4] These methods make it possible to calculate the material properties without permanently modifying its characteristics [5, 6]. In addition to the standard mechanical characteristics, other material properties can be determined via NDT, such as optical surface microroughness and air permeability [12]
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