Slake durability study of shaly rock and its predictions

Abstract

More than 35% of the earth’s crust is comprised of clay-bearing rocks, characterized by a wide variation in engineering properties and their resistance to short term weathering by wetting and drying phenomenon. The resistance to short-term weathering can be determined by slake durability index test. There are various methods to determine the slake durability indices of weak rock. The effect of acidity of water (slaking fluid) on slake durability index of shale in the laboratory is investigated. These methods are cumbersome and time consuming but they can provide valuable information on lithology, durability and weather ability of rock. Fuzzy set theory, Fuzzy logic and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) techniques seem very well suited for typical complex geotechnical problems. In conjunction with statistics and conventional mathematical methods, a hybrid method can be developed that may prove a step forward in modeling geotechnical problems. During this investigation a model was developed and compared with two other models i.e., Neuro-fuzzy systems (combination of fuzzy and artificial neural network systems) and artificial neural network system, for the prediction of slake durability index of shaly rock to evaluate the performance of its prediction capability.