Abstract
The mechanical properties of frozen rocks vary significantly from the properties of the same lithology under ambient temperature. The goal of this paper is to investigate these changes in the physical and mechanical properties of rocks due to saturation and freezing. Besides, the attention was paid on discovering new correlations between the mechanical characteristics. To fulfill these objectives, 36 uniaxial compressive strength tests, 36 Brazilian splitting tests, and 48 point load tests were carried out. The samples were tested in air dry, water saturated, and frozen (− 20 °C) conditions. The measured physical and mechanical parameters were analyzed by using regression analyses. It was found that the average uniaxial compressive strength of frozen samples (21.93 MPa) is 86.4% more than saturated ones (11.76 MPa) but 25.9% less than dry specimens (29.62 MPa). Additionally, high correlations were established between uniaxial compressive strength and IS(50) under air-dry, saturated, and frozen conditions for the investigated marl samples. Furthermore, it is of particular interest to observe a high correlation with the determination coefficient (R2 = 0.95) between the constants of previously published linear regressions of UCS- Is(50) under dry status.
Highlights
The use of ground freezing to provide excavation support and groundwater control in weak rock mass conditions has been extensively addressed in different parts of the world
A typical stress–strain curve of studied marl specimens is very different under dry, water saturated, and frozen conditions (Fig. 4)
An average uniaxial compressive strength of frozen samples is 21.93 MPa, which is 86% more than saturated ones (11.76 MPa)
Summary
The use of ground freezing to provide excavation support and groundwater control in weak rock mass conditions has been extensively addressed in different parts of the world. Several research addresses the impact of water on the strength of soft rocks (Mellor 1971, 1973; Vásárhelyi 2005; Vásárhelyi and Ván 2006; Miščević and Vlastelica 2011; Wong et al 2016; Vásárhelyi and Davarpanah 2018; Vlastelica et al 2018; Li et al 2020; Bar and Barton 2021). Roworth (2005) carried out a series of UCS tests on three different kinds of rocks (hematized sandstone, bleached sandstone, and metapelite basement). Based on his observations, there was a significant gain in strength due to freezing
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