Peng S., Zhang J., Engineering Geology for Underground Rocks
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5.2 Mechanical characteristics of clastic rocks 105
than 0.03 mm (
I
scale < 5) are counted, which are called contents of detri-
tus. Table 5.1 lists the mechanical properties of sedimentary rocks with
different contents of detritus. It shows that the mechanical properties of
clastic rocks vary in a wide range. However, the general trend is that aver-
age uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus increase as the con-
tents of detritus increase.
Table 5.1. The mechanical properties of sedimentary rocks with different detritus
contents
Detritus content (%) Compressive strength (MPa) Elastic modulus (GPa)
< 25
45.51
47.565.35
5.25
2724
25~50
25.49
01.7781.28
5.24
3118
50~75
64.92
93.11059.54
82.35
5458.9
> 75
67.107
1765.30
1.41
44.8697.12
Note,
A
ve
MaxMin
Figures 5.1-5.4 show the uniaxial compressive strength and elastic
modulus of rocks versus the contents of detritus and quartz (Peng and
Meng 2002, Meng et al. 2006). It can be seen that the contents of detritus
and quartz have profound effects on the strength and elastic modulus. In
each figure, the maximal uniaxial compressive strength or elastic modulus
in various contents of detritus or quartz is connected to form an envelope
of the maximum strength or modulus. It can be found from Figs. 5.1-5.4
that there are two obvious turning points in each envelope showing two
jumps in the compressive strength or elastic modulus of clastic rocks.
The first jump takes place at the content of detritus of 50%, or the con-
tent of quartz of 40%. In this interval (area I in Figs. 5.1-5.4) the uniaxial
compressive strength and elastic modulus of clastic rocks are small. As the
contents increase, the enveloping lines slowly climb up; i.e. the uniaxial
compressive strength increases from 54 MPa to 70 MPa in Fig. 5.1, and the
elastic modulus from 24 GPa to 35 GPa in Fig. 5.3. The dispersion in the
uniaxial compressive strength or elastic modulus in this interval is small.
The cause is that clastic rocks in this interval are mainly fine-grained silt-
stones, sandy mudstones, and mudstones with smaller grain sizes (grain
scale I > 5). Because the content of detritus is small and the mutual con-
nection of the grains of detritus is quite weak, the change in the content of
detritus is not large enough to cause the apparent changes of the mechani-
106 5 Sedimentary rock masses and discontinuities
cal properties. The mechanical strength in this case is mainly dependent on
the cementation of clay minerals. The rocks behave elastoplastic, plastic,
or visco-elastoplastic deformations.
0
50
100
150
200
0 20406080100
Detritus content (%)
Compressive strength (MPa
)
IIIIII
Fig. 5.1. Experimental results of the content of detritus and the uniaxial compres-
sive strength.
Fig. 5.2. Experimental results of the content of quartz and the uniaxial com-
pressive strength.
5.2 Mechanical characteristics of clastic rocks 107
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20406080100
Detritus content (%)
Elastic modulus (GPa
)
I II III
Fig. 5.3. Experimental results of the content of detritus and the elastic
modulus.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
Quartz content (%)
Elastic modulus (GPa
)
III III
Fig. 5.4. Experimental results of the content of quartz and the elastic
modulus.
108 5 Sedimentary rock masses and discontinuities
In area II in Figs. 5.1-5.4, each envelope has a steep slope, showing that
the uniaxial compressive strength or the elastic modulus increases signifi-
cantly as the content of the detritus or quartz increases. For example, the
uniaxial compressive strength increases from 70 MPa to 176 MPa in Fig.
5.1, and the elastic modulus from 35 GPa to 86 GPa in Fig. 5.3. The dis-
persion of the uniaxial compressive strength or elastic modulus also in-
creases. These are primarily caused by the fact that the large size detritus
are the main constitutional parts in clastic rocks. These rocks are sand-
stones and siltstones of various grades. In this case the contact between
grains gradually becomes rigid contact such as the point contact, line con-
tact, and convex and concave contact. The internal cementation of clastic
rocks transitions from the basal cementation to the porous cementation, os-
culant cementation, and inserted cementation. Furthermore, the dispersion
of the uniaxial compressive strength obviously increases, because of the
influence of the grain size, cementation, and support type of the grains.
The second jump happens at about 80% of detritus content or 75% of
quartz content, as shown in area III in Figs. 5.1-5.4. The slope of each en-
velope in the compressive strength or elastic modulus of clastic rocks in-
creases slightly as the contents of detritus or quartz increases. The rocks
have very high compressive strength and elastic modulus. This is because
of the fact that these rocks are mainly quartzy sandstones, feldspathic-
quartzy sandstones, and debris-quartzy sandstones, when the content of de-
tritus is greater than 80% or the content of quartz more than 75%. For clas-
tic sedimentary rocks, particularly sandstones, the main composition of
clastic grains is quartz, which accounts for up to 80-90% of the contents of
the clast. Quartz is a rigid mineral with a high strength, hence the clastic
rock with high content of quartz has high compressive strength and elastic
modulus.
5.2.3 Clastic rock grain size versus rock mechanical properties
The experimental results show that the mechanical properties of clastic
rocks are highly related to their textures. The texture parameters that con-
siderably affect the mechanical properties are the grain size, cementation
between grains, and cementation type in the clast. Table 5.2 lists the ex-
perimental results of rock mechanical properties for various clastic rocks
with different grain sizes. It can be seen that the dispersion is large be-
tween the mechanical properties and grain sizes, which illustrates that the
grain size is not the only factor to control the mechanical properties.
5.2 Mechanical characteristics of clastic rocks 109
Table 5.2. The influence of the grain sizes on rock mechanical properties
Lithology
Grain
size (
I
)
Compression
strength (MPa)
Elastic modulus
(GPa)
Coarse- grained sandstone 0-1.0
8.116
05.13655.97
32
3232
Medium- grained sandstone 1.0-2.0
7.124
26.16059.54
68.45
551.35
Fine- grained sandstone 2.0-3.3
99.116
14.17644.59
68.40
89.7969.18
Siltstone 3.3-6.67
36.84
56.13002.60
87.23
47.5258.9
Mudstone > 6.67
1.45
47.5681.28
5.25
2724
Note,
A
ve
MaxMin
Figures 5.5 and 5.6 plot the uniaxial compressive strength and elastic
modulus versus the
)
scale (i.e. the average grain-size
I
scale obtained
from Eq. 5.1). It can be seen from Figs. 5.5 and 5.6 that the envelope lines
for the maximal uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus are
closely related to the grain sizes of the rocks (Peng and Meng 2002, Meng
et al. 2006).
It can be seen that the envelopes of the mechanical properties versus the
grain size of clasts are non-monotonic, which can be explained as follows.
The grain sizes in clastic rocks are determined by the internal components
and structures of clasts. As the
)
scale increases, the internal components
of clastic rocks change gradually from the detritus, polycrystalline quartz,
feldspar, single-crystal quartz into clay and mica. In general, the strength
and rigidity of single-crystal quartz are greater than those of polycrystal-
line quartz.
110 5 Sedimentary rock masses and discontinuities
0
50
100
150
200
0246810
Grain diameter ( )
Compressive strength (MPa
)
)
Fig. 5.5. Experimental results of the scale of grain diameter and the compres-
sive strength.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0246810
Grain diameter ( )
Elastic modulus (GPa
)
)
Fig. 5.6. Experimental results of the scale of grain diameter and the elastic
modulus.
From the sedimentological theory, the distribution of the grain sizes has
a certain regularity. The detritus and polycrystalline quartz mostly exist in
the conglomerate and coarse-grained sandstone, and the single-crystal
quartz mainly exists in the fine-grained sandstone. Therefore, the mechani-
5.2 Mechanical characteristics of clastic rocks 111
cal properties for the largest grain size are not the highest. However, the
mechanical properties in the fine-grained sandstone (
)
= 2.5) are the high-
est, as shown in the peak values in Figs. 5.5 and 5.6. As the
)
scale in-
creases, namely, as the grains in clasts become fine, the contents of clay
and mica minerals increase, and the structures of clastic rocks change.
Therefore, the mechanical properties of the rocks decrease. However, the
mechanical properties of clastic rocks are also influenced by other factors,
such as the cementation and its type, because the clasts were bonded by
cementation to form the consolidated rocks.
5.2.4 Clastic rock lithology versus rock mechanical properties
Under the uniaxial compression test
The uniaxial compression results (Table 5.3) show that the mechanical
properties in different clastic rocks (sandstone, siltstone, sandy mudstone
and mudstone) are quite different (Peng and Meng 2002, Meng et al.2006).
The average values of the compressive and tensile strength are the largest
in sandstone, being 111.5 MPa and 6.66 MPa, respectively; and the values
in mudstone are the least, being 42.75 MPa and 1.91 MPa, respectively (re-
fer to Fig. 4.7). These indicate that the strength and other mechanical prop-
erties of the rocks strongly depend upon lithology (Peng and Meng 1999).
Table 5.3. Lab test results of the mechanical properties in clastic rocks in China
Properties Sandstone Siltstone Sandy mud-
stone
Mudstone
Density
(g/cm
3
)
2.47-3.47
2.76
2.43-2.63
2.56
2.64-2.98
2.72
2.05-2.97
2.68
Compressive
strength (MPa)
50.60-281.3
111.50
67.2828-130.1
94.54
13.50-112.1
53.46
9.81-81.5
42.75
Tensile
strength
(MPa)
1.77-10.67
6.66
1.20-9.2
5.20
0.70-8.70
4.39
0.30-7.29
1.91
Cohesion
(MPa)
1.91-13.07
6.30
1.25-2.40
2.33
4.00-11.9
6.22
0.14-8.4
3.95
Internal friction
angle (q)
33.41-39.15
36.49
39.00-40.03
39.52
31.90-38.4
34.14
31.8-41.52
36.72
Note,
A
ve
MaxMin
112 5 Sedimentary rock masses and discontinuities
Under the triaxial compression test
Triaxial compression tests demonstrate that the deformations and strength
of clastic rocks are closely related to confining pressures (Meng et al.
2000), as
shown in Figs. 5.7-5.9. The slopes of the stress-strain curves
obviously become steep, and the strength increases as confining pressures
increase for all different rocks. This implies that the confining stress is of
importance for rock engineering stability.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0. 0 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 1. 2 1. 4 1. 6
İ (%)
ı
1
- ı
3
(MPa)
mudstone
sandy mudstone
medium sandstone
Fig. 5.7. Complete stress-strain curves for different rock samples under the triaxial
tests with confining pressure of 5 MPa.
5.2 Mechanical characteristics of clastic rocks 113
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
İ (%)
ı1
- ı
3
(MPa)
mudstone
sandy mudstone
medium sandstone
Fig. 5.8. Complete stress-strain curves for different rock samples under the triaxial
tests with confining pressure of 10 MPa.
0
40
80
120
160
200
0. 0 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 1. 2 1. 4 1. 6
İ (%)
ı
1
-ı
3
(MPa)
mudstone
fine sandstone
medium sandstone
Fig. 5.9. Complete stress-strain curves for different rock samples under the triaxial
tests with confining pressure of 15 MPa.
114 5 Sedimentary rock masses and discontinuities
Triaxial compressive tests for sedimentary rock samples in Huinan coal
mines of Eastern China’s Permian coal measures show that the compres-
sive strength increases as the confining pressure increases (Peng et al.
2000). However, variations are controlled by lithology. Figure 5.10 plots
the rock compressive test results in the maximum principal stress (
V
1
) ver-
sus minimum principal stress (
V
3
) domain (Meng et al. 2006). The follow-
ing relationship between the principal stresses and uniaxial compressive
strength is obtained from the experimental results:
31
V
V
V
k
c
(5.3)
where
V
1
is the maximum principal stress (MPa);
V
3
is the confining pres-
sure (MPa);
V
c
is the uniaxial compressive strength (MPa); k is the parame-
ter dependent upon lithology (refer to Table 5.4).
Equation 5.3 is another form of expression of Mohr-Coulomb strength
criterion (refer to Chap. 4, Sec. 4.6). Based on Eq. 5.3 and the data in Ta-
ble 5.4, sedimentary rocks have the linear best-fit for Mohr-Coulomb fail-
ure criterion. For the soft formations, such as mudstone and coal, there is
perfect fit to linear Mohr-Coulomb strength criterion (Fig. 5.10). This is
important for choosing a correct strength criterion in modeling of rock en-
gineering in such rocks.
Table 5.4. The parameters in different lithologies in Eq. 5.3
Lithology
V
c
(MPa)
k
V
3
(MPa)
Medium-, fine-grained
sandstone
127.83 5.89
d40
Sandy mudstone 73.85 5.72
d40
Mudstone 40.15 2.66
d50
Coal 11.23 1.99
d30