Predicting the UCS of pyroclastic rocks from the slake durability index

Abstract

The prediction of the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) from indirect methods is widely used for the preliminary investigations. In this study, the possibility of predicting the UCS from the slake durability index (SDI) was investigated for pyroclastic rocks. For this purpose, pyroclastic rocks were collected from 32 different locations in Cappadocian Volcanic Province of Turkey. The UCS and the SDI tests were carried out on the samples in the laboratory. The dry and saturated UCS values were correlated with the SDI values and strong exponential relations were obtained. However, it was seen that there is a little change in the SDI values over the dry UCS values of 25 MPa and the saturated UCS values of 15 MPa. Concluding remark is that the developed equations are valid for the pyroclastic rocks having dry UCS values of lower than 25 MPa or having saturated UCS values of lower than 15 MPa. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London.