Investigation of the usability of wide wheel abrasion test on rock core samples

Abstract

In this study, the usability of the wide wheel abrasion test -(W-A) on rock cores using a newly designed core holder apparatus is investigated. The -WA test which has been proposed to determine the abrasion resistance of rocks used as natural building stones is carried out on only prismatic samples. In the design of rock engineering structures such as tunnels, dams and investigations for various purposes, samples are supplied as cylindrical cores from exploration drillings. The applicability of this test on cylindrical samples is the scope of this study. Physical and mechanical properties of nine types of rock materials are determined on these core samples in accordance with the relevant standards and suggested methods. In the context of this study, core samples with average diameters of 26.76, 39.72, 47.80, 58.16 and 67.51 mm were prepared. After that, the wide wheel abrasion tests on core samples (I-A) were carried out. It is obvious that the abrasion values obtained on samples with different diameters will differ. To overcome this uncertainty applying core abrasion test on samples with 50 mm diameter is suggested and it is proposed as core abrasion index (IA-50). If needed, applicability of IA- 50 test on half-cut cores (IA-HC) was also investigated, and significant linear correlation was obtained. IA- 50 values were correlated with rock material parameters and significant relationships were proposed. It is believed that practical, economical, and non- destructive determination of IA- 50 values will be effective to make the approach more widespread, and it will be useful in various rock engineering applications as a new parameter.