Journal of Theoretical
and Applied Mechanics
57, 1, pp. 127-140, Warsaw 2019
DOI: 10.15632/jtam-pl.57.1.127

Influences of the diameter and position of the inner hole on the strength and failure of disc specimens of sandstone determined using the Brazilian split test

Tantan Zhu, Da Huang
The Brazilian split test on a centrally holed disc (referred to as a ring-disc specimen) is an
important indirect method for determining the tensile strength of rock. This paper studies
the effect of the diameter d of the center hole and its position, defined by the eccentricity b
and the inclination angle of the eccentric hole, on the peak load, failure pattern and horizon-
tal stress of the disc specimen via laboratory experiments and numerical modeling using the
finite element method (FEM). Static Brazilian split tests are conducted on an intact disc
and three types of holed discs: C-specimens containing a central hole with different diame-
ters, EH-specimens with a horizontally eccentric hole and ER-specimens with a rotationally
eccentric hole.
Keywords: Brazilian test, rock, eccentric hole, strength, failure pattern

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