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Effects of Thermal Treatment on Tensile Strength of Laurentian Granite Using Brazilian Test

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Abstract

The effect of thermal treatment on several physical properties and the tensile strength of Laurentian granite (LG) are measured in this study. Brazilian disc LG specimens are treated at temperatures of up to 850 °C. The physical properties such as grain density, relative volume change per degree, and P-wave velocity are investigated under the effect of heat treatment. The results indicate that both the density and the P-wave velocity decrease with the increase in heating temperature. However, the relative volume change per degree is not sensitive below 450 °C, while a remarkable increase appears from 450 to 850 °C. All cases are explained by the increase in both number and width of the thermally induced microcracks with the heating temperature. Brazilian tests are carried out statically with an MTS hydraulic servo-control testing system and dynamically with a modified split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system to measure both static and dynamic tensile strength of LG. The relationship between the tensile strength and treatment temperatures shows that static tensile strength decreases with temperature while the dynamic tensile strength first increases and then decreases with a linear increase in the loading rate. However, the increase in dynamic tensile strength with treatment temperatures from 25 to 100 °C is due to slight dilation of the grain boundaries as the initial thermal action, which leads to compaction of rock. When the treatment temperature rises above 450 °C, the quartz phase transition results in increased size of microcracks due to the differential expansion between the quartz grains and other minerals, which is the main cause of the sharp reduction in tensile strength.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51304241) and the China Scholarship Council (CSC). The thermal treatment was conducted at Prof. Young’s Laboratory at the University of Toronto.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Tubing Yin, Xibing Li & Wenzhuo Cao

  2. Department of Civil Engineering and Lassonde Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A4, Canada

    Kaiwen Xia

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  1. Tubing Yin
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Correspondence to Tubing Yin.

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Yin, T., Li, X., Cao, W. et al. Effects of Thermal Treatment on Tensile Strength of Laurentian Granite Using Brazilian Test. Rock Mech Rock Eng 48, 2213–2223 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-015-0712-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-015-0712-3

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