On the load capacity and fracture mechanism of hard rocks at indentation loading

The load capacity of selected hard rocks subjected to circular flat punch indentation is investigated. The compacted zone underneath the indenter is assumed to be limited and only responsible for the load transition to the rest of the material. Therefore, the theory of elasticity is used to define the stress state in a semi-infinite medium loaded by a flat punch indenter. The final load capacity is related to the formation of a sub-surface median crack that initiates due to tensile hoop (circumferential) stresses. Therefore the final failure should occur at a force level in which the hoop stress is greater than the tensile strength of the rock. Since the tensile stress is distributed over a volume of material, tensile crack failure can occur at different locations with tensile hoop stress depending on where the most critical flaw is located. Therefore, the initiation of the median crack that should be responsible for the final load capacity is treated as a probabilistic phenomenon. This process is described by Weibull theory which will be used as a failure criterion. It is assumed here that the opening of median crack triggers a final violent rupture, therefore the assumption in Weibull theory, that the final failure occurs as soon as a macroscopic fracture initiates from a microcrack is fulfilled. The effective volume is calculated for a semi-infinite medium loaded by a flat punch indenter. The material properties of Bohus granite obtained from three point bending tests are used as reference values in describing the Weibull size effect. The experimental results for the stamp load capacity of three selected hard rocks are taken from the literature. They are considered similar rocks to the reference material in this paper, which is Bohus granite. The model describes the observed load capacity with a very good accuracy for all three rocks. It is likely that the presently proposed methodology is applicable for other types of semi-brittle materials and indenter shapes.