A new approach to rock brittleness and its usability at prediction of drillability

• A new relation between the drillability and brittleness of rocks is proposed.
• A new equation is proposed for brittleness relation which is arithmetic mean of UCS and TS.
• A new equation is found to be highly correlated with equations given in previous studies and used in excavation projects.

Rock brittleness is one of the most important issues in rock drilling and cutting. The relations between drillability and brittleness will assist engineers in excavation works. The demand for representative rock parameters related to planning of underground excavations is increasing, as these parameters constitute fundamental input for obtaining the most reliable cost and time estimates. In rock cutting mechanics, the effects of the rock and brittleness on the efficiency of drilling and excavation are examined by many researchers. In this study, 41 different rock types were tested in laboratory to investigate the relations between the drilling rate index and different brittleness values. Firstly, the relations defined in literature are tested. Strength tests are made according to International Society for Rock Mechanics standards. In addition Norwegian University of Science and Technology standards are used to determine drilling rate index. Then, a new brittleness index is proposed which is the arithmetic average of uniaxial compressive strength and tensile strength. Considering the regression analysis carried out, it was seen that the proposed formula showed good correlation for these samples handled in this study. As a result of this study, a high correlation is obtained between the proposed index and drilling rate index values (R:0.84). The results are found to be at least reliable as well as other brittleness equations given in literature.