Page 43 - CBT 2018
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Strength of Rock from Scratch Tests
The Rock Strength Device (RSD) is
a portable apparatus for measuring
the strength of rock from cutting or scratching. The approach consists of measuring the force required to scratch rock at a constant depth of cut and determining from this measurement the intrinsic specific energy, defined as the energy expended per unit volume of fragmented rock. The specific energy is well correlated to the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), according to experimental results for nearly 400 rocks. Measurement of
rock strength parameters with the RSD has many advantages: low cost and portability of the apparatus, simple operation with quick measurement, semi-non-destructive testing of rock samples, and determination of strength variation (logging) along the sample at a centimeter scale. [76–79]
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