Size effects on crystalline rocks under uniaxial compression and Brazilian tests

The tensile strength of crystalline rocks in Brazilian tests (BT) shows a more significant size dependency than the uniaxial compression strength in uniaxial compression tests (UCT), while the micro-mechanism is still unclear. This study seeks to elucidate the micro-mechanism by comparing different microcracking processes under UCT and BT. We adopt a grain-based model in the discrete element method (DEM) to reproduce the interlocked microstructure of crystalline rocks and perform UCT and BT with different sizes ranging from 0.5 to 3 times the standard sample size. It was found that peak stresses in UCT are nearly insensitive to sizes, which is consistent with experimental results measured at very low loading rates. Due to the homogenous stress distribution, no clear cracking paths are observed; instead, randomly distributed microcracks appear at failure. In contrast, numerical results indicate that the tensile strength measured in BT decreases as size increases and continuous cracking paths are observed at failure. Larger specimens have a higher possibility to include weaker cracking paths, hence tensile strength shows stronger size dependency. The findings of this work offer microscopic explanations for different size effects observed in UCT and BT, which can bridge the gap between laboratory-scale strength data and field-scale applications. © 2023 57th US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium. All Rights Reserved.