Effect of elevated temperature and cooling process on the tensile strength of rock

Rock is a widely existing structural material. In severe situations such as fire disasters, the mechanical properties of rocks would be greatly affected, which threaten the stability of the whole structure. On the other hand the subsequent cooling process after heating also contributes to the risks of The tensile strength of rocks is much lower than the compressive strength thus the limiting property of rock is the tensile strength. This project aims to determine effect of elevated temperature and cooling process on the tensile strength of rock. Specimens are made by cutting original core samples of granite into proper cylinders and all the specimens were polished to remove any chips on surface. Specimens are divided into groups and each group corresponds to a combination of different maximum target heating temperature and cooling method. Finally the tensile strength of each specimen was determined using Brazilian tensile test. The experimental results had shown that the tensile strength of specimens would decrease when temperature increases. But the strength would vary for different cooling methods under a specific temperature. Inspection of the tested specimens and the high speed camera footage validated most of the tests by showing that most cracks initiated from the middle of the specimens instead of the rim.Bachelor of Engineering (Civil