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Designation: D 3967 – 95a
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS
100 Barr Harbor Dr., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM

Standard Test Method for

Splitting Tensile Strength of Intact Rock Core Specimens1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 3967; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope diametrally due to tensile pulling along the loading diameter.

1.1 This test method covers testing apparatus, specimen 4. Apparatus
preparation, and testing procedures for determining the split-
ting tensile strength of rock by diametral line compression of a 4.1 Loading Device, to apply and measure axial load on the
disk. specimen, of sufficient capacity to apply the load at a rate
conforming to the requirements in 7.3. It shall be verified at
NOTE 1—The tensile strength of rock determined by tests other than the suitable time intervals in accordance with Practices E 4 and
straight pull test is designated as the “indirect” tensile strength and,
shall comply with the requirements prescribed therein.
specifically, the value obtained in Section 8 of this test is termed the
“splitting” tensile strength. 4.2 Bearing Surfaces—The testing machine shall be
equipped with two steel bearing blocks having a Rockwell
1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the hardness of not less than 58 HRC (see Note 2).
standard.
1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the NOTE 2—False platens, with bearing faces conforming to the require-
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the ments of this standard, may be used. These shall be oil hardened to more
than 58 HRC, and surface ground. With abrasive rocks these platens tend
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro- to roughen after a number of specimens have been tested, and hence need
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica- to be surfaced from time to time.
bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.
4.2.1 Flat Bearing Blocks—During testing the specimen
2. Referenced Documents can be placed in direct contact with the machine bearing plates
2.1 ASTM Standards: (or false platens, if used) (see Fig. 1). The bearing faces shall
E 4 Practices for Load Verification of Testing Machines2 not depart from a plane by more than 0.0125 mm when the
E 691–92 Practice for Conducting an Interlaboratory Study platens are new and shall be maintained within a permissible
to Determine the Precision of a Test Method3 variation of 0.025 mm. The bearing block diameter shall be at
least as great as the specimen thickness.
3. Significance and Use 4.2.2 Curved Bearing Blocks, may be used to reduce the
3.1 By definition the tensile strength is obtained by the contact stresses. The radius of curvature of the supplementary
direct uniaxial tensile test. But the tensile test is difficult and bearing plates shall be so designed that their arc of contact with
expensive for routine application. The splitting tensile test the specimen will in no case exceed 15° or that the width of
appears to offer a desirable alternative, because it is much contact is less than D/6, where D is the diameter of the
simpler and inexpensive. Furthermore, engineers involved in specimen.
rock mechanics design usually deal with complicated stress NOTE 3—Since the equation used in 8.1 for splitting tensile strength is
fields, including various combinations of compressive and derived based on a line load, the applied load shall be confined to a very
tensile stress fields. Under such conditions, the tensile strength narrow strip if the splitting tensile strength test is to be valid. But a line
should be obtained with the presence of compressive stresses to load creates extremely high contact stresses which cause premature
cracking. A wider contact strip can reduce the problems significantly.
be representative of the field conditions. The splitting tensile Investigations show that an arc of contact smaller than 15° causes no more
strength test is one of the simplest tests in which such stress than 2 % of error in principal tensile stress while reducing the incidence
fields occur. Since it is widely used in practice, a uniform test of premature cracking greatly.
method is needed for data to be comparable. A uniform test is
4.2.3 Spherical Seating—One of the bearing surfaces
also needed to insure positively that the disk specimens break
should be spherically seated and the other a plain rigid block.
The diameter of the spherical seat shall be at least as large as
1
This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D-18 on Soil that of the test specimen, but shall not exceed twice the
and Rock and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D18.12 on Rock
Mechanics. diameter of the test specimen. The center of the sphere in the
Current edition approved Dec. 10, 1995. Published April 1996. Originally spherical seat shall coincide with the center of the loaded side
published as D 3967 – 81. Last previous edition D 3967 – 95.
2
of the specimen. The spherical seat shall be lubricated to assure
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 03.01.
3 free movement. The movable portion of the platen shall be held
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 14.02.

1
 D 3967
with a thickness-to-diameter ratio (t/D) between 0.2 and 0.75.
The diameter of the specimen shall be at least 10 times greater
than the largest mineral grain constituent. A diameter of 50 mm
(115⁄16 in.) (NX wireline core) will generally satisfy this
criterion.
NOTE 5—When cores smaller than the specified minimum must be
tested because of the unavailability of material, notation of the fact shall
be made in the test report.
NOTE 6—If the specimen shows apparent anisotropic features such as
bedding or schistosity, care shall be exercised in preparing the specimen
so that the orientation of the loading diameter relative to anisotropic
features can be determined precisely.
6.2 Number of specimens—At least ten specimens shall be
tested to obtain a meaningful average value. If the reproduc-
ibility of the test results is good (coefficient of variation less
than 5 %), a smaller number of specimens is acceptable.
6.3 The circumferential surface of the specimen shall be
smooth and straight to 0.50 mm (0.020 in.).
6.4 Cut the ends of the specimen parallel to each other and
at right angles to the longitudinal axis. The ends of the
specimen shall not deviate from perpendicular to the core axis
by more than 0.5°. This requirement can be generally met by
cutting the specimen with a precision diamond saw.
6.5 Determine the diameter of the specimen to the nearest
0.25 mm (0.01 in.) by taking the average of at least three
measurements, one of which shall be along the loading
diameter.
6.6 Determine the thickness of the specimen to the nearest
0.25 mm (0.01 in.) by taking the average of at least three
FIG. 1 One of the Proposed Testing Setup for Splitting Tensile
measurements, one of which shall be at the center of the disk.
Strength 6.7 The moisture conditions of the specimen at the time of
test can have a significant effect upon the indicated strength of
closely in the spherical seat, but the design shall be such that the rock. The field moisture condition for the specimen shall be
the bearing face can be rotated and tilted through small angles preserved until the time of test. On the other hand, there may
in any direction. be reasons for testing specimens at other moisture contents,
4.2.4 Rigid Seating—If a spherical seat is not used, the faces including zero, and preconditioning of specimen when mois-
of the bearing blocks shall be parallel to 0.0005 mm/mm of the ture control is needed. In any case, tailor the moisture content
block diameter. This criterion shall be met when the blocks are of the test specimen to the problem at hand and report it in
in the loading device and separated by approximately the accordance with 9.1.6.
diameter of the test specimen.
4.3 Bearing Strips (0.01 D thick cardboard cushion, where 7. Procedure
D is the specimen diameter; or up to 0.25 in. thick plywood 7.1 Marking—The desired vertical orientation of the speci-
cushion are recommended to place between the machine men shall be indicated by marking a diametral line on each end
bearing surfaces (or supplementary bearing plates; if used) and of the specimen. These lines shall be used in centering the
the specimen to reduce high stress concentration. specimen in the testing machine to ensure proper orientation,
NOTE 4—Experiences have indicated that test results using the curved and they are also used as the reference lines for thickness and
supplementary bearing plates and bearing strips, as specified in 4.2.2 and diameter measurements.
4.3, respectively, do not significantly differ from each other, but there may
NOTE 7—If the specimen is anisotropic, take care to ensure that the
be some consistent difference from the results of tests in which direct
marked lines in each specimen refer to the same orientation.
contact between the specimen and the machine platen is used.
7.2 Positioning—Position the test specimen to ensure that
5. Sampling the diametral plane of the two lines marked on the ends of the
5.1 The specimen shall be selected from the core to repre- specimen lines up with the center of thrust of the spherically
sent a true average of the type of rock under consideration. This seated bearing surface to within 1.25 mm (0.05 in.).
can be achieved by visual observations of mineral constituents,
NOTE 8—A good line loading can often be attained by rotating the
grain sizes and shape, partings, and defects such as pores and
specimen about its axis until there is no light visible between the specimen
fissures. and the loading platens. Back lighting helps in making this observation.
6. Test Specimens 7.3 Loading—Apply a continuously increasing compressive
6.1 Dimensions—The test specimen shall be a circular disk load to produce an approximately constant rate of loading or

2
 D 3967
deformation such that failure will occur within 1 to 10 min of be more precisely determined when possible and reported as
loading, which should fall between 0.05 and 0.35 MPa/s (500 either water content or degree of saturation.
and 3000 psi/min) of loading rate, depending on the rock type. 9.1.7 Splitting tensile strength of each specimen as calcu-
lated, average splitting tensile strength of all specimens,
NOTE 9—Results of tests by several investigators indicate that rates of
loading at this range are reasonably free from rapid loading effects. standard deviation or coefficient of variation.
9.1.8 Type and location of failure. A sketch of the fractured
8. Calculation specimen is recommended.
8.1 The splitting tensile strength of the specimen shall be
calculated as follows: 10. Precision and Bias
st 5 2P/pLD (1) 10.1 An interlaboratory study was conducted in which
seven laboratories each tested five specimens of four different
and the result shall be expressed to the appropriate number
rocks. The specimens were cored by a single laboratory from a
of significant figures (usually 3),
common set of samples and randomly distributed to the testing
where: laboratories for testing. The study was carried out in accor-
st 5 splitting tensile strength, MPa (psi), dance with Practice E 691. Details of the study are given in ISR
P 5 maximum applied load indicated by the testing ma- Research Report No. PS #D18.12-R01, 1992, and its Adden-
chine, N (or lbf), dum, 1994. The table below gives the repeatability limit
L 5 thickness of the specimen, mm (or in.), and (within a laboratory) and reproducibility limit (between labo-
D 5 diameter of the specimen, mm (or in.). ratories) for the method.
9. Report 10.1.1 The probability is approximately 95 % that two test
results obtained in the same laboratory on the same material
9.1 The report shall include as much of the following as
will not differ by more than the repeatability limit. Likewise,
possible:
the probability is approximately 95 % that two test results
9.1.1 Sources of the specimen including project name and
obtained in different laboratories on the same material will not
location, and if known, storage environment. The location is
differ by more than reproducibility limit.
frequently specified in terms of the borehole number and depth
of specimen from collar of hole. TABLE Splitting Tensile Strength (MPa)
9.1.2 Physical description of the specimen including rock
Berea Salem Tennessee Barre
type; location and orientation of apparent weakness planes, Sandstone Limestone Marble Granite
bedding planes, and schistosity; large inclusions or inhomoge- Average Value 3.85 4.92 9.39 13.66
neities, if any. Repeatability Limit 1.24 1.56 3.63 4.31
Reproducibility Limit 1.37 1.74 5.38 4.98
9.1.3 Dates of sampling and testing.
9.1.4 Specimen diameter and length, conformance with 10.2 The variability of rock and resultant inability to deter-
dimensional requirements, direction of loading if anisotropy mine a true reference value prevent development of a mean-
exists. Type of contact between the specimen and the loading ingful statement of bias.
platens.
9.1.5 Rate of loading or deformation rate. 11. Keywords
9.1.6 General indication of moisture condition of the speci- 11.1 compression testing; indirect tensile strength; loading
men at time of test such as as-received, saturated, laboratory air tests; rock; splitting tensile strength; tension (tensile)
dry, or oven dry. It is recommended that the moisture condition properties/tests

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