Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (2020) 53:3745–3760

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02137-9

ORIGINAL PAPER

Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation

with Uniaxial Compressive Strength
Merve Şahin1 · Resat Ulusay1 · Hasan Karakul2

Received: 9 February 2019 / Accepted: 17 April 2020 / Published online: 30 April 2020
© Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract
The point load strength index is a widely used index in rock engineering, and cylindrical core and irregular shaped specimens
are used in its determination. But, in mine sites, the borehole cores are cut axially into two equal parts to obtain half-cut
cores and one part of these half cores is sent to laboratory for geochemical analyses. This situation causes a problem that the
remaining half of the cores from the specimens cannot be used not only in the strength and deformability tests, but also in
the point load test. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the applicability of the point load test on half-cut cores, to adopt
the previously suggested size correction formulations to the half-cut core specimens and to estimate the uniaxial compres-
sive strength from the point load strength index determined from the half-core specimens. To achieve these goals, point load
strength index and uniaxial compression tests were conducted on a number of half-cut and cylindrical core samples prepared
from 12 different rock types and the test results were assessed based on the statistical analyses. The analysis results indicated
that the point load strength index may also correctly be determined from the half-cut cores and uniaxial compressive strength
may be estimated from the size corrected point load strength index values of half-cut cores with a low error margin using
average size correction factor.

Keywords Point load strength index · Uniaxial compressive strength · Borehole core · Half-cut core · Size correction
factor · Regression analysis

1 Introduction standards and SMs, cannot be always prepared particularly

from weak, thinly stratified and highly fractured rocks. In
In rock engineering studies, the determination of the strength addition, although the testing procedure for the UCS is rela-
and deformability properties of the intact rock is essential. tively simple, the preparation of samples for the UCS test
One of these properties is the uniaxial compressive strength requires time, labour and expensive laboratory equipment.
(UCS) which is an important parameter in rock mass clas- Therefore, index test methods, which only need minimal
sification systems and various rock engineering design specimen preparation and indirectly determine the strength
methodologies. The UCS requires high quality core sam- of the intact rock, have been popular in rock engineering.
ples with certain “length/diameter (L/D)” ratios as recom- The main index test methods used to indirectly estimate
mended by the international standards and suggested meth- the UCS of intact rock include the point load test (PLT),
ods (SMs), such as recommended by American Society for Schmidt hammer test, block punch index test, Equotip hard-
Testing Materials (ASTM) and International Society for ness test and needle penetration test.
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (ISRM), respec- The PLT, which was first designed by Reichmuth (1963)
tively. But core samples with L/D ratios, suggested in the and developed by Broch and Franklin (1972) to determine
the point load strength index (Is) is one of the oldest and
* Resat Ulusay most commonly used index tests for the determination of the
[email protected] UCS indirectly. This test may be applied to rocks with UCS
ranging from very low to very high either in the field or in
1
Department of Geological Engineering, Hacettepe the laboratory due to its portable testing equipment and the
University, 06800 Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey
use of specimens easily prepared without cutting and grind-
2
Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, ing. Based on too many studies, the PLT has been reported
İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University, 35620 Çiğli, İzmir, Turkey

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3746 M. Şahin et al.

as an indirect measure of the compressive or tensile strength (1985, 2007) and ASTM (1995). The size and shape of the
of rock (e.g. Reichmuth 1963, 1968; D’Andrea et al. 1965; test specimens affect the point load strength index (Is), and
Broch and Franklin 1972; Bieniawski 1974, 1975; Tsidzi therefore, the standard methods suggest to correct the Is values
1991; Basu and Aydin 2006; Kohno and Maeda 2012; Wong to a standard size of 50 mm, which is called size corrected
et al. 2017). However, its use for determination of tensile point load strength index, Is(50). The standard procedure for
strength has been ignored because of the predominance of PLT (ISRM 1985, 2007) suggests specimen requirements and
compressive stress problems in rock mechanics (e.g. Cargill calculation of Is(50) for the axial, diametral, block and irregular
and Shakoor 1990) and its more reliable estimates of the lump point load tests (Fig. 1). The following equation is sug-
UCS than the tensile strength (e.g. Russel and Wood 2009). gested by ISRM for the calculation of Is for diametral, axial,
As a result of this, the studies on the prediction of UCS from block and irregular lump specimens:
Is has received more attention.
Is is determined on rock specimens in the form of either Is = P∕D2e (1)
cylindrical cores (the diametral or axial tests), or irregular
lumps and testing method has been standardised by ISRM

Fig. 1  Specimen shapes sug-

gested by ISRM (1985, 2007)
for the a diametral, b axial, c
block tests and d the irregular
lump (redrawn from ISRM
(1985, 2007))

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Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation with Uniaxial Compressive… 3747

where Is is the point load strength index in MPa, P is the fragments ranging in diameter up to about 250 mm. Based
failure load in kN and De is the equivalent diameter in mm. on the observations, these investigators suggested that the
When the core specimen is diametrically loaded (Fig. 1a), PLTs with excessive penetrations of the loading conical
De is defined as follow: platen in the order of 15% should be rejected as invalid tests.
These investigators also derived an equation for the size and
De = D (2) shape effect. The index for the size effect was found as 0.81
where D is the distance between two contact points of the indicating that this value is different than the exponential
conical platen of the point load device in mm. In the other power of 0.45 recommended by ISRM (1985, 2007), and,
words, under this condition, D is equal to the diameter of instead of 0.45, the users should establish their own size
the cylindrical core specimen. When the core specimen is effect correction for irregular lumps.
axially loaded or it is a block or irregular lump (Fig. 1b–d), By considering that there were very few reports about
De is defined as given below: the relationship between UCS and Is(50) for soft rocks, and
this issue is far from practical for such rocks, Kohno and
De = ((4WD)∕𝜋)0.5 (3) Maeda (2012) investigated the relationship between the UCS
and Is(50) of the hydrothermally altered volcanoclastic rocks,
where W = (W1 + W2)/2 and W1, W2 (Fig. 1) for irregular which have been collected from Japan. In their experiments,
lump test and W = D for axial test. conducted under dry and wet conditions, the authors used
The ratio D/W should be between 1/3 and 1, and the dis- both axial and irregular lump specimens. They determined
tance L should be at least 0.5 W. ISRM (1985, 2007) sug- two very similar relationships between the UCS and Is(50)
gests to correct the Is value for a standard size of 50 mm, with high coefficients of correlation under dry and wet con-
Is(50), using the following equation. ditions and concluded that it is useful to use the size correc-
)0.45 tion function suggested by ISRM (1985, 2017) for irregular
Is(50) = F × Is = P∕D2e × De ∕50 (4)
( ) (
lump specimens. These authors also mentioned that the UCS
where F is the size correction factor (= De/50)0.45). values for soft rocks using Is(50) can be estimated only when
The studies on the shape and size effect in PLT are rather their UCSs are less than 25 MPa. Heidari et al. (2012), who
limited when compared to those on the estimation of the performed an experimental study on gypsum rocks for pre-
UCS from Is(50).The use of irregular samples before the PLT dicting the UCS and tensile strength from Is(50) using axial,
on rock cores was first recommended by Protodyakonov diametral and irregular specimens prepared from 40 rock
(1960), who compressed irregular rock lumps between two blocks. The test results revealed that PLTs using all three
flat loading platens. But the contact between the lumps and methods yield significant and strong linear correlations
the platens may be more than one point when compared to between the UCS and Is(50), and these authors concluded that
that in the PLT. However, some older studies on PLT, such the PLT using irregular specimens is the most useful method
as by Guidicini et al. (1973), Bieniawski (1975), and Turk for predicting the UCS since it can be conducted in the field
and Dearman (1985), indicated that the PLT conducted on and is simple, fast and low cost. Yin et al. (2017) from
irregular shaped rock fragments has certain limitations and Hong Kong briefly reviewed that the diametral and axial
can be used only in lay-out or feasibility studies, the standard PLTs on Hong Kong rocks, which are composed of granites
deviation of Is values obtained from the PLT on irregular and volcanic rocks such as different types of tuff, tuff brec-
lumps is greater than that obtained from the PLT on core cia and rhyolite, have been carried out mainly on granites.
samples, and size effect of irregular samples may be dif- Among these studies, Chau and Wong (1995, 1996) carried
ferent from those for the PLT on rock cores, respectively. out axial PLTs on granite and tuff samples and proposed a
Therefore, the diametral and axial PLTs using core speci- theory in which the conversion factor between the UCS and
mens generally became more preferable than the PLT using Is(50) should be a function of the types and microstructures
irregular samples. However, due to the difficulties for pro- of the rocks, instead of the the general value of 24 suggested
viding samples suitable for diametral or axial point load tests by Broch and Franklin (1972). In addition, some analytical
from weak, highly fractured and brittle rocks, the needs for studies on Hong Kong rocks were conducted by Chau (1998)
the use of irregular fragments or lump samples to determine and Chau and Wei (2001), and Wei et al. (1999) and Wei and
Is(50) and to estimate the corresponding UCS using empirical Chau (2002) using the diametral and axial PLT methods,
equations between the UCS and Is(50) have increased. Con- respectively. Recently, to establish correlations between Is(50)
sequently, investigations on the size and shape effect in the and UCS for Hong Kong rocks based on the PLTs on irregu-
PLT began to increase gradually in 1990s. Panek and Fan- lar specimens, some attempts have been made by Wong et al.
non (1992) carried out PLT on 500 irregular specimens of (2017) and Yin et al. (2017). Wong et al. (2017), who tested
three crystalline rocks, which were obtained from mine-run specimens from a total of sixteen core boxes of volcanic
rocks from different locations of Hong Kong, concluded

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3748 M. Şahin et al.

that the obtained Is(50) for irregular tuff lumps are reliable.
These authors also suggested empirical prediction equa-
tions between the UCS and Is(50) depending on the degree
of decomposition of the volcanic rocks they tested. Yin et al.
(2017) used irregular lump samples of granite in the PLTs to
predict the UCS and found that the power index value (m)
of size correction function suggested by ISRM (2007) for
slightly and moderately decomposed granite samples varied
between 0.443–0.600 and 0.545–0.562, respectively. Thus
it can be inferred from this study that the variation of the
m value depends not only rock type but also the degree of
decomposition and existence of weakness planes. In addi-
tion, these authors calculated conversion factors between
the UCS and Is(50) of irregular lumps considerably similar
to those obtained for the diametral and axial PLTs indicating
that correlation between the UCS and Is(50) from the PLT on
irregular lumps seems reliable.
The stress distributions and failure type for PLT were
also investigated in a few studies. Russell and Wood (2009)
applied a multiaxial failure criterion for brittle materials to a
stress field analysis of a perfectly elastic sphere subjected to
diametrically opposite normal forces that are uniformly dis-
tributed across small areas on the sphere’s surface. Based on
the interpretation of the stress distribution obtained from this
study, the authors concluded that the PLT provides a much
more reliable estimate of the UCS than the tensile strength.
Serati et al. (2014) performed an analytical solution for an
Fig. 2  a A cutting machine to divide borehole cores into two equal
isotropic cylinder subjected to lateral boundary loads and halves at a mine site, and b half-cut cores
verified the proposed analysis against available elastic solu-
tions for axisymmetric and non- axisymmetric engineering
problems such as the indirect Brazilian tensile strength and
PLT. Based on the results of the parametric studies of the of the UCS from PLT determined in this way has been
shape effect on the central tensile stress in cylinder loaded by made. It is also noted that the half-cut core specimen is
point load distribution, the authors concluded that the Is(50) a type of irregular lump specimen. By considering these,
is not affected by the shape of the specimen unless the ratio which are particularly important for mine sites, where both
of length/diameter is less than 1 and this outcome coincides mining geologists and rock engineers need to use borehole
with the PLT methods given by ISRM and ASTM. cores, in this study, it was aimed to investigate the applica-
In mining projects, particularly in mine investigation, bility of the PLT on half-cut cores, to adopt the previously
feasibility and development stages, mining geologists also suggested size correction formulations to the half-cut core
need data on geochemical characteristics of the rock types specimens and to suggest an empirical equation for indi-
and the orebody penetrated throughout the drill holes. For rectly estimation of the UCS from the values of point load
this purpose, borehole cores are axially cut into two equal strength index determined in this way. For this purpose, a
parts using cutting machines (Fig. 2a) to obtain half-cut large number of cylindrical and half-cut core specimens
cores (Fig. 2b) and then one of these halves are sent to with different diameters were prepared from the unweath-
geochemistry laboratories for geochemical analysis. The ered 12 different rock types collected from various parts
other halves of the cores, left in the core boxes, cannot be of Turkey. In the experimental programme, the PLTs were
used not only for the strength and deformability tests, but carried out both on the half-cut core and cylindrical core
also for the PLT. Although a number of studies associated specimens, and UCS tests were conducted on the cylindri-
with PLT have been mainly concentrated on the indirect cal core specimens. In the second stage, the experimental
estimation of the UCS from Is for different rocks, effect of results were subjected to a series of statistical analyses
specimen size and shape and loading modes on the PLT, and the use of half-cut cores for the PLT (determinations
to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no attempt on the of Is from these cores) was assessed and an empirical rela-
applicability of the PLT on half-cut cores and estimation tionship for the estimation of the UCS from the values of

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Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation with Uniaxial Compressive… 3749

Is(50), which were determined from the half-cut cores, was sedimentary (5 rocks), metamorphic (1 rock), igneous (5
developed and its prediction performance was evaluated. rocks) and volcano-sedimentary (1 rock) origin. The sedi-
mentary and volcano-sedimentary rocks collected are thickly
bedded and the blocks sampled from these rocks are mas-
2 Rock Types Selected sive and have no evident weakness plane such as bedding
plane. In addition to their macro descriptions, each rock
Prime attention was paid in selecting the blocks of dif- type collected was also petrographically described based
ferent rock types, that are suitable for the purpose of this on thin-section studies under polarising microscope. The
study, to be free from macroscopic defects, such as frac- type, sampling location and brief geo-engineering descrip-
tures and weathering. All blocks collected were sound and tion with the main mineralogical composition of each rock
fresh (unweathered) and only one of them is slightly weath- collected are given in Table 1.
ered. The rock types used in the study were obtained from
the quarries located at different parts of Turkey and also
from some stone processing plants in Ankara (Fig. 3a). To 3 Specimen Preparation
use rock blocks that were enough to obtain all of the test
specimens of a given rock type, a number of block sam- By considering the size effect in rock mechanics and size
ples approximately 30 × 40 × 50 cm in dimension (Fig. 3b) correction in PLT, specimens with NX (54.7 mm), NQ
were collected from a total of 12 different rock types with (47.6 mm) and BX (42 mm) sizes were cored from the block

Fig. 3  a Sampling locations of the rock types used in the study, b views from some rock blocks collected (left: Trachybasalt-Andesite; right:
Marble)

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3750 M. Şahin et al.

Table 1  List of rocks tested in the study (Q from quarry, OC from outcrop)
Rock type Sampling location Description and mineralogical composition

Basalt Ankara (Gölbaşı-Q) Black, unweathered, strong, including klino-pyroxene, biotite and some volcanic glass
and plagioclase minerals
Trachybasalt-andesite Afyon (Q) Blackish-dark grey, unweathered, strong, including pyroxene, plagioclase and amphibole
minerals
Andesite Çorum (Q) Light grey, unweathered, strong, including big plagioclase and amphibole minerals
depending on slow cooling
Limestone-1 Ankara (Kahramankazan-OC) Light yellow, slightly weathered, including high amount of fossils, low strength, includ-
ing abundant nummulite and foraminifer fossils
Limestone-2 Afyon (Q) Beige, slightly weathered, strong, including low amount of fossils
Sandstone Ankara (Beypazarı-Q) Yellowish, well compacted, slightly weathered, low strength, rich in quartz and plagio-
clase and rock pieces with different sized and origins
Limestone-3 Antalya (Q) Yellowish, unweathered, low strength, includes abundant foraminifer fossils between the
carbonate fill and pores
Marble Ankara (Yuvaköy-Q) Light greyish-white, unweathered, strong, fully composed of calcite minerals
Granite İzmir (Q) Greyish, unweathered, strong, includes quartz, plagioclase, amphibole, biotite and ortho-
clase minerals
Gypsum Ankara (Bala-Q) White, unweathered, low strength, fully consists of calcium sulphide
Basanite Trabzon (Q) Dark green, slightly weathered, strong, volcanic glass, plagioclase, olivine and augite
minerals
Andesitic-tuff Rize (Q) Light brown-yellowish, slightly weathered, low strength, mainly consists of volcanic
glass and rarely basaltic rock fragments and pieces of crystals such as augite and
plagioclase

samples to be used in the PLT and UCS tests. To make a suitable length/diameter ratios were prepared in accordance
more representative comparison of the test results from the with the procedure suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007). A
cylindrical core and half-cut core specimens for the PLT total of 376 core and 376 half-cut specimens (a total of 188
and cylindrical specimens for the UCS tests, cylindrical upper and 188 lower core specimens) with NX, NQ and BX
specimens were prepared from the top and bottom of the sizes for the PLTs were prepared. As it can be seen from
cores that were cut into two halves. The core specimens with Table 2, ten cylindrical and half-core specimens for each

Table 2  The number of cylindrical and half-cut specimens with three different sizes (NX, NQ, BX) prepared from 12 rock types in terms of
applied tests

Rock type Specimens for UCS Cylindrical cores for PLTs Half-cut cores for PLTs
(diametral test)
NX NQ BX Total NX NQ BX Total NX NQ BX Total
Lower Upper Lower Upper Lower Upper

Basalt 4 3 3 10 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
Tracyhbasalt- Andesite 3 3 4 10 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
Andesite 6 3 3 12 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
Limestone-1 6 3 3 12 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
Limestone-2 6 3 3 12 10 10 10 30 4 5 5 5 5 5 29
Sandstone 3 3 3 9 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
Limestone-3 3 3 3 9 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
Marble 3 3 3 9 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
Granite 4 5 3 12 10 12 12 34 5 5 6 6 6 6 34
Gypsum 5 4 3 12 12 14 10 36 6 6 7 7 5 5 36
Basanite 4 6 4 14 12 12 12 36 6 6 6 6 6 6 36
Andezitic Tuff 5 4 4 13 10 10 10 30 5 5 5 5 5 5 30
134 376 376

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Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation with Uniaxial Compressive… 3751

core size (NX, NQ, BX) were obtained from each rock type In the PLTs, diametrical test method suggested by
to be used in the PLTs. The mean value of the PLT results ISRM (1985, 2007) was employed for the cylindrical
obtained from the ten cylindrical and half core specimens core samples and the I­ (s50) values were calculated based
was used in the comparisons for each rock type and speci- on this suggested method. While the “half-cut upper” and
men size. Due to the size of some blocks and core losses “half-cut lower” core specimens were tested by inserting
experienced during preparation of the UCS samples, a total them between the conical ends of the point load device
of 134 specimens could be prepared for three different core in two different positions, as shown in Fig. 5b.1–2. In the
diameters from all rock types (Table 2). In the comparisons PLTs, the load is steadily increased such that failure of all
between the UCS and Is, the mean value of these two proper- cylindrical and half-cut core specimens occurs between 10
ties determined for each core diameter and each rock type and 60 s as recommended by ISRM (1985, 2007). Views
have been used. from the failure surfaces passing through the mid-point
To equally cut the cylindrical cores into two halves, a of the half-cut core specimens prepared from the sample
V-block, which was made of stainless steel with an inner Limestone-3 are given in Fig. 5c as typical examples. It
angle of ­90o, was manufactured and mounted on the core is noted that none of the PLTs carried out on the half-cut
cutting machine (Fig. 4). As shown in Fig. 5b, two parts of and cylindrical specimens was rejected.
the half-cut core specimens (at the top and bottom), obtained Following the steps given below, the size corrected
after cutting the cores, are called “half-cut upper core speci- point load strength index of the half-cut core specimens
men” and “half-cut lower core specimen”, respectively. (Is(50HC)) were calculated.

(a) The cross-sectional area of the half-cut core specimen

4 Laboratory Experiments and Test Results (Fig. 6) is calculated using the following equations.
  By considering that the thickness of the saw blade
Before the PLTs on the half-cut core specimens, two diago- (2 h) is 2 mm the length of h is equal to 1 mm, and the
nals are drawn on the planar surface of each specimen and length “a” and the area of the triangle of OBC, Atriangle,
intersection point of the diagonals, “O”, is marked on the are given by Eqs. (5a) and (5b), respectively:
same surface, as shown in Fig. 5a. This is carried out to pro-
(5a)
√
vide a correct contact of the conical ends of the point load a = r 2 − h2
device on the mid-point of the half-cut core specimen and
to observe the failure surface which passes or not from the 2ah 2a1
Atriangle = = =a (5b)
point “O”. The tests on the half-cut core specimens should 2 2
be rejected as invalid if the failure surface doesn’t pass from
  The exact area of half-cut core specimen (Aexact) can
the point “O”. The point load tests were conducted on both
be determined by extracting the area of the triangle
upper and lower half-cut core specimens to assess the con-
OBC from the area of the sector of the circle as given
dition “is there any difference between the results obtained
below,
from the two parts of the half-cut specimens”.

Fig. 4  General view of the cutting machine and the V-block mounted on it

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3752 M. Şahin et al.

Fig. 5  a Two diagonals drawn

on the planar surfaces of the
upper and lower half-cut core
specimens to obtain the central
point “O”, b a view from the
PLT carried out on the b.1
lower and b.2 upper half-cut
core specimens, c valid failure
surfaces observed after the PLTs
conducted on the half-cut core
specimens

𝜋r2 𝜃 for the axial, block and lump tests by ISRM (1985,
Aexact = − ah (5c) 2007), the following equation is obtained:
360
  If the thickness of the saw blade is ignored, the area 4Aexact 4Ahalf
D2e = ≈ (5e)
of the half circle, Ahalf, can be calculated using Eq. (5d). 𝜋 𝜋

𝜋r2 (c) The point load strength index of the half-cut cores (IsHS)
Ahalf = (5d) is calculated from the following equation:
2
(b) If the equation of exact area (Eq. 5c) is put in the equiv-
alent core diameter equation (D2e = 4Aexact/) suggested

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Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation with Uniaxial Compressive… 3753

experimentally determined (Is(50HC) = P50/502), Log P–Log

D2e graphs obtained from PLTs carried out on half-cut cores
were drawn for each rock types. Then the values of P50 cor-
responding to De = 50 mm were estimated using extrapola-
tion technique and Is(50HC) values were determined.
The UCS determinations were carried out in accord-
ance with the test method suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007)
on core specimens with three different diameters (NX,
NQ and BX) and L/D ratios ranging between 2.5 and 3.0
using a hydraulic press with a loading capacity of 500 kN.
The results obtained from the PLTs conducted both on the
cylindrical and upper and lower half-cut core specimens,
Fig. 6  The view of the exact area of the half-cut core specimen by and from the UCS tests are given in Table 3 with their sta-
considering the thickness of the saw blade (r radius of the cylindrical tistics. In addition, the estimated Is(50HC) values obtained by
core specimen, O centre of the cylindrical core specimen section, 2h extrapolation technique are also given in Table 3. As it can
thickness of the blade used, h height of the OBC triangle, a half of
BC) be seen from Table 3, the values calculated from size cor-
rection formulation (Eq. 5h) and obtained by extrapolation
technique are very similar.
P
IsHC =
D2e (5f)
5 Determination of the Point Load
(d) The size correction factor can be obtained using the Strength Index from the Half‑Cut Cores
following equation suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007); and Estimation of the UCS
( )0.45
De 5.1 Comparison of Is Values from the Upper (IsHC (u))
F= (5g)
50 and Lower Half‑cut Cores (IsHC (l)) and Estimation
of UCS
(e) Finally, the size corrected Point Load Strength Index
(Is(50HC)) can be calculated from the following equation.
The PLT results obtained from the upper and lower half-cut
Is(50HC) = FIsHC (5h) core specimens are compared by considering the three dif-
ferent specimen diameters (NX, NQ and BX) in Fig. 7a–c.
These comparisons were based on all the results of the
To compare the size corrected Point Load Strength point load test conducted on the both half-cut cores pre-
Index values (Is(50HC)) calculated from Eq. (5h) with those pared within NX, NQ and BX sizes for each rock type and

Table 3  Rock mechanics test results

Rock type no. UCS (MPa) Is(50) (MPa) Is(50HCl) (MPa) Is(50HCu) (MPa) Is(50HC) (MPa) Is(50HC)
(extrapolated)
(MPa)

1 84.44 (73.84–95.13) 8.39 (7.47–10.38) 7.36 (6.55–8.65) 7.31 (6.55–8.65) 7.33 (6.55–8.65) 7.63
2 93.32 (83.34–99.16) 8.20 (7.39–9.26) 6.98 (6.21–8.04) 7.04 (6.04–8.04) 7.01 (6.04–8.04) 7.97
3 66.57 (52.66–78.82) 4.90 (3.92–6.12) 4.34 (3.35–4.97) 4.29 (3.35–4.97) 4.32 (3.35–4.97) 3.69
4 19.26 (14.76–26.87) 1.99 (1.13–3.16) 1.68 (0.87–2.28) 1.68 (1.05–2.49) 1.68 (0.87–2.49) 1.66
5 66.77 (58.90–75.07) 4.95 (3.94–6.05) 4.01 (2.82–5.17) 4.27 (3.45–5.07) 4.15 (2.82–5.17) 3.26
6 27.43 (22.82–37.32) 3.10 (2.21–4.27) 2.60 (2.01–3.17) 2.60 (2.14–3.49) 2.60 (2.01–3.49) 2.40
7 32.27 (23.80–36.69) 2.33 (1.59–3.07) 2.58 (2.18–3.06) 2.51 (2.18–3.01) 2.55 (2.18–3.05) 2.63
8 77.83 (60.19–91.18) 4.22 (2.88–5.81) 4.35 (3.32–5.42) 4.34 (3.34–5.29) 4.34 (3.32–5.42) 4.08
9 111.04 (89.79–144.33) 7.79 (6.58–9.72) 7.17 (6.36–7.99) 7.23 (6.36–7.99) 7.20 (6.36–7.99) 7.96
10 16.98 (14.33–20.79) 1.46 (0.50–2.10) 1.38 (0.93–1.86) 1.40 (0.98–1.83) 1.39 (0.93–1.86) 1.04
11 99.84 (80.64–121.44) 7.12 (4.26–9.18) 6.61 (5.48–7.60) 6.64 (5.62–7.52) 6.63 (5.48–7.60) 6.62
12 46.12 (37.77–54.04) 2.51 (1.96–3.14) 3.29 (2.28–3.87) 3.33 (2.65–3.87) 3.31 (2.28–3.87) 2.34

13

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3754 M. Şahin et al.

Fig. 7  Comparison of the point load strength index values obtained ▸ (a)
from the upper (IsHC(u)) and lower (IsHC(l)) half-cut core specimens
with a NX, b NQ, c BX core sizes 10

IsHC (half-cut upper core, IsHC (u) (MPa))

indicated that the IsHC values obtained both from the upper 8
and lower half-core specimens are same with a very high IsHCu=IsHCl
coefficient of determination about 1 (R2 = 0.99). Therefore, 6
it was decided that the average of IsHC of the upper (IsHC(u))
and lower (IsHC(l)) half-cut core specimens could be used in
4
further assessments. These mean values were evaluated all
together without considering differences between the diam-
eters of the test specimens, such as NX, NQ and BX. For 2
this purpose, all data points in Fig. 7a–c were plotted on
the same graph. It is clear from Fig. 8 that irrespective of 0
the specimen diameter, the results obtained from the PLTs 0 2 4 6 8 10
both on the upper and lower half-core specimens are same IsHC (half-cut lower core, IsHC (l) (MPa))
or identical. Therefore, it is concluded that the use of one (b)
of the half cut-core specimens (upper or lower) in the PLT
does not affect the test results and the calculated IsHC values. 10

IsHC (half-cut upper core, IsHC (u) (MPa))

To compare the values of Is(50HC) (Is(50) determined from IsHCu=IsHCl
the half-cut core specimens) with the values of size-cor- 8
rected (50 mm) point load strength index, I(s50), which is
obtained from the cylindrical core specimens, the applica- 6
bility of the size correction on the half-cut core specimens
was also investigated. For this purpose, the procedure, which 4
was suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007), was followed. In this
study, the size correction factor (Eq. 5g) was used as sug- 2
gested by ISRM (1985, 2007). The power value (0.45) in
Eq. (5g) is denoted by “m”. 0
The values of Is(50) determined from the cylindrical core 0 2 4 6 8 10
specimens, which were subjected to the axial PLT, and the IsHC (half-cut lower core, IsHC (l) (MPa))
Is(50HC) values obtained from the PLTs on the half-cut core
specimens were compared using four different functions,
(c)
such as linear, logarithmic, geometric and exponential. The
comparisons revealed that the data is best represented by 10
IsHC (half-cut upper core, IsHC (u) (MPa))

the linear relationship and the linear relationships obtained

from the specimens of each rock type with different diam- 8 IsHCu=IsHCl
eters (NX, NQ, BX) are considerably similar to each other.
Therefore, irrespective of the diameter of the specimens, 6
regression analyses were carried out using all the values
of I(s50) and Is(50HC) and the following regression equation 4
with a very high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.95) was
obtained (Fig. 9).
2
I(s50) = 1.097 Is(50HC) (6)
0
For the same purpose, Kohno and Maeda (2012) and Yin 0 2 4 6 8 10
et al. (2017), who used prismatic test specimens and con- IsHC (half-cut lower core, IsHC (l) (MPa))
ventional cores with irregular sides, respectively, compared
Basalt Tracybasalt andesite Andesite
the ratio between the values of PLT from cylindrical (Is50) Limestone-1 Limestone-2 Sandstone
and irregular (Is50i) specimens. According to the results of Limestone-3 Marble Granite
Gypsum Bazanite Andesic tuff
these studies, the ratio between ­Is50i was found 1.40 for
prismatic specimens (Kohno and Maeda 2012) and 1,001 for

13

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Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation with Uniaxial Compressive… 3755

10 conventional cores withirregular sides (Yin et al. 2017), with

R 2 values of 0.88 (r=0.94) and 0.82 (r= 0.904), respectively.
From these values, it is seen that the ratio of ­Is50i /I s50i found
8 in this most recentstudy (1.09) is considerable close to that
of found by Yin et al. (2017) who used conventional cores
IsHC (u)=IsHC (l)
with irregular sides. In addition, the coefficient of deter-
6 mination (R2) calculated in this study is the highest when
IsHC (u) (MPa)

compared to those found by Kohno and Maeda (2012) and

Yin et al. (2017).
4 The variation of the Is(50)/Is(50HC) ratios obtained using
average size correction factor (m = 0.45), which is suggested
by ISRM (1985, 2007), is shown in Fig. 10. As can be from
2 this figure, the mean value of the ratio of Is(50)/Is(50HC) is very
close to “1” and varies between 0.72 and 1.3, indicating that
same and/or very similar point load strength index values
0 are obtained from the cylindrical cores and half-cut cores.
0 2 4 6 8 10
IsHC (l) (MPa)
5.2 Prediction of the UCS from the Is(50HC) Values
Basalt Tracybasalt andesite Andesite Obtained from the Half‑Cut Cores
Limestone-1 Limestone-2 Sandstone
Limestone-3 Marble Granite
Gypsum Basanite Andesic tuff To predict the UCS from the point load strength index
experimentally determined from both cylindrical (Is(50)) and
Fig. 8  Comparison of the point load strength index values obtained half-cut core specimens (IsHC), UCS-Is(50) and UCS-Is(50HC)
from all half-cut core specimens irrespective of their core sizes graphs were drawn based on the regression analysis results
and the following empirical prediction equations, respec-
tively, were determined (Fig. 11a–c). Is(50HC) values given
in Eqs. (7b) and (7c) were calculated using the exact area of
half-cut core and the area of half circle, respectively.
Is50 = 1,0599 Is50HC all data
R² = 0,8654
10 UCS = 12.82 Is(50) (R2 = 0.83) (7a)
Is(50) determined from cylindirical specimens (MPa)

UCS = 14.24 Is(50HC) (R2 = 0.90) (7b)

8 Is50 = 1,0973 Is50HC mean
R² = 0,954
UCS = 14.91 Is(50HC) (R2 = 0.90) (7c)
6
The reliability of regression coefficients of the predic-
Is50 = 1,0757 Is50HC extrapolated
R² = 0,9406 tion relationships given in Eqs. (7a)–(7c) were evaluated
by F tests (Table 4). All significance values in Table 4 are
4
lower than 0.05 indicating that the prediction equations are
statistically significant.
In addition, the UCS values predicted from Eqs. (7a)
2 and (7b) and those experimentally determined were com-
pared to assess the prediction performances of these
equations. It is clear from Fig. 12a, b that majority of the
0 plots are generally concentrated around the 1:1 line. In
0 2 4 6 8 10 addition, the percent errors of the UCS values predicted
Is(50HC) determined from half-cut specimens (MPa) from the half- cut core specimens, with respect to those
Mean values All data Extrapolated values
experimentally determined, were also given in the histo-
gram form in Fig. 12c. It is clear from this histogram that
the point load strength index values determined from the
Fig. 9  Comparison of the point load strength values Is(50) and Is(50hc)
obtained from the cylindrical and half-cut core specimens, respec- half- cut core specimens (Is(50HC)) provides better estimates
tively, irrespective of the core size of UCS with lower percent errors when compared to those

13

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3756 M. Şahin et al.

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2
Is(50)/Is(50h)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12
NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX NX NQ BX

Rock types (numbers) and core sizes (NX, NQ, BX)

Fig. 10  The variation of Is(50)/Is(50HC) ratios obtained using the average size correction factor (m = 0.45) suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007)

obtained from the cylindrical core specimens (Is(50)). On in linear trends and this means a big variation from real
the other hand, the scaled percent errors for the values power value (m) of the size correction factor.
of Is(50HC) calculated based on the exact area of half-cut The second approach used by Yin et al. (2017) is based
core and Is(50HC) based on the area of half circle were also on the calculation of m value using the slope of the relation-
calculated. As clear from Fig. 13, the scaled percent errors ship between log (Is(50)/Is) and log (De/50). In this approach,
are generally between 4.45 and 4.5%. So the difference first of all, a plot between P and D2e is drawn and then Is(50)
between the values of Is(50HC) calculated using the exact values corresponding to 2500 mm2 of D2e is determined.
area of half cut core and the area of half circle is quite low. However, in this study, all calculated De values are lower
In addition to the size correction factor, which is based than 50 mm and around 30 mm. So, the Is(50) values calcu-
on average power value (m = 0.45), other size correction lated from the diametrical tests were used in the calculation
factors suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007) and Yin et al. of log (Is(50)/IsCH). The plot between log (Is(50)/IsHC) and log
(2017) were also applied to the test data obtained in this (De/50) is given in Fig. 16 for the test data of Rock type-1. It
study. Firstly, it is suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007) that is obvious from Fig. 16 that the coefficient of determination
the m value of the size correction factor can be determined is low for the data from Rock type-1 (basalt).
using the slope (n) of the fitted line of log (P)–log (D e2) So it can be inferred from the statistical analyses that the
relationship. The m value then can be calculated using prediction relationships derived using an average size cor-
following equation (ISRM 1985, 2007). rection factor (m = 0.45) as suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007)
is statistically reliable and has higher prediction performance
m = 2(1 − n) (8) than the relationships based on the calculation of specific
By considering this approach, log (P)–log (De2) graphs size correction factor of different rock types.
were drawn for all rock types and m values and the cor-
responding size correction factors were determined
(Table 5). The log (P)–log (De2) relationship of the basalt
is given in Fig. 14 as an example. Using the size correction 6 Conclusions
factors in Table 5, the new relationships between the UCS
and Is(50HC) are given in Fig. 15. As seen from Fig. 15, sim- The main conclusions drawn from this study, aiming to
ilar trends with lower coefficients of determination were assess the applicability of the PLT on the half-cut core speci-
obtained. The main reason of these lower coefficients may mens and the estimation of the UCS from the point load
be associated with the calculation of n values based on the strength index determined using such specimens, are given
linear approach. Some extreme values may cause a change in the following paragraphs.

13

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Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation with Uniaxial Compressive… 3757

(a) core specimens and multiplying the point load strength index
120 (IsHC) determined from such specimens by a size conversion
UCS = 12,821 Is(50)
(R² = 0,83)
factor (m) with an average value of 0.45, I(s50) values experi-
100
mentally determined from the cylindrical core specimens
80 can be estimated with a very low percent error.
UCS (MPa)

60 It is also shown that there is a statistically strong rela-

40 tionship between the values of UCS and the size corrected
point load strength index determined from the half-cut
20
core specimens (Is(50HC)) suggesting that it can be used
0 for the prediction of the UCS. It is also noted that the
0 2 4 6 8 10
Is(50) (MPa)
size corrected point load strength index values determined
from the half-cut core specimens (Is(50HC)) provide better
(b) estimate of UCS with lower percent errors when com-
120 pared to those obtained from the cylindrical core speci-
UCS = 14,239 Is(50HC)
100 (R² = 0,90)
mens (Is(50)).
80
Specific size correction factors by considering rock types
UCS (MPa)

were also calculated in this study based on the suggestions

60
by ISRM (1985, 2007) and Yin et al. (2017). In this study,
40 in addition to size correction factor determined based on
20 average power value (= 0.45), specific size correction fac-
0
tors were also calculated based on the suggestions by ISRM
0 2 4 6 8 10 (1985, 2007) and Yin et al. (2017). However, statistical
Is(50HC) (MPa) analyses showed that the prediction relationships derived
between UCS and Is(50HC), based on an average size correc-
(c) tion factor (m = 0.45) as suggested by ISRM (1985, 2007),
120
UCS= 14,905 Is(50HC) have higher prediction performance than the relationships
100 (R² = 0,90) based on the calculation of specific size correction factor of
80 different rock types.
UCS (MPa)

60 In this study, a saw blade with a thickness of 2 mm was

40 used and this value was considered in the calculation of
cross-sectional area of the half-cut cores which is required to
20
determine the equivalent core diameter. On the other hand,
0
Is(50HC) values determined based on the calculation of the
0 2 4 6 8
Is(50HC) (MPa)
cross-sectional area by neglecting thickness of the saw blade
are very close to the exact Is(50HC) values.
To include the use of half-cut core specimens in the
Fig. 11  Relationships between a UCS-Is(50) and b UCS-Is(50hc) (by
considering the exact area of the half cut core), c UCS-Is(50hc) (by
standard methods for PLT such as in ASTM or ISRM, it
considering area of the half circle) based on the test results obtained is recommended that further similar studies should be car-
by considering the average size correction factor suggested by ISRM ried out on different rock types at different laboratories by
(2007) different investigators and the results should be evaluated
together. It is also recommended to perform several point
The experimental results obtained from this study indi- load tests on the specimens with the equivalent core diam-
cated that the PLT can also be carried out using half-cut eter of De = 50 mm to confirm the estimated results.

13

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3758 M. Şahin et al.

Table 4  F test results for the Degree of Sum of squares Mean square F p (significance)
prediction relationships between freedom
(a) UCS-Is(50) (b) UCS-Is(50h)
(by considering exact area of (a)
the half-cut core) (c) UCS-Is(50h)
Regression 1 169.051.7 169.051.7 970.4737 1.39E−26
(by considering area of the half
circle) Residual 35 6096.827 174.1951
Total 36 175.148.5
(b)
Regression 1 171.450.5 171.450.5 1622.707 2.79E−30
Residual 35 3697.999 105.6571
Total 36 175.148.5
(c)
Regression 1 171.417.7 171.417.7 1608.13 3.24E−30
Residual 35 3730.805 106.5944
Total 36 175.148.5

Fig. 12  Comparison of the

experimentally determined UCS
values with those predicted
from a Eq. (7a) and b Eq. (7b),
c scaled percent errors for the
values of UCS predicted from
Eqs. (7a) and (7b) and experi-
mentally determined

(a) (b)

(c)

13

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Point Load Strength Index of Half‑Cut Core Specimens and Correlation with Uniaxial Compressive… 3759

12 (a)
11
10 120 UCS = 13,744 Is(50HC)
9 (R² = 0,7931)
8 100

Rock type no
7
80

UCS (MPa)
6
5
60
4
3 40
2
1 20
-4.6 -4.55 -4.5 -4.45 -4.4 -4.35 -4.3
0
Percent scaled error 0 2 4 6 8 10
Is(50HC) (MPa)
Fig. 13  Scaled percent errors for the values of Is(50HC) calculated
based on the exact area of the half-cut core and Is(50HC) calculated (b)
based on the area of the half circle
120 UCS = 14,484 Is(50HC)
(R² = 0,8083)
100
Table 5  The size correction factors calculated for rock types used in
this study 80

UCS (MPa)
60
Rock type no. n (slope) m = 2(1 − n) Size correc-
tion factor 40
(F)
20
0.38
1 0.81 0.38 (De/50) 0
2 0.91 0.18 (De/50)0.18 0 2 4 6 8 10
Is(50HC) (MPa)
3 0.62 0.76 (De/50)0.76
4 0.78 0.44 (De/50)0.44
5 0.55 0.9 (De/50)0.9 Fig. 15  Relationships between a UCS-Is(50h) (based on the exact area
of the half-cut core) and b UCS-Is(50h) (based on the area of the half
6 0.70 0,6 (De/50)0.6
circle) from the test results based on the size correction factors given
7 0.81 0.38 (De/50)0.38 in Table 4
8 0.72 0.56 (De/50)0.56
9 0.88 0.24 (De/50)0.24
10 0.49 1.02 (De/50)1.02
0
11 0.78 0.44 (De/50)0.44 -0.3 -0.26 -0.22 -0.18 -0.14 -0.1
12 0.43 1.14 (De/50)1.14
-0.05
log (Is50HC/IsHC)

1.2
n value -0.1

1.1
log (Is50HC/IsHC)= 0,288 log (De/50) - 0,0168
1 R² = 0,1421 -0.15
log P (kN)

0.9 log (P) = 0,8069 (log (De2) - 1,4611

(R² = 0,7275) log (De/50)
-0.2
0.8

0.7
Fig. 16  The relationship between log (Is(50HC)/IsHC) and log (De/50)
0.6 for the test data of rock type-1 (basalt)
2.85 2.9 2.95 3 3.05 3.1 3.15 3.2
log (De2)

Compliance with ethical standards

Fig. 14  The log(P)–log (D2e ) relationship for the basalt sample
Conflict of interest As the authors, we confirm that there is no any
conflict of interest in the manuscript.

13

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3760 M. Şahin et al.

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