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Geomechanical strength of carbonate rock in Kinta Valley, Perak,

Malaysia
To cite this article: T L Goh et al 2019 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 527 012038

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GEOTROPIKA 2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

Geomechanical strength of carbonate rock in Kinta Valley,

Perak, Malaysia

T L Goh*1, S S Ailie2, M Nur Amanina1, M M R Ainul1, R Abdul Ghani3, S Norbert1, and

K E Lee4
1
Centre for Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
2
School of Engineering, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology, (FCET), Asia
Pacific University of Technology & Innovation, Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil, 57000
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3
Engineering Geology Advisory, 11, SS21/12, Damansara Utama, 47400, Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
4
Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

*Corresponding author email: gdsbgoh@gmail.com

Abstract. The geomechanical strength of rock materials plays a significant role in influencing
the stability of both cut rock slopes and underground openings. The strength characteristics are
influenced by both material characteristics and the condition of weathering. This paper presents
a systematic approach to quantify the rock material strength characteristics for material failure
and material & discontinuities failure by using uniaxial compressive strength, point load strength
index and Brazilian tensile strength for carbonate rocks. The mean value of compressive strength,
point load strength index and Brazilian tensile strength for with material failure and material &
discontinuities failure were 76.8±4.5 and 41.2±4.1 MPa respectively. The Point load strength
index for material failure and material & discontinuities failure were 3.1 ± 0.2 MPa and 1.8 ±
0.3 MPa respectively. The Brazilian tensile strength with material failure and material &
discontinuities failure were7.1 ± 0.3 MPa and 4.1 ± 0.3 MPa respectively. The results of this
research revealed that the geomechanical strengths of rock material of carbonate rocks for
material & discontinuities failure deteriorates approximately ½ from material failure.

1. Introduction
The geomechanical strength of rock materials plays a significant role in influencing the stability of both
cut rock slopes and underground openings. The strength characteristics are influenced by both material
characteristics and the condition of weathering. The material strength of rock were influenced by
material itself and discontinuities.
[1] and [2] has classified failure mode into various pattern which take into account the presence of
microcracks that give microstructural differences in the same lithologies. In understanding the failure
mode of rock material, [3] stated that the rock failure will occur by the development of fractures by
several micro cracks. According to [4], the fracture initiation started when the tensile stress on the
boundary of elliptical shaped flaws exceeds the local tensile strength of the rock material. The strength
reduction in rock material due to the presence of discontinuities were broadly discussed by [5], [6], [7]
and [1].

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GEOTROPIKA 2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

The literature study revealed that less research studies were conducted on quantification of the
strength of limestone. The local researchers were focused on rock mass classification [8], landslide [9],
[10] and [11], rock fall [12] and prediction of uniaxial compressive strength using ultrasonic [13], [14],
[15] and [16]. However, [17] investigated the influenced of conditions of weathering to the
geomechanical strength of Granites and Schists.
In this study, the geomechanical strengths of carbonate rock with material failure and material &
discontinuities failure were characterized by employing the uniaxial compressive strength test, point
load test and Brazilian tensile test.

1.1 Geological setting

The Kinta Valley is situated in the middle of the Perak state in the direction of NE-SW of Peninsular
Malaysia. It is dominated by limestone hills with alluvium scattered around the hills forming a beautiful
karst landscape. In general, the Kinta Valley area is dominated by Upper Paleozoic limestone. [18]
classified the Kinta Valley area into three main facies; carbonated facies, argillite facies and arenite
facies. [19] named every limestone unit in the Kinta Valley as Kinta Limestone. In term of age
determination, Kinta Limestone aged from Silurian until Permian [19]. The metamorphism process that
had occurred in the Kinta Valley converted limestone into marble, while shale and sandstone was
metamorphosed into schist and quartzite. Kinta Limestone was underline by Kinta Valley Schist in Late
Permian. The schist was poorly exposed and poorly stratified. The schist was observed in a cave that is
located at the Gunung Rapat area and at the bottom of a massive limestone body, [12]. In Late Triassic,
both Kinta Limestone and Kinta Valley Schist were intruded by Kledang Range in Main Range Granite
province, [20].

2. Methodology
Core samples preparation and geomechanical testing were carried out according to the recommendations
by [21] are uniaxial compressive strength test, point load strength index test and Brazilian tensile
strength test. Both irregular lump and core were used in point load test. A standard testing machine
(UNIT TEST SYSTEM DHR2000), Figure 1 were used for uniaxial compressive strength test and
Brazilian tensile strength test. Point load strength index test were tested using the CXDZ-50 Rock Point
Load Test Equipment (Figure 2). Rock blocks of different sizes for fresh rock material at all sites were
collected using hand tools such as chisels, picks and geological hammers. The results of geomechanical
strength were analysed using SPSS-statistical version 16 at 95% confident level. Independent-samples-
T test was used to determine the average differences of geomechanical strength based on material failure
and material & discontinuities failure. If P value obtained from independent-samples-T test is less than
0.00, alternative hypothesis (ha) is accepted. This indicates thatthe difference between material failure
mode and material & discontinuities failure mode is significance. Hypothesis null (ho) is accepted when
the P value is higher than 0.00. This indicates that the differences between material failure mode with
material & discontinuities failure mode is not significance. The hypotheses for the result of
geomechanical strength were as follow:

Null hypothesis (ho):

Average geomechanical strength with material failure = average geomechanical strength with material
& discontinuities failure
Alternative hypothesis (ha):
Average geomechanical strength with material failure ≠ average geomechanical strength with material
& discontinuities failure

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GEOTROPIKA 2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

Figure 1. Standard testing machine (UNIT TEST SYSTEM DHR 2000) for uniaxial compressive
strength test and Brazilian tensile strength test

Figure 2. The CXDZ-50 Rock Point Load Test Equipment for point load strength index test

3. Results and Discussion

A total of 60 of uniaxial compressive strength tests, 95 of Brazilian tensile strength tests and 102 of
point load strength index (Is 50) tests were conducted on fresh rock material samples. The study areas
covered Kinta Valley limestone hills. The study areas are at Gunung Lang, Gunung Rapat, Gua Kandu,
Gua Tempurung, Gua Naga Mas and Gunung Mesah. The locations of each test site were shown in
Figure 3.The geomechanical strength were determined according to the failure mode of the samples;
material failure and material & discontinuities failure. The results were analysed using SPSS at 95%
confidence level. The box plots for uniaxial compressive strength, Brazilian tensile strength and point
load strength indexwere shown in Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6. The P value obtained from T-test for
all test conducted were 0.000. The summary of mean, standard deviation, median, skewness and mode

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GEOTROPIKA 2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

were displayed in Table 1. Negative skewness represents a condition in which more result have higher
value (>50%) than the mean value of R. Positive skewness represents a condition in which more result
have lower value (>50%) than the mean value of R. The result indicates that the differences in
determination of uniaxial compressive strength, Brazilian tensile strength and point load strength index,
(Is50) based on material failure and combination failure are significant at 95% confidence level.

Figure 3. Location of the study areas

Figure 4. Boxplots of Uniaxial compressive strength according to material failure mode (M) and
material & discontinuities failure mode (MD).

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GEOTROPIKA 2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

Figure 5. Boxplots of Brazilian tensile strength according to material failure mode (M) and material &
discontinuities failure mode (MD).

Figure 6. Boxplots of point load strength Is(50) according to material failure mode (M) and material &
discontinuities failure mode (MD).

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GEOTROPIKA 2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

Table 1. Summary of statistical result of uniaxial compressive strength test, Brazilian tensile strength
test, and point load strength index test, Is(50).
Standard
Geomechanical Number Median Mean P
Failure mode deviation Skewness
test of test (MPa) (MPa) value
(MPa)
Uniaxial Material 48 15.2 71.5 Positive 76.8 ± 4.5 0.00
compressive
strength Material & 12 6.5 42.5 Negative 41.2 ±4.1 0.00
discontinuities
Brazilian tensile Material 76 1.4 7.1 Positive 7.1 ±0.3 0.00
strength
Material & 20 0.6 4.3 Negative 4.1 ± 0.3 0.00
discontinuities
Point load Material 79 0.9 3.0 Positive 3.1 ± 0.2 0.00
strength index,
Is(50) Material & 23 0.6 1.7 Positive 1.8 ± 0.3 0.00
discontinuities
The mean values of uniaxial compressive strength for material and material & discontinuities failure
were 76.8 ± 4.5 and 41.2 ± 4.1 MPa with standard deviation of 15.2 and 6.5 MPa respectively. The mean
difference between material failure with material &discontinuities failure is 35.6 MPa. This indicates
that the mean value of material & discontinuities failure had decreased by 54% of the mean value for
material failure.
The mean values of Brazilian tensile strength for material and material & discontinuities failure were
7.1 ± 0.3 MPa and 4.1 ± 0.3 MPa with standard deviation of 1.4 and 0.6 MPa respectively. The mean
difference between material failure with material & discontinuities failure is 3.0 MPa. This indicates
that the mean value of material & discontinuities failure had decreased by 58% of the mean value for
material failure.
The mean values of point load strength index, Is(50) for material and material & discontinuities failure
were.1 ± 0.2 MPa and 1.8 ± 0.3 MPa with standard deviation of 0.9 and 0.6 MPa respectively. The mean
difference between material failure with material & discontinuities failure is 1.3 MPa. This means the
mean value of material & discontinuities failure had decreased by 58% of the mean value for material
failure. Rock material strength for rock that undergo material & discontinuities failure in uniaxial
compressive strength test, point load test and Brazilian tensile test were reduced from 54% to 58 % from
material failure.

4. Conclusion
The result of t- test for uniaxial compressive strength test, Brazilian tensile strength test, and point load
strength index, Is(50) test showed the difference in geomechanical strength based on material failure and
material & discontinuities failure were significant at the confidence level of 95%. The results of this
research revealed that the geomechanical strengths of rock material of carbonate rocks for material &
discontinuities failure deteriorates approximately ½ (54% to 58%) from material failure. The results of
this research revealed that the geomechanical strengths of rock material with material & discontinuities
failure deteriorates approximately ½ from rock strength with material failure. The analytical results
represent a mean of quantification for rock material strength according to the failure mode using uniaxial
compressive strength test, point load strength index test and Brazilian tensile strength test.

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GEOTROPIKA 2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

5. References
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 527 (2019) 012038 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/527/1/012038

[20] Lee, C.P. 2009. Paleozoic stratigraphy in Hutchinson, C.S & Tan, D.N.K (ed). Geology of
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Acknowledgement
This publication is based on work supported by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia under internal grant
GUP-2018-116 and sabbatical leave. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of the staff
and facilities at Geology Program and Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia.