PROBABILISTIC COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF SOUND DRY GRANITE

The different functions of cumulative probability of fracture that can be used in the Probabilistic Strength of Materials in the case of constant uniaxial compression are described. Sound fine-grained granite was used to study volume influence by fracturing rectangular prisms, and then no noticeable influence was observed. Since this is showing that all the fracture stresses are belonging to a single set they were included in a single group that exhibited two functions of specific risk of fracture. The population with the lesser fracture stress has no critical zone while the other population does have it and a critical zone in the order of 10-6 m3 is the minimum size exhibiting a complete fracture of the specimen when the same collapses. All the statistical functions were found to be acceptable according to the X2 criterion. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.