Influence of Measurement Uncertainty in the Determination of Selected Rock Parameters—A Realistic Approach

Abstract

To determine and compare the measurement uncertainty of different geological-geotechnical testing methods, numerous test locations were selected in a hard rock quarry. Measurements were carried out along two vertical measurement lines perpendicular to the mining levels of an existing exploration. Along these lines, the rock quality basically varies due to weathering (decreasing influence with increasing distance from the original ground surface), but also due to the influence of the geological-tectonic conditions on site. The mining conditions (blasting) are identical over the considered area. The rock quality was examined as follows: as field tests, the rock compressive strength was determined by means of point load test and rebound hammer, as laboratory method the Los Angeles test (standard laboratory test for the determination of the mechanical rock quality) was used to identify the impact abrasion resistance. The statistical evaluation and comparison of the results allowed conclusions to be drawn about the contribution of the individual test methods to the measurement uncertainty whereas, in practice, a priori information can be applied complementarily. It shows that the influence on the combined measurement uncertainty u of the different methods due to the geological variability in horizontal direction reaches values between 17 and 32%, whereby the rebound hammer method shows the highest values. However, the highest influences on the measurement uncertainties are a result of the vertical direction due to weathering phenomena with percentages of 55 to 70%. For the point load test, the vertical direction shows the highest significance with an influence of approximately 70%. This leads to the conclusion that a higher weathering degree of the rock mass shows an increasing effect on the measurement uncertainty which needs to be considered using a priori information in measurements.