Influences of the diameter and position of the inner hole on the strength and failure of disc specimens of sandstone determined using the Brazilian split test

The Brazilian split test on a centrally holed disc (referred to as a ring-disc specimen) is an important indirect method for determining the tensile strength of rock. This paper studies the effect of the diameter d of the center hole and its position, defined by the eccentricity b and the inclination angle of the eccentric hole, on the peak load, failure pattern and horizontal stress of the disc specimen via laboratory experiments and numerical modeling using the finite element method (FEM). Static Brazilian split tests are conducted on an intact disc and three types of holed discs: C-specimens containing a central hole with different diameters, EH-specimens with a horizontally eccentric hole and ER-specimens with a rotationally eccentric hole.