Doctoral Dissertations

Keywords and Phrases

Deformation; Instrumentation; Intact Rocks; Rock Mechanics; Stress-Strain

Abstract

"An accurate assessment of intact rock deformation is imperative in engineering activities carried out either in or above rock masses. However, instruments used for post-peak deformation are easily debonded and cannot record the whole process of post-peak deformation required in the failure modeling of rocks. This dissertation focuses on the investigation of the performance of two non-contact measuring systems (Laser Displacement Sensor (LDS) and Inductive Proximity Sensor (IPS)) compared to the contact type instrument (conventional Strain Gauge System (SGS)) in monitoring intact rock deformations. Subsequently, an IPS was installed in a high-pressure triaxial testing system before investigating its performance in uniaxial compression on a limestone and triaxial compression of granite. In the pre-peak stage, there was close correspondence between the performance of non-contact and contact instruments with correlations typically above 0.96. However, after the peak point, there was divergence of measurements; whereas non-contact instruments achieved 100% measurement continuity during the entire failure, only 50% of the strain-gauge channels (10 of 20) recorded even half of the post-peak deformation. A complete deformation record allowed the determination of both strain-softening modulus and residual strength plateau; moreover, non-contact measurement gave about 16% more energy absorption capacity than conventional strain gauge measurements. Therefore, due to its validated precision, large monitoring area of almost 20 times as compared to point sensors, and compatibility with existing testing equipment, non-contact measurement is a promising technology towards stress-strain analysis of intact rocks"-- Abstract, p. iii

Advisor(s)

Maurer, Jeremy
Maerz, Norbert H.

Committee Member(s)

Sobhy, Ahmed
Cawlfield, Jeffrey D.
Boyko, Kenneth

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Degree Name

Ph. D. in Geological Engineering

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

2026

Pagination

xxv, 366 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes_bibliographical_references_(pages 356-364)

Rights

© 2026 Ali Abdullah M Alzahrani , All Rights Reserved

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 12613

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