Paper contribution

The correlation between the compressive strength and dielectric constant for granites

Sair Kahraman; Ozge Yaman Harman; Selçuk Helhel

Proceedings
EUROCK 2026
Pages
367-372
Submitted
28 January 2026
Accepted
15 June 2026
Published
12 August 2026

Summary

Abstract

The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of rocks which one of the intact rock properties is often used in civil, mining and oil/gas engineering projects. The typical UCS experiment requires smooth and precisely sized samples. Performing the UCS test is difficult and time-consuming. Furthermore, the samples of the proper size cannot be made from rocks that are extremely weak or heavily joined. In these cases, rock properties are either estimated from indirect tests or the results of indirect tests, are easy to conduct and practical, are used in place of the intrinsic rock properties. Again, feasibility studies often use indirect estimation of rock properties. In addition to requiring very small samples, measuring the dielectric constant is very easy, especially when compared to the UCS test. Ground penetration radar (GPR) measurements made during geological investigations can also be used to calculate the dielectric constant. The dielectric constant determined from the GPR measurements can be used to estimate the UCS value if a strong correlation between the two parameters is established. Some researchers have examined the correlations between the dielectric constant and porosity, density, and Schmidt hammer hardness. It has been proposed that the dielectric constant can be used to estimate drilling velocity in a study looking at the relationship between drilling velocity and dielectric constant. However, the correlations between UCS and dielectric constant has not been studied. Experiments were conducted on various granite types using UCS and dielectric constant measurement. Regression analysis of the experimental data revealed a strong correlation between UCS and dielectric constant. It was concluded that the prediction model that was created would be very practical for geoscience applications.

Contributors

Authors

  1. Sair Kahraman Hacettepe University, Mining Engineering Department, Ankara, Türkiye ORCID 0000-0001-7903-143X
  2. Ozge Yaman Harman Hacettepe University, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ankara, Türkiye
  3. Selçuk Helhel Akdeniz University, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Antalya, Türkiye

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References

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