Study on the engineering properties of saturated red sandstone

Red sandstone with a strong water softening can cause difficulties of construction projects, especially for slope excavation and support engineering. Therefore, the study on the engineering properties of saturated red sandstone has a important meaning. The mechanical parameters of saturated red sandstone are obtained by the triaxial compression tests. The test results indicate that the ralations between peak strength, elasticity modulus and confining pressure for the saturated specimens are similar with the natural specimens, that is, with the increasing of confining pressure, the peak strength and the elasticity modulus will increase, but the growth rate becomes slowly. Under the same confining pressure, the peak strength and the elasticity modulus of saturated specimen are more smaller than the natural one. The mechanical damage caused by water recedes when the confining pressure increases, so for the geotechnical engineering with larger influence of water, the increasement of confining pressure by the supporting structures is conducive to the stability of rock mass. The research results will provide a theoretical basis for the red sandstone engineering.