Effect of loading characteristics and specimen size in split Hopkinson pressure bar test on high-rate behavior of phyllite

Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) tests are performed on Himalayan phyllite rock with five different specimen sizes and with different gas gun pressures and striker bar lengths of the SHPB device. The high-strain-rate phyllite parameters investigated are the peak stress, strain at peak stress, dynamic increase factor (DIF), strain energy absorbed, and dynamic modulus. It is observed that the dimensions of the phyllite specimens and the SHPB loading characteristics (i.e., the gas gun pressure and striker bar length) have a strong impact on the phyllite response. Given that SHPB specimen dimensions are small compared to any field rock mechanics problem, the rate-dependent rock mass properties are also determined for each rock using Hoek-Brown criteria. Numerical simluations of the SHPB tests are performed using finite element (FE) analysis in conjunction with the strain rate-dependent Johnson-Holmquist (JH-2) constitutive model to calibrate the JH-2 model parameters for phyllite. The calibrated JH-2 model parameters are dependent on the phyllite specimen size and on the magnitudes of the gas gun pressure and striker bar length. The different calibrated parameters corresponding to different specimen sizes and different SHPB loading characteristics are used to perform FE analysis of a tunnel constructed in phyllite rock and subjected to a blast load. The FE results show that the tunnel responses can significantly differ with strain rate-dependent JH-2 model parameters with difference in the mean stress and vertical displacement at the crown of the tunnel in the phyllite rock as high as 126% and 250%, respectively.