Rock Mech Rock Eng (2015) 48:17451747

DOI 10.1007/s00603-015-0768-0

DISCUSSION

Discussion on Correlation Between P-Wave Velocity

and PhysicalMechanical Properties of Intensely Jointed
Dolostones, Peloritani Mounts, NE Sicily by Giovanna
Pappalardo, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (2014)
DOI 10.1007/s00603-014-0607-8
M. Torabi-Kaveh1 M. Miri1
Received: 1 June 2014 / Accepted: 9 May 2015 / Published online: 4 June 2015
 Springer-Verlag Wien 2015

The author investigated the engineering properties of two

dolostone samples with different degrees of tectonic deformation from the Taormina and Castelmola sites in Italy.
As stated in the Introduction section, the purpose of the
technical note is to assess the correlation between the
physical [effective porosity (n0 ), total porosity (n), bulk
density (qbulk), and P-wave velocity (Vp)] and mechanical
[modulus of elasticity (E) and uniaxial compressive
strength (UCS)] rock properties. We would like to make
the following comments.
Comment 1:
The use of the word brittle by the author has caused
confusion. In the second paragraph of the Introduction
section, it is stated that the Castelmola and Taormina formations, which are intensely jointed, exhibit brittle behaviors. Muller (1970) classified rock mass conditions
from unfractured rock to strongly fragmented rock mass. In
the first case, reference is made to a brittle, continuum
behavior; in the second case, a ductile, discontinuum behavior is introduced. Therefore, given the highly fractured
conditions of the formations under study, the rock masses
should be defined as crushed rather than brittle.
Comment 2:
In this study, a relationship between the effective porosity
and UCS has been proposed. In the second paragraph of the

& M. Torabi-Kaveh
mehditorabikaveh@yahoo.com; m.torabikaveh@basu.ac.ir
M. Miri
mm.miri@hotmail.com
1

Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina

University, Mahdieh Ave., 65175-38695 Hamedan, Iran

Conclusion section, the author concluded that, The effective porosity shows that not all the porosity allows the
circulation of water inside the rock, while it strongly affects the UCS. This result is valid only when the samples
are saturated, while the specimens used in this study were
tested under dry conditions (see the Materials and Methods
section). So, there is no necessity to relate the effective
porosity and UCS.
Comment 3:
Commonly, the mechanical properties of rock can be
estimated on the basis of the physical properties. However, in the technical note, the physical properties were
estimated using the mechanical properties with the
equations reported (see the first paragraph of section 6).
Also, as mentioned above, these rocks show different
degrees of tectonic crushing. This has led to large differences in the physicalmechanical properties of the
two rock specimens. For example, it was observed that
Castelmola specimens show lower values of UCS, E,
Vp, and bulk density and higher porosity than the
Taormina specimens.
In the technical note, relationships between physical and
mechanical properties were studied in simple regression
forms that generally have no significant determination coefficients. Multivariate regression techniques can, however,
be used to combine more than one parameter which affects
a rock property. This method can be useful in those cases
where complex relations are involved (Karakus et al.
2005). We are of the opinion that multivariate regression
analysis is more useful in the assessment of relationships
between physical and mechanical properties of rock. In this
regard, using the numerical values presented in Table 1, we
reanalyze the data as shown in Fig. 1. Model I and Model
II for both the Taormina and Castelmola specimens were

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1746

M. Torabi-Kaveh, M. Miri

Table 1 Measured and predicted uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and E values for Taormina and Castelmola specimens
Specimen
name
Mechanical
parameters

Taormina
Measured
UCS (MPa)

Castelmola
Measured
E (MPa)

Predicted
UCS (MPa)

Predicted
E (MPa)

Measured
UCS (MPa)

Measured
E (MPa)

Predicted
UCS (MPa)

Predicted
E (MPa)

62.00

9333

58.09

7918.64

78.00

11,000

73.43

9524.38

62.57

8444

70.83

9270.41

105.00

17,400

98.08

15,617.81

47.29

6107

62.11

6393.1

58.00

6200

72.87

10,590.80

55.00

2375

38.24

2967.78

97.00

15,400

95.04

13,735.90

62.28

7862

65.69

7739.57

101.17

16,623

101.86

15,746.23

104.09

17,500

101.64

16,700.14

100.72

18,088

100.94

15,761.50

92.56

15,000

88.50

14,525.03

64.69

6230

72.92

10,609.32

58.14

10,870

71.88

12,946.21

109.65

15,043

96.24

14,839.17

85.93

10,640

82.86

10,195

42.68

5440

57.52

8870.16

10

110.92

15,000

113.19

18,558.55

32.84

4621

26.41

3446.24

11

108.00

18,500

99.54

16,428.58

15.18

2667

6.13

182.19

12

89.00

16,700

88.48

15,497.35

21.42

3247

24.90

3035.33

13

112.00

18,800

108.75

17,990.67

Fig. 1 Measured versus predicted uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and E for Taormina and Castelmola specimens. a, b Model I; c, d Model
II

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Discussion on Correlation Between P-Wave Velocity and PhysicalMechanical Properties of

analyzed to predict the UCS and E, respectively, by independent variables, such as Vp, qbulk, and n (Table 1).
Finally, four multivariable regression equations were
developed for the prediction of the UCS and E, shown as
follows (Eqs. 1 and 2 for Taormina specimens and Eqs. 3
and 4 for Castelmola specimens):
UCS 22:91 Vp  64:45 qbulk  6:13 n 165:74

E 5784:63 Vp  42260 qbulk  1689:61 n 104405:285

2
UCS 18:52 Vp  39:24 qbulk  6:9 n 117:34

E 3960:15 Vp 1330:79 qbulk  567:66 n  10425:50

4
It should be noted that the use of multivariable regression analysis presented strong relationships between the

1747

mentioned parameters with high coefficients of determination. The developed equations have relatively higher
coefficients of determination than the presented equations
in Pappalardos paper (2014).

References
Karakus M, Kumral M, Kilic O (2005) Predicting elastic properties of
intact rocks from index tests using multiple regression modelling. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 42:323330
Muller L (1970) Introductory lecture. In: Muller L (ed) Rock
mechanics, CISM courses and lectures 16. Springer, Wien
Pappalardo G (2014) Correlation between P-wave velocity and
physicalmechanical properties of intensely jointed dolostones,
Peloritani Mounts, NE Sicily. Rock Mech Rock Eng. doi:10.
1007/s00603-014-0607-8

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