Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31

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Journal of African Earth Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jafrearsci

Estimation of static parameters based on dynamical and physical

properties in limestone rocks
Mohammad Ghafoori*, Ahmad Rastegarnia, Gholam Reza Lashkaripour
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Due to the importance of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), static Young's modulus (ES ) and shear
Received 25 April 2017 wave velocity, it is always worth to predict these parameters from empirical relations that suggested for
Received in revised form other formations with same lithology. This paper studies the physical, mechanical and dynamical
1 June 2017
properties of limestone rocks using the results of laboratory tests which carried out on 60 the Jahrum and
Accepted 6 September 2017
the Asmari formations core specimens. The core specimens were obtained from the Bazoft dam site,
Available online 7 September 2017
hydroelectric supply and double-curvature arch dam in Iran. The Dynamic Young's modulus (Ed) and
dynamic Poisson ratio were calculated using the existing relations. Some empirical relations were pre-
Keywords:
Limestone rocks
sented to estimate uniaxial compressive strength, as well as static Young's modulus and shear wave
Static and dynamic properties velocity (Vs ). Results showed the static parameters such as uniaxial compressive strength and static
Physical properties Young's modulus represented low correlation with water absorption. It is also found that the uniaxial
Empirical relations compressive strength and static Young's modulus had high correlation with compressional wave velocity
and dynamic Young's modulus, respectively. Dynamic Young's modulus was 5 times larger than static
Young's modulus. Further, the dynamic Poisson ratio was 1.3 times larger than static Poisson ratio. The
relationship between shear wave velocity (Vs ) and compressional wave velocity (Vp ) was power and
positive with high correlation coefficient. Prediction of uniaxial compressive strength based on Vp was
better than that based on Vs . Generally, both UCS and static Young's modulus (ES ) had good correlation
with Ed.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Indirect tests, especially none destructive tests (ultrasonic tests),

Most engineering projects related to the rocks such as tunnels,
foundations and slopes, petroleum reservoir geomechanics (well
bore stability analysis, reservoir compaction survey, and prediction
of optimum drilling mud pressure), as well as modeling the
behavior of rocks and estimation of in situ stresses are required the
static and dynamic properties of the rocks (Chang et al., 2006;
Abdulraheem et al., 2009; Alemdag et al., 2015).
Measuring static and dynamic properties of the rocks, especially
UCS and ES are time consuming processes, tedious, expensive and
require well prepared rock cores. In addition, obtaining these pa-
rameters of rocks are difficult and not accessible, especially deep
drilling and geomechanical purposes. Therefore, indirect methods
such as ultrasonic and physical tests are often used to predict the
UCS and ES .
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ghafoori@um.ac.ir (M. Ghafoori).
are easier to carry out because they necessitate less or no sample
preparation and testing equipment is simple. Also they can be used
in the field. As a result, in comparison to the uniaxial compression
test, indirect tests are simpler, faster and more economical.
Some researchers have investigated the dynamical, mechanical
and physical properties of carbonate rocks. Some of these studies
were listed at below.
Najibi et al. (2015) established some empirical relations be-
tween strength and static and dynamic properties of limestone
rocks. The relationship of compressional wave velocity (Vp ) with
Young's modulus, density and UCS of carbonate rocks were inves-
tigated. Results showed that there were strong relationships be-
tween wave velocities and properties of limestone rocks
(Kahraman and Yeken, 2008; Yasar and Erdogan, 2004; Concu et al.,
2014). The relationship between the petrographic and geo-
mechanical properties of pyroclastic rocks was studied by Korkanç
and Solak (2016).
Stan-Kłeczek (2016) investigated the relationship of bulk, shear

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2017.09.008
1464-343X/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31 23

and elastic modulus as well as Poisson's ratio with compressional

wave velocity in limestone rocks. Castagna and Backus (1993) pre-
sented empirical polynomial relations for estimating shear wave
velocity (Vs ) from Vp depending on data derived from sonic log.
The relationship of the compressional wave velocity (Vs ) and
stress of the different rock types was investigated by Chen and Xu
(2016). Also, the relationship of uniaxial compressive strength and
point load was investigated by Ozturk and Altinpinar (2017).
Pappalardo (2015) presented some linear relationships of the
compressional wave velocity with UCS and physical properties in
limestone rocks. Likewise, the relationship of compressional wave
velocity with physical and mechanical properties of different rocks
was investigated by Khandelwal (2013). Tamrakar et al. (2007)
studied the relations between mechanical and lithological proper-
_
ties of different rocks. Ince and Fener (2016) and Ceryan (2014)
presented a model for estimation of the uniaxial compressive
strength.
The effect of porosity on the tensile and compressive strength of
the porous gypsum was investigated by Palchik and Hatzor (2004).
Fig. 1. A view of the Jahrum formation.
In addition, Palchik (2011) found the relationship of the UCS and
static Young's modulus of carbonate rocks.
The association of the UCS and point load index of the 38 dam with a height of 211 m located in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari
different rock types was examined by Kahraman et al. (2005). province of Iran. The bedrock of the dam site consists of the Ase-
Vasarhelyi (2005) also studied the influence of water content on mari formation (limestone), and the Jahrum formation (limestone).
the strength of the limestone rocks. Figs. 1 and 2 show pictures of the Jahrum and the Asmari forma-
Palchik (2006) presented a model to predict stressestrain re- tions in dam site.
lationships for weak to strong carbonate rocks.
Chang et al. (2006) suggested 31 empirical equations between 3. Thin section investigations
p-wave velocity, Young's modulus, specific gravity and friction
angle with UCS for limestone, shale, dolomite and sandstone. The Asmari formation age is related to Oligo-Miocene period
Table 1 lists some empirical relations between UCS, ES , density, which is the main formation at the south west of Iran. The Asmari
water absorption (Wa ) and Vs with dynamic and static data. formation was studied at the Bazoft dam site.
The main objective of this study was to predict UCS and ES of According to the results of the petrographic examinations, the
limestone rocks. To achieve this goal, the uniaxial compression test, limestone samples were dominantly calcite. Limestone of the
ultrasonic tests, physical tests such as water absorption, porosity Asmari formation includes benthic Foraminifera microfossils. In
and density, carried out on 60 limestone core specimens of the addition, the frequency of these microfossils showed that the
Jahrum and the Asmari formations. The core specimens were ob- Asmari formation precipitated in lagoon environment (Fig. 3).
tained from the Bazoft dam site. The dynamic young's modulus (Ed ) More than 56 thin sections of the Jahrum formation were
and Poisson's ratio were calculated based on related equations. analyzed under the petrographic microscope (Fig. 4). The Jahrum
Some empirical correlations between UCS and ES with Ed, porosity, formation consists of limestone, which includes bioclast wacke-
density, water absorption (Wa ), Vp and Vs for the Jahrum and the stone to packstone. These microfossils showed that the Jahrum
Asmari limestone were established. Also, the correlation of Vs and formation deposited in lagoon environment. Due to the great di-
Vp as well as UCS and ES were investigated. In addition, some versity and abundance of large benthic foraminifera (including
suggested empirical equations about the literatures of this paper miliolides and textularids), the age of the Jahrum formation is
were adjusted with using the present data (measured values). related to the Paleocene-Eocene period.
The particles size and fossils of the microscopic sections showed
2. Bazoft dam site that the Jahrum formation was more fine-grained limestone as
compared to the Asmari formation. As shown in Tables 2 and 3, the
Bazoft dam is a hydroelectric supply and double-curvature arch average values of static properties (UCS and ES ) of the Jahrum

Table 1
Some empirical relations between UCS, Vs and ES with dynamic data (for carbonate rocks).

Equations Descriptions R2 Lithology References

ES ¼ 74*LnðVp Þ  572 Vp in m/s, ES in MPa 0.74 carbonate rocks Stan-Kłeczek, 2016

UCS ¼ 31:5*Vp  63:7 UCS in MPa, Vp in Km/s 0.80 carbonate rocks Yasar and Erdogan, 2004
ES ¼ 10:67*Vp  18:71 ES in GPa 0.86 carbonate rocks Yasar and Erdogan, 2004
Vp ¼ 4:3183*r  7:5071 Vp in Km/s, r in gr=cm3 0.81 carbonate rocks Yasar and Erdogan, 2004
UCS ¼ 11:05*ES UCS in MPa, ES in GPa 0.79 limestone Najibi et al., 2015
UCS ¼ 3:67*Vp Vp in Km/s 0.81 limestone Najibi et al., 2015
 1:32 Ed in GPa 0.88 limestone Najibi et al., 2015
Ed
UCS ¼ 12:8* 10

ES ¼ 0:169*Vp 0.90 limestone Najibi et al., 2015

ES ¼ 0:014*Ed 0.87 limestone Najibi et al., 2015
UCS ¼ 25:1*ES ES in GPa, UCS in MPa e dolomite Chang, 2004
VS ¼ 0:055*Vp þ 1:017*Vp  1:031 Vs and Vp in Km/s e Limestone and Dolomite Castagna et al., 1993
Wa ¼ 2:248*Vp þ 13:76 Vp in Km/s 0.90 carbonate rocks Kahraman and Yeken, 2008
24 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31
Fig. 2. A view of the Asmari formation.
formation (UCS ¼ 73 MPa and ES ¼ 15.53 GPa) specimens are higher
than those obtained for the Asmari formation (UCS ¼ 53.83 MPa
and ES ¼ 9.34 GPa). In contrast, the physical properties of the
Asmari formation are higher than Jahrum formation. Moreover,
UCS and ES values were related to the carbonate percent. Carbonate
content of samples of the Asmari and Jahrum formations are 52%
and 63%, respectively.
4. Experimental procedure and results
In this study, 60 limestone core specimens of the Jahrom and the
Asmari formations were obtained. Ultrasonic testing for measure-
ment of Vs and Vp were performed according to ASTM D2845
Fig. 3. The thin sections of the Asmari formation.
standard (ASTM D2845, 1983). Fig. 5 shows the apparatus for
determining of Vp and Vs. The velocities waves are calculated from
the measured travel time and the distance between transmitter and
receiver. Before testing the ends of the core specimens were pol-
ished and covered with grease. Transducers having a frequency of
0.5 MHz were used.
Uniaxial compressive strength test was performed according to
ASTM D2938 standard (ASTM D2938, 2002) with the loading rate of
0:7Mpa=s. Fig. 6 shows a view of cores before and after test for
Asmari and Jahrum formation.
The deformation was determined using respective strain gauges.
Then, stress-strain curve in order to determination of UCS and ES
was recorded. The modulus of elasticity was derived from the slop
of the stress-strain curves by tangent modulus (Et ). Et is the slope of
tangent line of one point in stress-strain curve. Average modulus
(E) is the slope of part of stress-strain curve that is almost straight
line. Secant modulus (ES ) is the ratio of stress to strain of one point
in stress estrain curve (Chen et al., 2007). Figs. 7 and 8 show the
stress-strain curves of the samples 18 and 40, respectively.
The physical tests, such as density (r), porosity (n), water con-
tent and water absorption by weight (Wa ) were performed ac-
cording to ISRM standard (ISRM, 1981). The porosity and water
absorption by weight of rock samples were determined by satu-
ration and buoyancy techniques. All samples were saturated by
water immersion for a period of 48 h with periodic shocks to
remove trapped air. The density values were obtained from the
ratio of the sample mass to the sample volume. The results of
physical, ultrasonic and uniaxial compressive strength tests on the
studied specimens are shown in Tables 2 and 3 Also, the histogram
of the investigated parameters are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Note
that, the outlier data (six data) were removed from the data list.
Table 2 shows that, the rock samples of the Jahrum limestone
exhibiting wide range of UCS (UCS ¼ 170-28 MPa). This Table also
shows that the Jahrum limestone involves higher ES than the
 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31 25

Fig. 4. The thin sections of the Jahrum formation.

Table 2
Properties of the Jahrum limestone formation.

Statistics Parameters

r(cm
gr
3)
n (%) Water UCS Es Ed Wa (%) Vs Vp Static Poisson's Ratio Dynamic Poisson's Ratio
content (MPa) (GPa) (GPa) (Km/s) (Km/s)
(%)

Mean 2.17 3.8 2.14 72.90 15.53 39.42 1.57 2.50 4.28 0.25 0.28
Std. Error of Mean 0.05 0.4 0.21 6.74 3.01 2.73 0.16 0.11 0.16 0.015 0.019
Std. Deviation 0.28 2.05 1.2 35.03 15.66 14.17 0.83 0.55 0.81 0.077 0.097
Variance 0.08 4.2 1.45 1226.9 245.14 201 0.68 0.30 0.66 0.006 0.009
Range 1 8 4.51 142 78 62 3 2 3 0.25 0.354
Minimum 2 1 0.15 28 5 23 0.35 2 3 0.11 0.15
Maximum 3 9 4.66 170 84 84 3 4 6 0.353 0.50

Table 3
Properties of the Asmari limestone formation.

Statistics Parameters

r n (%) Water content (%) UCS Es Ed Wa Vs Vp Static Poisson's Ratio Dynamic Poisson's Ratio
gr (MPa) (GPa) (GPa) (%) (Km/s) (Km/s)
(cm 3)

Mean 2.4 9.5 3.92 53.83 9.34 24.1 4.2 1.86 3.43 0.21 0.29
Std. Error of Mean 0.02 0.73 0.22 5.27 1.59 2.5 0.32 0.10 0.18 0.003 0.004
Std. Deviation 0.12 4.2 1.2 30.27 9.12 14.2 1.83 0.580 1.01 0.015 0.022
Variance 0.014 17.7 1.36 916.34 83.22 199.4 3.6 0.34 1.03 0.000 0.000
Range 0.44 15.85 4.55 103.55 29.86 48.28 7.60 2.22 3.74 0.08 0.11
Minimum 2.13 3 0.96 5.48 0.04 1.69 0.08 0.54 1.22 0.19 0.27
Maximum 2.57 18.85 5.51 109.03 29.89 49.97 7.68 2.76 4.96 0.27 0.38

Fig. 5. Ultrasonic testing apparatus for determining of Vp and Vs. Fig. 6. A view of cores before and after uniaxial compressive test.
26 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31
Fig. 7. Stress-strain curve of the sample number 18 (from Jahrum formation).
Asmari limestone. Results demonstrated the Jahrum limestone
rocks are stronger in coMParison the Asmari ones. Moreover, the
water absorption, water content and porosity (n) of the Asmari
limestone were higher than the Jahrum one.
Dynamic modulus (Ed) and Poisson coefficient (v) were calcu-
lated by using Eqs. (1) and (2) for each specimen (Keary and Brooks,
1991; Burger, 1992).

shown that the static Young's modulus could be estimated from
rVS 3Vp  4VS
Ed ¼ (1)
Vp  VS
Vp  2VS
v¼
(2)
2 Vp  VS
Where r is the density (cm
gr
3 ), Vs and Vp are in Km=s, and Ed is in Gpa.
5. Statistical analysis
Several factors were analyzed such as the best-fit line, the 95%
confidence limits, adjusted R square, standard error of the estimate
(is a measure of the accuracy of predictions), ANOVA results and the
correlation coefficient (R2 ) were determined for each regression
(Table 4). Results of ANOVA test showed that there were statistically
significant relationships between the independent variables (n, r,
Wa, Es, Ed, Vs, Vp) and the dependent variables (UCS, Es, Ed, Vp, Vs)
(Table 4). There were also power, linear and exponential relations
between dependent variables and independent variables. The cor-
relation between water absorption and porosity with dynamic and
mechanical properties was exponential. There was linear relation-
ship between density with Vs and Vp. Moreover, the relationship
between the static and dynamic parameters was power (Table 4).
As shown in Table 4, the correlation of UCS and Es with water
absorption by weight (%) are lower than other studied parameters.
These conclusions were expecTable because of low water absorp-
tion of limestone rocks. Sonmez et al. (2006) and Ocak (2008) have
uniaxial compressive strength and unit weight of material. In this
study, correlation between UCS and density (r) with Es were
R2 ¼ 0:851 and R2 ¼ 0:70 , respectively. In addition, the best cor-
relation of UCS and Es were related to the Vp and Ed, respectively.
Several researchers (e.g. Vernik et al., 1993; Lashkaripour, 2002)
reported that porosity appears to be the best single predictor of
strength in sedimentary rocks, where the porosity was known, Eqs.
(3), (10) and (12) could be used for predicting the UCS, Es and Ed,
respectively.
6. Static versus dynamic properties
Static rock properties are measured from cores. Deformation is
measured on core samples as pressure is applied and dynamic
properties are calculated using sonic wave velocities and density
values from well logs.
Dynamic moduli are usually 2 - 10 times larger than static
moduli (Plona et al., 1995). In this paper, dynamic Young's modulus
was 5 times larger than static Young's modulus and dynamic
Poisson's ratio was 1.3 times larger than static Poisson's ratio.
 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31 27

Fig. 8. Stress-strain curve of the sample number 40 (from Asmari formation).

Fig. 9. Histogram of the physical properties and the static and dynamic Poisson ratio.

Because rock properties are both frequency and amplitude Other suggested possible reasons such as cracks and void space,
dependent, values measured at higher amplitudes in the laboratory time effects, stress magnitude, temperature effects, fluid saturation
can differ significantly from low amplitude log measurements. and differences in frequencies used to measure the static and
28 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31
Fig. 10. Histogram of the static and dynamic parameters.
dynamic properties (Fjar et al., 2008; Lama and Vutukuri, 1978).
Therefore, the standard industry procedure was used empirical
correlations to derive static properties from dynamic properties.
7. Vp e Vs relationships
A good Vs values can be predicted form the empirical relation-
ships in similar formations, if all measurement are error free.
In carbonate rocks, prediction of Vs using Vp is most reliable
according to the laboratory and logging measurements.
Pickett (1963), demonstrated the potential of Vp =Vs as lithology
indicator. They showed that measurements corresponding to
limestone and dolomite were found along lines of constant with
different ratios of 1.9 for limestone and 1.8 for dolomite. In current
study, this ratio assessed 1.85.
8. Evaluation of previous suggested empirical relations
Fig. 11 shows the plot of predicted Vs , using the relation pro-
posed by Castagna and Backus (1993) versus measured Vs data from
this study. Notice that the Vp data for Castagna and Backus (1993)
relation were derived from sonic log. As shown, the correlation
was polynomial with high coefficient of determination. This
empirical relationship shows that there was good relation between
predicted Vs and measured Vs . This investigation shows that
Castagna and Backus (1993) equation could be used for predicting
the shear wave velocity based on Vp in limestone rocks of the
Jahrum and the Asmari formations. The root mean square error
(RMSE) and R2 of the Castagna and Backus (1993) equation and the
other studied equations were presented in Table 5.
Fig. 12 displays the relationship of the measured and calculated
UCS based on Yasar and Erdogan (2004), and Chang (2004), which
have been fitted to linear and power regression, respectively. The
accuracy of Chang (2004) relation was lower than Yasar and
Erdogan (2004). These empirical relationships showed that there
were good relations between Es and Vp with UCS.
As seen in Table 1, Yasar and Erdogan (2004), Najibi et al. (2015)
and Stan-Kłeczek (2016) have presented some empirical relations
for calculating of the static Young's modulus(Es). This parameter
was calculated based on these empirical relations and correlated
with measured static Young's modulus of this paper. Figs. 13 and 14
show the correlations have high coefficients of determination. The
comparison of suggested correlations showed that the Najibi et al.
(2015) relation had the highest accuracy for predicting the static
Young's modulus. Yasar and Erdogan (2004) and Stan-Kleczek
(2016) relations were in the next orders of accuracy, respectivily.
Furthermore, Najibi et al. (2015) found that the best correlation of
Es was related to the Ed. This result has confirmed by the result of
present paper (see Table 4).
As can be seen in Figs. 11e14 the value of predicted Vs , UCS and
Es (based on other researcher's relations) were compared with the
measured data. The following Table shows the root mean square
error (RMSE) and R-square for each study (Table 5).
As shown in Table 5, the predicted UCS from Yasar and Erdogan
(2004) equation is better study and RMSE is 12.13 MPa for each
specimen. Also, the accuracy of UCS predicted from Chang (2004)
equation was lower (RMSE is 17.6 MPa) than Yasar and Erdogan
(2004) equation. Yasar and Erdogan (2004) and Chang (2004)
equations, predicted the UCS based on the Vp and Es , respectively.
Therefore, prediction of UCS from Vp was better than Es .
Table 5 also shows that Es predicted based on Ed had higher
accuracy (RMSE is 3.6 MPa). Similar results were observed in this
paper (see Table 4, equation (9)). Hence, Ed was the best parameter
for predicting of the Es .
9. Conclusion
By performing this study some empirical relationships between
UCS, Es with water absorption, Ed , Vp and Vs for the Jahrum and the
Asmari limestone rocks were established. The correlation of UCS
with ES was also cheeked.
The statistical analysis reveals that the best correlation of UCS
and Es was related to the Vp and Ed , respectively.
Regression analysis showed a reliable power correlation be-
tween wave velocities, static and dynamic modulus with uniaxial
compressive strength (UCS), which allows a reasonable estimation
of the limestone rocks strength. Low correlation of water absorp-
tion with UCS and Es was found. The relation between Vs and Vp
showed the high correlation coefficient. There were exponential
relations and relatively high correlation values between porosity
 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31 29

Table 4
Empirical relations for the Jahrum and the Asmari limestone rocks.

EQUATION STD. ERROR OF THE ESTIMATE R SQUARE ADJUSTED RESULT of ANOVA TEST
(R2 ) R SQUARE
F Sig.

0.12 0.97 0.96 1348.62 0

UCS ¼ 3:18*Ed (3)

0.471 0.47 0.46 46.4 0

UCS ¼ 108*eð0:22*WaÞ (4)

0.43 0.55 0.54 70 0

UCS ¼ 110:51*eð0:2*nÞ (5)

0.34 0.70 0.69 130 0

UCS ¼ 0:005*rð10:3Þ (6)

0.091 0.984 0.973 2378.15 0

UCS ¼ 3:73*Vp2:1 (7)

0.131 0.96 0.95 1184 0

UCS ¼ 15:41*Vs1:82 (8)

0.39 0.912 0.91 601 0

ES ¼ 0:022*Ed1:774 (9)

0.71 0.71 0.70 140 0

Es ¼ 4:3*108 *rð21:2Þ (10)

0.5 0.514 0.51 59 0

Ed ¼ 55:51*eð0:253*wa Þ (11)

0.35 0.74 0.73 164 0

Ed ¼ 64:4*eð0:134*nÞ (12)

0.96 0.46 0.451 49.44 0

ES ¼ 27:43*eð0:45*WaÞ (13)

0.74 0.68 0.675 123 0

Es ¼ 38*eð0:24*nÞ (14)

0.45 0.862 0.85 312 0

ES ¼ 0:070*Vp (15)

0.48 0.841 0.84 270.1 0

ES ¼ 0:82*VS (16)

0.056 0.975 0.974 2247 0

VS ¼ 0:4741*Vp (17)

0.17 0.931 0.930 780 0

VS ¼ 4:99*r  10:071 (18)

0.21 0.96 0.96 1364 0

Vp ¼ 7:956*r  15:642 (19)

0.25 0.853 0.85 301 0

UCS ¼ 20:11*Es (20)

Table 5
RMSE and R-square of the predicted values.

Predicted UCS (MPa) R2 RMSE

Yasar and Erdogan (2004) 0.94 12.13

Chang (2004) 0.92 17.6

Predicted Vs (Km/s)

Castagna and Backus (1993) 0.97 0.21

Predicted Es (GPa)

Yasar and Erdogan (2004) 0.82 12.45

Stan-Kłeczek (2016) 0.71 27
Najibi et al. (2015) based on Vp 0.94 7.4
Najibi et al. (2015) based on Ed 0.96 3.6
Fig. 11. Correlation between predicted Vs from Castagna and Backus (1993) relation
and measured Vs .
30 M. Ghafoori et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 137 (2018) 22e31
Fig. 12. Relationship between measured and predicted UCS based on previous sug-
gested relations.
Fig. 13. Correlation between predicted Es based on empirical equations and measured
Es.
Fig. 14. Correlation between measured and calculated Es based on Najibi et al. (2015)
relations.
with static and dynamic properties.
The compression between static and dynamic properties of
limestone rocks showed that the dynamic Young's modulus was 5
times larger than static Young's modulus and dynamic Poisson's
ratio is 1.3 times larger than static one.
Calibration of previous suggested empirical relations of other
researchers showed that they had acceptable accuracy for the
Jahrum and the Asmari limestones.
The accuracy of predicted UCS based on previous suggested
relations were compared using r-square (R2 ) and RMSE. As, UCS
predicted based on Vp had high accuracy. In this, UCS had the best
correlation with Vp . Hence, the ultrasonic tests were recommended
for estimation of UCS.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the support received
from the staffs of “Qods Niru Engineering Company” (QNEC) for
providing necessary data. The authors also wish to thank the
anonymous referees for comments and suggestions that improved
this paper. This research has been supported by a grant number 2/
42623 from Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, for
which we express our sincere thanks.
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