The effect of cyclic loading on the strength of tephrite rock

In this thesis, the rock which is known as Trabzon stone in market was subjected to cyclic loading experiments to investigate the deformation mechanism under fatigue loading conditions. In this study, the effects of different variables used as load, frequency and number of cycles on the strength of the rock were analyzed. Experiment groups were developed for each variable and in each group; only one parameter was variable while others kept fixed. Similar studies were carried out for the saturated rocks and the effect of water on behavior of rock was investigated by comparing these two cases. In addition to these studies, after cyclic loading experiments, sections were taken from the samples and SEM analyzes were performed. In this way, fatigue mechanism of the rock tried to be interpreted with images taken. In the result of this work, it has been founded that the uniaxial compressive strength of the rock decreases with increasing load and decreasing frequency. Also, it was determined that the increase in the number of cycles caused a decrease in the strength. When cyclic loading tests are applied to the rocks in the saturated condition, it is seen that the water reduces the strength of the rock but it is founded that there is no significant relationship between the applied three parameters and the load. Key Words: Fatigue, Cyclic loading, Load, Frequency, Number of cycles.