ABSTRACT
298 299Estimating rock strength from seismic velocity is a very effective way for building a strength model of a large rock mass. This chapter first reviews the literature on empirical equations for estimating unconfined compressive strength of a rock from seismic P-wave velocity. It then focuses on the relationships between compressive strength and seismic velocity for soft rock, because there are few studies on the relationship for soft rock. To enable more accurate and reliable estimates, physical models of the compressive strength–seismic velocity relationship are proposed and applied to real data for demonstrating the applicability of the models. These demonstrations proved that physical models can be effectively used to estimate rock strength from seismic velocity.
