Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to investigate physical, strength and petrographic
features of rocks of District Swabi and surrounding areas. Moreover this study was aimed
to find out how physical and strength properties and petrographic features change with
one another and to find out if a meaningful correlation was present between direct and
direct strength tests of the rocks. Two bulk rock samples for each formation/lithology
were collected. The rocks included Nikani Ghar Marble, Ambela Granite, ShewaShahbazgari Granite and Utla Granite and marble, limestone and dolomite of Nowshera
Formation. Bulk rock samples were cut into different test specimens. Cube samples were
prepared for UCS, UPV and physical tests while block rock samples were prepared for
PLT according to ASTM specifications. Similarly two thin sections were made for each
rock type. Physical and strength tests and petrographic studies were performed at NCEG
Peshawar. Results of physical and strength properties showed that the rocks can be
confidently recommended for use in engineering projects. UCS of the rocks ranged
between 51.1 and 294 MPa, PLT ranged between 2.86 and 10.03MPa, Hr ranged between
36.9 and 64.3, OD-UPV ranged between 1869.5 and 4765.8m/s , while SSD-UPV ranged
between 4185.7 and 6059.3 m/s. Similarly water absorption of the rocks ranged between
0.37 and 0.86%, specific gravity ranged between 2.6453 and 2.8960, and porosity ranged
between 0.142% and 0.32%. Strong correlation was find between UCS and Hr (Rsquared=0.95), UCS and PLT (R=0.914), PLT and Hr (R= 0.867) while weaker
correlation was present between OD-UPV and Hr (R=0.694, SSD-UPV and Hr
(R=0.707), OD-UPV and UCS (R=0.74) and SSD-UPV and UCS (R=0.714). While no
meaningful correlation was present between UPV (OD or SSD) and Porosity.
