Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Arabian Journal of Geosciences (2023) 16:602 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11712-7 ORIGINAL PAPER Evaluation of engineering properties of KBH and KCH Kaimur Sandstone based on petrological analyses Videshi Chaudhary 1  · Saurabh Kumar 2  · Sanjay Kumar Tiwari 1  · Hemant Kumar Pandey 3 Received: 24 January 2023 / Accepted: 30 September 2023 © Saudi Society for Geosciences and Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 Abstract The Vindhyan sedimentary rocks are well exposed near Son valley due to Markundi-Jamwal fault. A relationship among textural, petrographic, and mineralogical characteristics with mechanical properties of sandstone has been established for Kaimur Bhagwanpur village Hill (KBH) and Kaimur Chainpur village Hill (KCH) which falls under Kaimur group. A com- parative study between KBH and KCH has been performed to understand the textural behavior of minerals. The petrographic study reveals that the rock is characterized by rich sources of quartz, feldspar, mica, clay-rich minerals, and some accessory minerals. Based on petrographic data, the relationship of K-feldspar with moisture content (MC), grain area ratio (GAR), packing density (PD), shear strength (SS), proto-dykonova values (PdT), slake durability index (SDI), impact strength index (ISI), and Young Modulus (E) of sandstone rock collected from 5 different locations from both KBH and KCH sandstone were evaluated. It was found that all parameters show the linear incremental relationship with K-feldspar except Young Modulus in KCH sandstone. In addition, K-feldspar shows linear incremental relationship with packing density, shear strength, proto- dykonova values and Young Modulus whereas linear decremented relationship was observed with moisture content, grain area ratio, slake durability index and impact strength index. Keywords Petrographic study · Mechanical properties · Grain area ratio · Kaimur Sandstone Introduction Stability of slope is significantly affected by engineering properties of rock (Kainthola et al. 2012; Pain et al. 2014). Compressive and shear strength which are also strongly dependent on the petrographic properties of the rock. The physical and mechanical properties of the rocks are greatly influenced by the petrographic characteristics viz. texture, fabric, and degree of interlocking of grains, nature of con- tacts, mineralogical composition, and the weathering state (Irfan 1996). The rocks under vindhyan super group are well matured due to long term deposition history. Vindhyan supergroup is characterized by the deposition of calcareous, arenaceous, and argillaceous sediments of different gran size. The sandstone is most abundant sedimentary rock under Kaimur group in north- ern Indian continent. The rock is mainly composed of Quartz and Felspar. In Vindhyan, exposer expansion of sedimentary rock as Kaimur group sedimentary basin. The samples of sandstone show the variation in the mineralogy, petrographic characteristics, and engineering properties (Chaudhary et. al., 2021a, b). In the study area, sedimentary rock is very strong, stable, and has a higher abrasion value; therefore, it is suitable for building construction material. Geotechnical parameters of sandstones such as density, specific gravity, shear strength, Protodykanova test, impact strength, and Young Modulus are validated by petrographic analysis. The properties of rock like discontinuities, inho- mogeneity, anisotropic non-elastic, and non-linear behavior are studied (Shalabi et al. 2007). Hence it is understood that the properties of rock mass largely depend upon the behavior of these discontinuities under various natural and induced stresses. Responsible Editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler * Saurabh Kumar saurabhkumar@mnnit.ac.in 1 Department of Geology, BHU, Varanasi, India 2 Department of Civil Engineering, NIMS University, Jaipur, India 3 Department of Civil Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Prayagraj, India