Comparison of measurement uncertainty calculation methods on example of indirect tensile strength measurement

Indirect measure of the tensile strength of laboratory samples is an important topic in rock engineering. One of the most important tests, the Brazilian strength test is performed to obtain the tensile strength of rock, concrete and other quasi brittle materials. Because the measurements are provided indirectly and the inspected rock materials may have heterogeneous properties, uncertainty quantification is required for a reliable test evaluation. In addition to the conventional measurement evaluation uncertainty methods recommended by the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM), such as Taylor's and Monte Carlo Methods, a fuzzy set-based approach is also proposed and resulting uncertainties are discussed. The results showed that when a tensile strength measurement is measured by a laboratory test, its uncertainty can also be expressed by one of the methods presented.