The experimental results show that the creep properties of the rocks are affected by the initial damage, and the damage evolution also has a significant impact on the time-dependent properties of the rocks during the creep. However, the effects of the initial damage and the damage evolution are seldom considered in the current study of the rocks' creep models. In this paper, a new nonlinear creep damage model is proposed based on the multistage creep test results of the sandstones with different damage degrees. The new nonlinear creep damage model is improved based on the Nishihara model. The influences of the initial damage and the damage evolution on the components in the Nishihara model are considered. The creep damage model can not only describe the changes in three creep stages, namely, the primary creep, the secondary creep, and the tertiary creep, but also reflect the influence of the initial damage and the damage evolution on creep failure. The nonlinear least squares method is used to determine the parameters in the nonlinear creep damage model. The consistency between the experimental data and the predicted results indicates the applicability of the nonlinear damage model to accurately predict the creep deformation of the rocks with initial damage.
Scale-free features of temporal localization of deformation in late stages of creep failure
