The meso-fracturing mechanism of marble under unloading confining pressure paths and constant axial stress

Failure tests on marble during unloading confining-pressure under constant axial stress and simulations with the particle flow code were performed. The influence mechanism of the unloading rate of the confining pressure, initial unloading stress, and confining pressure on the failure characteristics of, and crack propagation in, marble was studied. By using the trial-and-error method, the conversion relationship between the unloading rates of confining pressures in laboratory tests and numerical simulations was ascertained. Micro-cracks formed in the unloading process of confining pressure are dominated by tension cracks, accompanied by shear cracks. The propagation of shear cracks lags that of tension cracks. As the confining pressure is increased, more cracks occur upon failure of the samples. The proportion of shear cracks increases while that of tension cracks decreases. The failure mode of samples undergoes a transition from shear-dominated failure to conjugated shear failure.

Deformation Failure and Gas Seepage of Raw Coal in Alternate Loading and Unloading by Stages

In this paper, the cyclic loading and unloading confining pressure tests of raw coal samples were carried out by using the "Triaxial seepage test device of thermal fluid solid of coal and rock" developed by Chongqing University. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The axial strain change rate ε1´, the radial strain change rate ε3´ and the permeability change rate k´ under unit stress state are used to represent the sensitivity of axial stress and confining pressure to deformation and permeability characteristics of samples under unit stress state. (2) At the initial stage of unloading the confining pressure, the confining pressure has a greater influence on the permeability of the sample. At the initial stage of loading confining pressure, the confining pressure has a greater influence on the radial strain of the specimen. During the subsequent loading and unloading process, the confining pressure of loading and unloading has a greater influence on the permeability of the sample, and a smaller influence on the axial strain. The loading axial stress has a greater influence on the axial strain of the sample, and a smaller influence on the permeability of the sample. (3) When the axial stress is constant, the increase range of sample permeability increases with the increase of unloading confining pressure range, and the decreasing range of sample permeability increases with the increase of loading confining pressure range, and the increase range of sample permeability under unloading confining pressure is higher than that under increasing confining pressure. (4) In the process of loading axial stress and loading confining pressure, the permeability of samples decreases nonlinearly with the increase of principal stress difference, while the permeability of samples increases nonlinearly with the decrease of principal stress difference in the process of unloading confining pressure.

Strength and Failure Characteristics of Saturated Sandstone Under Loading and Unloading

Water has effects on the strength and failure characteristics of the sandstone in natural environment. Conventional triaxial compressive or unloading confining pressure experiments were conducted on sandstone specimens. Experimental results indicate that the compressive strength of sandstone decreases significantly under saturated conditions in comparison with dry conditions, the strength parameters of saturated specimens under unloading confining pressure are also lower than those of dry rock samples; for the sandstone with the same water content, the strengths under triaxial unloading confining pressure is slightly higher than those under triaxial compressive condition; compared with the stress path of triaxial compression, the stress path of unloading confining pressure makes cracks propagate more easily along the axial direction, and the angle between fracture surface and axial direction is smaller. Under triaxial unloading confining pressure, there failure modes of dry sandstone are tension failure and shear failure, while that of saturated sandstone is mainly shear failure. In the process of water saturation, the bond and friction characteristics between grain particles are degraded due to water weakening the cementation between the grain particles and softening grains boundary, and the expansion of clay minerals in the sandstone, which leads to the decrease of macroscopic mechanical strengths.

Research on Energy Conversion and Damage Features of Unloading Instability of Sandstone under High Stress

In order to explore the failure characteristics of sandstone under unloading conditions in deep zone with high stress, constant axial pressure and unloading confining pressure tests were conducted on a yellow sandstone sample under different initial confining pressures using the French ROCK600-50 triaxial tester, and the mechanical properties, energy conversion characteristics, and damage evolution law of sandstone failure under unloading conditions were obtained. The test results showed that the axial deformation, the confining pressure for failure, and the shear fracture energy during the failure process of sandstone under the unloading state were positively correlated with the initial confining pressure; the dilatancy amount and speed and the radial deformation were negatively correlated with the initial confining pressure, exhibiting the characteristics of dilatancy under low confining pressure and compression under high confining pressure. Before the unloading point, almost all the energy absorbed by the rock under low initial confining pressure was converted into elastic energy, while part of the energy absorbed under high initial confining pressure was converted into dissipated energy, and the higher the confining pressure, the greater the proportion of the dissipated energy converted. The higher the initial confining pressure, the greater the elastic energy, radial deformation energy, and dissipated energy at the rock fracture point. The larger the unloading confining pressure, the greater the postpeak failure energy and surplus energy of sandstone, and the greater the increase in the proportion of elastic energy converted into surplus energy. The higher the confining pressure, the larger the damage value at the unloading point; the damage speed in the unloading stage was significantly greater than that in the loading stage.

Experimental Investigations on Rheological Properties of Mudstone in Kilometer-Deep Mine

The soft rock roadway in deep high-stress environment has the problems of strong rheology and large deformation. Based on the analysis of the stress distribution of the surrounding rock of the roadway in a kilometer-deep mine, rheological tests under different stress paths are carried out for mudstone in a kilometer-deep mine. The rheological deformation curve, damage characteristics, and change rule of the main mechanical parameters of mudstone under different stress conditions are studied. The results show the following: (1) the peak strength of the triaxial compression of mudstone is closely related to confining pressure, and, with increasing confining pressure, the confining pressure effect decreases gradually; (2) the strain increases slowly under uniaxial loading, and, with increasing axial pressure, the velocity of rheological deformation increases nonlinearly, and the amount of mudstone deformation increases with time; (3) under the condition of unloading confining pressure with constant axial pressure, with decreasing confining pressure, the instantaneous axial and radial strains of mudstone specimen increase nonlinearly, the rheological strain and velocity of mudstone increase gradually, and the lateral rheological strain is close to the axial rheological strain; and, (4) in the unloading confining pressure with axial compression triaxial test, with increasing deviating stress, the axial and radial instantaneous strain increments of mudstone decrease gradually, the lateral strain and rheological velocity of mudstone increase gradually, and the lateral strain is approximately 2.05 times the axial strain. These conclusions reveal the rheological characteristics of the mudstone under different surrounding rock conditions and provide a theoretical basis for the excavation deformation and support control of roadways.

Fractal Characteristics of Coal and Sandstone Failure under Different Unloading Confining Pressure Tests

To analyze the fractal characteristics of coal rock failure under unloading conditions, triaxial unloading confining pressure tests were carried out on coal and sandstone rock samples under different unloading rates and initial confining pressures. We examined the distribution of the surface cracks and fragmentation of the coal and sandstone samples that failed under different triaxial unloading confining pressure tests. The results showed that the fractal dimension of the surface cracks in coal and sandstone decreased as the initial unloading confining pressure increased. Thus, shear failure is more obvious in coal or sandstone with high-stress conditions caused by unloading confining pressure than in coal or sandstone with low-stress conditions. However, the fractal dimension of the surface cracks increased with the unloading rates. Additionally, the fractal dimension of the fragmentation in the coal and sandstone samples had a negative correlation with the initial unloading confining pressure. When the initial confining pressure was relatively low, the samples underwent splitting and shear failure; when the initial confining pressure was higher, the failure mode was mostly shear failure and the fragmentation of the samples was less homogeneous. In contrast, the fractal dimension of the fragmentation in the coal and sandstone increased with higher unloading rates. The lithology had a significant effect on the fractal dimension of the surface cracks and on the fragmentation. Samples with more internal fissures had more surface cracks and the fragmentation was more homogeneous when the rock failed compared with samples with less fissures under the same experimental conditions.

Effect of wet-dry cycles on disintegration characteristics of clay-bearing sandstone with UF cracks

UF cracks in rock masses commonly occur due to the unloading effect, which constantly happens after the variation of in-situ stress field or rock excavation. When undergoing periodic water fluctuation, rock mass with UF cracks is vulnerable to deterioration or even disintegration, especially for clay-bearing sandstone. To study the effect of changes in moisture on rock samples with UF cracks, clay-bearing sandstone from the Triassic Badong group in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area were chosen and investigated. The rock samples with UF cracks are obtained by conducting triaxial unloading confining pressure experiment. The effect of wet-dry cycles on the morphology properties and microstructure of the UF surface was investigated. The characteristics of particle-size uniformity from the sieve test were obtained by the calculation of RMS of particle contents. The test results show that UF cracks widen significantly and the disintegrated mass increases rapidly in the first three wet-dry cycles, while the fractal dimension of UF surface decreases sharply, but afterwards the disintegrated mass changes gently and the UF surface tends to be flat and smooth. Then, the RMS calculation of particle contents quantitatively evaluate the clay-bearing sandstone’s disintegration properties, which indicate the particle uniformity plays a key role on its disintegration mechanism. During wet-dry cycles, the tested samples tend to disintegrate more rapidly and entirely with the decrease of particle uniformity.