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A Novel True Triaxial Apparatus for Studying the Time-Dependent Behaviour of Hard Rocks Under High Stress

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Abstract

The study introduced a true triaxial testing apparatus for conducting time-dependent experiments on hard rocks under high stress. The apparatus consists of two-rigid loading platens to apply the maximum and intermediate principal stresses, and a flexible loading system with which to apply the minimum principal stress, under constant-temperature control. It includes a simple sample-installation system, an acoustic emission acquisition system, data acquisition system, and a software interface. The novel apparatus overcomes the long-term eccentric loading problem faced when testing rock samples using a biaxial double-closed-loop servo-control mode. In addition, using an integrated structural design, the stiffness of the apparatus was increased, which was conducive to improving the data precision obtained in small-scale deformation experiments involving hard, stiff, or strong, rock samples. It also provides the possibility of studying the post-peak time-dependent behaviours of hard rocks under high stress. To verify the advantages of this apparatus and investigate the influence of intermediate principal stress on the time-dependent behaviour of hard rock, this study demonstrated the experimental methods and results for pre- and post-peak time-dependent of hard rock under true triaxial compression. The experimental results showed that intermediate principal stress exerted a significant influence on the time-dependent behaviour, and long-term deformation and strength, of hard rocks: post-peak fractured rocks still exhibited a certain time-dependent strength. The results also validated the reliability of this true triaxial time-dependent apparatus.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from National Key R&D Program of China under Grant No. 2017YFC0804203, the 111 Project under Grant No. B17009, and the CAS Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences under Grant No. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC016. Mr Qingze Hao, Mr Yazhou Liu, and Mr Xin Wang from Scientific Test System Corporation in Changchun, China, are acknowledged for their work in the building of the new apparatus.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education on Safe Mining of Deep Metal Mines, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Xia-Ting Feng, Jun Zhao, Xiwei Zhang & Rui Kong

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  1. Xia-Ting Feng
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  2. Jun Zhao
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  3. Xiwei Zhang
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  4. Rui Kong
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Correspondence to Xia-Ting Feng.

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Feng, XT., Zhao, J., Zhang, X. et al. A Novel True Triaxial Apparatus for Studying the Time-Dependent Behaviour of Hard Rocks Under High Stress. Rock Mech Rock Eng 51, 2653–2667 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1516-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1516-z

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