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Experimental and Numerical Studies of Brittle Rock-Like Samples with Internal Open Fractures and Cavities Under Uniaxial Compression

  • Research Article-Civil Engineering
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Abstract

Previous laboratory tests conducted using rock-like samples with 2D through fractures are mostly high-level simplifications of real engineering conditions. Thus, the results from these 2D analyses cannot usually be successfully applied to 3D conditions and real engineering conditions. To study the mechanical properties and failure processes of samples that could highly represent the 3D conditions in the real world, brittle rock-like samples with designed internal open-type fractured structures are prepared for this study using the volume loss method and super absorbent polymer, and following studies included the uniaxial compression tests and discrete element numerical simulations. The results from real tests and simulations proved that the shape, position, and volume of internal open-type fractured structures had an obvious influence on the physical properties and spatial distributions of shear and tensile failures of specimens. Different from the results obtained by former 2D studies, failure surfaces in this work are not parallel with the preset structures, and the main failure faces develop along the diagonal directions of the internal structure. In addition, the tensile failure distribution is controlled by the shape and position of the internal structure, and the shear failure distribution is influenced by the height of the internal structure and the positions of the tensile failure surface. The findings are helpful for explaining the failure characteristics of specimens containing 3D fractured structures.

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Abbreviations

2D:

Two-dimensional

3D:

Three-dimensional

SAP:

Super absorbent polymer

AE:

Acoustic emission

CT:

Computed tomography

PFC:

Particle Flow Code

SRM:

Synthetic rock mass model

BPM:

Bonded particle model (numerical model in PFC software)

FJM:

Flat-joint model (numerical model in PFC software)

FJC:

Flat-joint contact

STL:

Stereolithography format of digital graph

PS:

Peak-time uniaxial strain

UCS:

Uniaxial compression strength

TS:

Tensile strength

EM:

Elastic modulus

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Numbers 51774020 and 51934003], the Program for Yunnan thousand talents plan high-level innovation and entrepreneurship team, and the Program for innovative research team (in Science and Technology) in University of Yunnan Province. Thanks for the guidance from Prof. Zach Agioutantis in the University of Kentucky, and thanks Ph.D. Congcong Chen for her assistance in laboratory tests, Ph.D. Long Chen and Ph.D. Liangfeng Xiong for their helps in PFC3D simulations. Finally, we declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yusong Zhao, Yongtao Gao & Shunchuan Wu

  2. Department of Mining Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA

    Yusong Zhao

  3. Faculty of Land Resources Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, Yunnan, China

    Shunchuan Wu

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  1. Yusong Zhao
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Correspondence to Yongtao Gao or Shunchuan Wu.

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Zhao, Y., Gao, Y. & Wu, S. Experimental and Numerical Studies of Brittle Rock-Like Samples with Internal Open Fractures and Cavities Under Uniaxial Compression. Arab J Sci Eng 45, 8349–8368 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-020-04712-2

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