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Experimental Study of Mechanical and Permeability Behaviors During the Failure of Sandstone Containing Two Preexisting Fissures Under Triaxial Compression

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Abstract

Rock masses are typical inhomogeneous geological materials that contain many fissures and cracks. The coupling effect of the crack propagation and seepage evolution in rocks is very important to the safety of rock engineering. However, hydromechanical coupling behavior during the failure of fissured rocks has rarely been investigated. In this research, hydromechanical coupling tests are performed to fully explore the behaviors in strength, deformation, permeability and failure mode of sandstone samples with two preexisting fissures. The experimental results show that the ratio of crack initiation threshold/peak strength, the ratio of crack damage threshold/peak strength and the value of the elastic modulus decrease by at most 31.8%, 12.2% and 18.4% due to the existence of the two fissures, while the Poisson’s ratio increases by at most 45.6%. Furthermore, the values of permeability before the sudden increase stage range from 2.1% to 17.6% of the maximum permeability value. The influence of bridge length and angle on permeability is more significant under lower confining pressure or higher water pressure. Five failure modes are observed in the double-fissure samples under hydromechanical coupling conditions. Additionally, the “wing cracks + indirect coalescence” failure mode is generated only when the ligament length is shorter than the fissure length. The corresponding strength is lower than that for other failure modes. CT images show that the expansion of cracks inside the samples is more restricted than that at the surface of the samples, especially near the rock bridge region. The effects of failure modes on the mechanical and permeability properties, from greatest to least, are as follows: crack initiation threshold, peak strength, crack damage threshold, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio and permeability. This research is contributed to analyze the stability of water-bearing rocks in underground caverns with many preexisting fissures.

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Abbreviations

W:

Wing crack

AW:

Anti-wing crack

INC:

Indirect coalescence

SC:

Secondary crack

NC:

No coalescence

DC:

Direct coalescence

UCS:

Uniaxial compression strength

ρ :

Density

n :

Initial porosity

σ t :

Tensile strength

E :

Elastic modulus

μ :

Poisson’s ratio

C :

Cohesion

φ :

Friction angle

K :

Softening factor

k :

Permeability

Q :

Water flow rate

A :

Cross-sectional area of the sample

μ f :

Dynamic viscosity of the fluid

ΔP :

Water pressure difference applied between both end planes of the rock sample

H :

Height of sample

D :

Diameter of sample

a :

Half-length of the fissure

b :

Width of the fissure

α :

Fissure dip angle

L :

Rock bridge ligament length

β :

Rock bridge angle

P c :

Confining pressure

P w :

Water pressure

ε 1 :

Axial strain

ε 3 :

Lateral strain

ε v :

Volumetric strain

ε vc :

Crack-induced volumetric strain

σ 1 :

Axial stress

σ 3 :

Confining pressure

σ cc :

Primary crack closure threshold

σ ci :

Crack initiation threshold

σ cd :

Crack damage threshold

σ c :

Peak strength

σ r :

Residual strength

k 0 :

Initial permeability

k ci :

Permeability corresponding to the crack initiation threshold

k cd :

Permeability corresponding to the crack damage threshold

k c :

Permeability corresponding to the peak strength

k max :

Maximum permeability

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41772299, 51279096) and the Open Fund Research Project of State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Mining Disaster Prevention and Control, China (No. MDPC201815).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Yiteng Du, Tingchun Li, Weiteng Li, Gang Wang & Peng He

  2. Radiology Department, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Yande Ren

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  1. Yiteng Du
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  2. Tingchun Li
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Correspondence to Tingchun Li.

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Du, Y., Li, T., Li, W. et al. Experimental Study of Mechanical and Permeability Behaviors During the Failure of Sandstone Containing Two Preexisting Fissures Under Triaxial Compression. Rock Mech Rock Eng 53, 3673–3697 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02119-x

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