Abstract
Understanding the time-dependent deformation and failure characteristics of columnar jointed rock masses (CJRM) exposed in the Baihetan hydropower station dam foundation is critical for the project’s long-term stability and safety. A series of short-term triaxial and cyclic loading creep tests for artificial CJRM specimens with various joint dip angles under a confining pressure of 5 MPa and pore pressure of 2 MPa were performed with a servo-controlled triaxial test. The influences of the joint dip angle on the short-term and creep mechanical behavior of the CJRM specimens were analyzed. The results show that the characteristic stresses, including the crack initiation stress (\(\sigma_{{{\text{ci}}}}\)), crack damage stress (\(\sigma_{{{\text{cd}}}}\)), peak strength (\(\sigma_{{\text{p}}}\)), residual strength (\(\sigma_{{\text{r}}}\)), long-term strength (\(\sigma_{\rm{L}}\)), and failure strength (\(\sigma_{{\text{f}}}\)), change with the joint dip angle in a U-shape pattern. The total axial strain comprises the instantaneous elastic strain, instantaneous plastic strain, visco-elastic strain, and visco-plastic strain, all of which depend on the joint dip angles and deviatoric stress levels. The visco-elastic strain converged to a particular value, and the visco-plastic strain increased with time. The steady-state creep strain rate increased exponentially with increasing stress ratio (\({\sigma \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {\sigma {\sigma_{{\text{f}}} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\sigma_{{\text{f}}} }}\)). Finally, three failure modes associated with joint dip angles were observed. Scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy tests were conducted on the failed CJRM specimens to examine the failure mechanism.
Highlights
• Short-term triaxial and cyclic loading creep tests on the artificial columnar jointed rock masses are performed.
• Short-term and creep anisotropic mechanical behavior of artificial columnar jointed rock masses are discussed.
• Failure modes and mechanism of the artificial columnar jointed rock masses are observed and revealed.
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Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC0407004), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51939004, 11772118, 11772116), and the 111 Project are gratefully acknowledged.
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Zhang, T., Xu, W., Wang, H. et al. Experimental Investigations on Short-Term and Creep Anisotropic Mechanical Behavior of Artificial Columnar Jointed Rock Masses. Rock Mech Rock Eng 55, 5393–5413 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-02880-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-02880-1