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Numerical study on sandstone strength and failure characteristics with heterogeneous structure

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Abstract

Rocks are a typical kind of heterogeneous material composed of differences in size, shape, type, and mineral particle distribution. The strength and deformation characteristics of rocks are controlled by their internal heterogeneous structures. A numerical model was built to analyse the strength and failure characteristics of sandstone samples with randomly distributed heterogeneous. The results revealed that heterogeneous structures induce local stress concentrations and accelerate sample failure. At a loading rate of 0.01 mm/s, the mechanical properties of sandstone samples with soft heterogeneous particles are uniformly smaller than those of standard sandstone samples, while those of sandstone samples with hard heterogeneous particles follow different variation rules, depending on the specific heterogeneous particle content. With the differences between heterogeneous particles and sandstone particles in properties, an increase is observed in the mechanical properties of samples with different heterogeneous particle contents. Soft heterogeneous structures determine the crack initiation position of the main crack and the development and propagation space of cracks through their distribution pattern, while hard heterogeneous structures are load-bearing and change crack propagation paths. When there are multiple structures with different properties in rocks, micro-cracks occur first between soft heterogeneous particles, and the distribution pattern of soft heterogeneous particles determines the ultimate failure mode of samples as well as the propagation paths and development space of cracks.

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Funding

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51904162), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M682208), Postdoctoral Innovation Project of Shandong Province (202102036), SDUST Research Fund (2019TDJH101), and Elite talent project of SDUST.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Energy and Mining Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Feng Wang, Zeqi Jie, Hongyang Liu, Dawei Yin & Weihao Zhu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Mining Disaster Prevention and Control Co-Founded By Shandong Province and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Feng Wang & Dawei Yin

  3. Liangjia Coal Mine Co., Ltd, Longkou, 265799, China

    Jingkui Zhou & Yulong Zou

Authors
  1. Feng Wang
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  2. Zeqi Jie
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  3. Hongyang Liu
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  4. Dawei Yin
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  5. Weihao Zhu
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  6. Jingkui Zhou
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  7. Yulong Zou
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Correspondence to Feng Wang.

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Wang, F., Jie, Z., Liu, H. et al. Numerical study on sandstone strength and failure characteristics with heterogeneous structure. Bull Eng Geol Environ 82, 3 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-03027-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-03027-w

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