Abstract
During the construction and application of underground engineering, rock materials are often subjected to cyclic loads with varying amplitudes. Although the mechanical properties of rock materials under cyclic loading have been extensively studied, the gradual process of internal crack propagation still needs further exploration and quantitative description. In this paper, the failure process of rock under monotonic loading and cyclic loading was analysed from macroscopic and microscopic perspectives using laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Triaxial experiments and cyclic loading experiments with variable amplitudes were conducted on marble specimens under different confining pressures. Then, the experimental process was reproduced by numerical simulation using the discrete element method, and the process of rock failure was described quantitatively by defining the contact failure rate and damage density. In addition, the relationship between dissipated energy and crack propagation is discussed to some extent. The results show that based on the evolutions of the contact failure rate and damage density, the monotonic loading process can be more accurately divided into four stages. During the accelerating crack propagation stage, the cyclic load will generate more failure contacts beyond the direction of 70° to 110°, forming diffuse cracks and ultimately resulting in a bulging failure mode. The higher the confining pressure is, the greater the impact. The increment of the damage density is exponentially proportional to the increase in the cyclic stress amplitude ratio, while the relationship between the confining pressure condition coefficient and confining pressure follows a power function.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, Jin Yu, upon reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42077254, 51874144).
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Liu, Zh., Yu, J., Ren, Ch. et al. Mesomechanical characteristics of rock failure under variable amplitude cyclic loading by DEM. Bull Eng Geol Environ 82, 311 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-023-03335-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-023-03335-9