Abstract
In order to explore the mechanism of microwave radiation damage to rocks and improve the efficiency of underground rock fragmentation, statistics have been conducted for nearly 40 years, and the heating effects of four types of igneous rocks (granite, basalt, syenite, and gabbro) after microwave irradiation have been analyzed. The attenuation of tensile and compressive strength, and the microwave response mechanism of igneous rocks are studied. The results show that under microwave energy of 0–50 kJ, the tensile and compressive strengths of rock do not change significantly; however, above 50 kJ, they decrease rapidly. With increasing contents of Fe-rich minerals in rock, such as pyroxene, microwaves have a greater fracturing effect, which is manifested as rapid attenuations in tensile and compressive strength. The wave velocity damage factor and tensile strength damage factor of igneous rocks increase with the increase of microwave energy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ali AY, Bradshaw SM (2010) Bonded-particle modelling of microwave-induced damage in ore particles. Miner Eng 23:780–790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2010.05.019
Ali AY, Bradshaw SM (2011) Confined particle bed breakage of microwave treated and untreated ores. Miner Eng 24:1625–1630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2011.08.020
Bai GG, Sun Q, Jia HL, Ge ZL, Li PF (2021) Variations in fracture toughness of SCB granite influenced by microwave heating. Eng Fract Mech 258:108048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2021.108048
Bykov YV, Rybakov KI, Semenov VE (2001) High-temperature microwave processing of materials. J Phys D Appl Phys 34(13):R55. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/34/13/201
Dai J, Xu SL, Song SD (2019) Experimental study on strength deterioration of basalt caused by microwave irradiation. Coal Technol 38(01):29–32. https://doi.org/10.13301/j.cnki.ct.2019.01.008 (in chinese)
Ge Z, Sun Q, Xue L, Yang T (2021) The influence of microwave treatment on the mode I fracture toughness of granite. Eng Fract Mech 249:107768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2021.107768
Ge ZL, Sun Q (2021) Acoustic emission characteristics of gabbro after microwave heating. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 138:104616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2021.104616
Griffiths L, Heap MJ, Baud P, Schmittbuhl J (2017) Quantification of microcrack characteristics and implications for stiffness and strength of granite. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 100:138–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2017.10.013
Griffiths L, Lengliné O, Heap MJ, Baud P, Schmittbuhl J (2018) Thermal cracking in westerly granite monitored using direct wave velocity, coda wave interferometry, and acoustic emissions. J Geophys Res: Solid Earth 123(3):2246–2261. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB015191
Gururaj P, Umesh P, Shetty A (2021) Assessment of surface soil moisture from ALOS PALSAR-2 in small-scale maize fields using polarimetric decomposition technique. Acta Geophys 69(2):579–588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-021-00557-x
Hartlieb P, Grafe B (2017) Experimental study on microwave assisted hard rock cutting of granite. BHM Berg- und Huettenmaenn Monatsh 162(2):1–5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00501-016-0569-0
Hartlieb P, Kuchar F, Moser P, Kargl H, Restner U (2018) Reaction of different rock types to low-power (3.2 kW) microwave irradiation in a multimode cavity. Miner Eng 118:37–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2018.01.003
Hassani F, Nekoovaght P, Charib N (2016) The influence of microwave irradiation on rocks for microwave-assisted underground excavation. J Rock Mech Geotech Eng 8(1):1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2015.10.004
Hassani F, Shadi A, Rafezi H, Sasmito AP, Ghoreishi-Madiseh SA (2020) Energy analysis on the effectiveness of microwave-assisted fragmentation. J Miner Eng 159:106642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2020.106642
Hu X, Song X, Liu Y, Cheng Z, Ji J, Shen Z (2019) Experiment investigation of granite damage under the high-temperature and high-pressure supercritical water condition. J Petrol Sci Eng 180:289–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.05.031
Jia HL, Wang T, Chen WH, Ding S, Luo T, Sun Q (2021) Microscopic mechanisms of microwave irradiation thawing frozen soil and potential application in excavation of frozen ground. Cold Reg Sci Technol 184:103248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2021.103248
Jones DA, Kingman SW, Whittles DN, Lowndes IS (2005) Understanding microwave assisted breakage. Miner Eng 18(7):659–669
Kahraman S, Canpolat AN, Fener M (2020) The influence of microwave treatment on the compressive and tensile strength of igneous rocks. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 129:104303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2020.104303
Kahraman S, Canpolat AN, Fener M, Kilic CO (2020) The assessment of the factors affecting the microwave heating of magmatic rocks. Geomech Geophys Geo-Energy Geo-Resour 6(4):1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-020-00197-3
Kingman SW, Corfielf GM, Rowson NA (1999) Effects of microwave radiation upon the mineralogy and magnetic processing of a massive Norwegian ilmenite ore. Magn Electr Sep 9(3):131–148. https://doi.org/10.1155/1999/57075
Kingman SW, Jackson K, Bradshaw SM, Rowsonc NA, Greenwoodc R (2004) An investigation into the influence of microwave treatment on mineral ore comminution. Powder Technol 146(3):176–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2004a.08.006
Kingman SW, Jackson K, Cumbane A, Bradshaw SM, Rowsonc NA, Greenwood R (2004) Recent developments in microwave-assisted comminution. Int J Miner Process 74(1):71–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.minpro.2003.09.006
Kingman SW (2006) Recent developments in microwave processing of minerals. Int Mater Rev 51(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1179/174328006X79472
Lan WJ, Wang HX, Zhang X, Fan HB, Feng K, Liu YX, Sun BY (2020) Investigation on the mechanism of micro-cracks generated by microwave heating in coal and rock. Energy 206:118211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.118211
Li Q, Li X, Yin T (2021) Effect of microwave heating on fracture behavior of granite: an experimental investigation. Eng Fract Mech 250:107758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2021.107758
Lu GM, Li YH, Hassani F, Zhang X (2017) The influence of microwave irradiation on thermal properties of main rock-forming minerals. Appl Therm Eng 112:1523–1532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.11.015
Lu GM, Zhou JJ, Li YH, Zhang XW, Gao WY (2020) The influence of minerals on the mechanism of microwave-induced fracturing of rocks. J Appl Geophys 180:104123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2020.104123
Satish H, Ouellet J, Raghavan V, Radziszewski P (2006) Investigating microwave assisted rock breakage for possible space mining applications. Min Technol 115(1):34–40. https://doi.org/10.1179/174328606x101902
Tian J, Lu GM, Feng XT, Li YH, Zhang XW (2019) Experimental study on microwave sensitivity of main rock-forming minerals. Rock Soil Mechs. https://doi.org/10.16285/j.rsm.2018.0363 (in Chinese)
Toifl M, Hartlieb P, Meisels R, Antretter T, Kuchar F (2017) Numerical study of the influence of irradiation parameters on the microwave-induced stresses in granite. Miner Eng 103:78–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2016.09.011
Toifl M, Meisels R, Hartlieb P, Kuchar F, Antretter T (2016) 3D numerical study on microwave induced stresses in inhomogeneous hard rocks. Miner Eng 90:29–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2016.01.001
Wang G, Radziszewski P, Ouellet J (2008) Particle modeling simulation of thermal effects on ore breakage. Comput Mater Sci 43(4):892–901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2008.02.005
Wang Y, Djordjevic N (2014) Thermal stress FEM analysis of rock with microwave energy. Int J Miner Process 130:74–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.minpro.2014.05.012
Xu T, He L, Zheng YL, Zou XX, Badrkhani V, Schillinger D (2021) Experimental and numerical investigations of microwave-induced damage and fracture formation in rock. J Therm Stresses 44(4):513–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/01495739.2020.1865857
Xu T, Yuan Y, Heap MJ, Zhou GL, Perera MSA, Ranjith PG (2021) Microwave-assisted damage and fracturing of hard rocks and its implications for effective mineral resources recovery. Miner Eng 160:106663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2020.106663
Yao JH, Tao M, Zhao R, Hashemi SS, Wang YQ (2021) Effect of microwave treatment on thermal properties and structural degradation of red sandstone in rock excavation. Miner Eng 162:106730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2020.106730
Zhao QH, Zhao XB, Zheng YL, Li JC, He L, Liu HW, YU JW, (2020) A review of mineral heating characteristics and rock weakening effects under microwave irradiation. Geolo J China Univ 26(3):350–360. https://doi.org/10.16108/j.issn1006-7493.2019041
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41972288)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Edited by Prof. Jadwiga Anna Jarzyna (ASSOCIATE EDITOR) / Prof. Michał Malinowski (CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bai, G., Sun, Q., Jia, H. et al. Mechanical responses of igneous rocks to microwave irradiation: a review. Acta Geophys. 70, 1183–1192 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-022-00789-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-022-00789-5