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Experimental study on the mechanical properties weakening mechanism of siltstone with different water content

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A Correction to this article was published on 11 August 2020

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Abstract

The mechanical properties of rock materials are remarkably affected by water content. To reveal the effect of water content on the strength and deformation properties of siltstone, which was collected from the quarry of Zhundong Coalmine, the scanning electron microscope and uniaxial compression tests of siltstone specimens were carried out with a water content of 0%, 0.5%, 1.5%, and 2.8%. Conventional triaxial compression test was conducted in dry and saturated conditions. The test results showed that the strength and deformation parameters of siltstone are weakened with different degrees after water absorption. The deformation of the plastic yield stage in the stress-strain curve decreases with rising of water content, while the loss rate of uniaxial compression strength continues to increase until reached saturated state. The strength of dry and saturated specimens varies regularly with confining pressure, and their relationship can be described with the exponential criterion. In addition, it is observed that microscopic damage of siltstone specimens accumulates as water content increases. The hydration of clay minerals reduces the local cohesion of specimens, and the hydrolysis of quartz minerals in crack tip region promotes subcritical crack growth during the loading process, which collaboratively results in the bearing capacity of saturated specimen decrease. The results can provide a reference for the analysis of rock strength and damage mechanism under the action of water erosion.

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  • 11 August 2020

    The original version of this paper was published with error.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant no. 2016YFC0401802), the State Key Program of National Natural Science of China (Grant no. 51539002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51779249), and the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (Grant no. 2018CFB632).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China

    Bingyang Li, Jian Liu, Kang Bian, Fei Ai, Xunjian Hu, Ming Chen & Zhenping Liu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100049, China

    Bingyang Li, Jian Liu, Kang Bian, Fei Ai, Xunjian Hu, Ming Chen & Zhenping Liu

Authors
  1. Bingyang Li
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  2. Jian Liu
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  3. Kang Bian
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  4. Fei Ai
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  5. Xunjian Hu
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  6. Ming Chen
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  7. Zhenping Liu
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Correspondence to Bingyang Li.

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Responsible Editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler

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Li, B., Liu, J., Bian, K. et al. Experimental study on the mechanical properties weakening mechanism of siltstone with different water content. Arab J Geosci 12, 656 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4852-8

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