Effects of axial cyclic loading at constant confining pressures on deformational characteristics of anisotropic argillite

Triaxial cyclic loading tests have been performed to assess the influence of plastic deformation on inelastic deformational properties of anisotropic argillite with bedding planes which is regarded as a kind of transversely isotropic media.Considering argillite's anisotropy and inelastic deformational properties,theoretical formulae for calculating oriented elastic parameters were deduced by the unloading curves,which can be better fitted for the description of its elasticity than loading curves.Test results indicate that with the growth of accumulated plastic,strain,the apparent elastic modulus of argillite decreases in a form of exponential decay function,whereas the apparent Poisson ratio increase in a form of power equation.A ratio of unloading recoverable strain to the total strain increment occurred during a loading cycle is defined to illustrate the characteristic relations between anisotropic coupled elasto-plastic deformation and plastic strain.It is significant to observe that high stress level and plastic history have an inhibiting effect on argillite anisotropy.