Damage characteristics and new constitutive model of sandstone under wet–dry cycles

The mechanical properties of rock deteriorate under repeated wet-dry(WD)cycles,causing the deformation and failure of the rock mass.A reasonable damage constitutive model can truly reflect the whole process of rock deformation and failure.Therefore,it is of great significance to study the damage characteristics and constitutive behaviour of rock subjected to numerous WD cycles.First,sandstone from Tingliang tunnel was sampled for the WD cycle experiment,and uniaxial and triaxial tests were carried out on the rock samples after various numbers of WD cycles to analyze their macroscale damage characteristics.Then,the damage mechanisms of the rock samples under the action of WD cycling were identified by X-ray diffraction(XRD)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).Finally,based on the test data,the WD cycle-induced damage variable,Weibull distribution function,damage threshold,Drucker-Prager(D-P)yield criterion and residual strength correction coefficient were introduced,a wet-dry loading(WDL)constitutive damage model that considers the cracking stress of rock masses was established,and the expressions of the corresponding parameters were given.The results show that an increasing number of WD cycles induces considerable variations in the macroscopic physical and mechanical parameters(such as the rock sample mass,saturated water content,longitudinal-wave velocity,compressive strength and elastic modulus),and the rate of change presents two stages,the inflection point of their rate of change is the 15th WD cycle.Microscopically,the rock sample structure changes from intact and dense to fragmented and unconsolidated;additionally,the surface roughness increases,and the mineral composition changes.The established constitutive damage model exhibited good agreement with the experimental data;thus,this model can reflect the deformation and failure of rocks under WDL conditions,and the physical meaning of each parameter is clear.