Multiscale modeling of gas-induced fracturing in anisotropic clayey rocks

In the context of repositories for nuclear waste,understanding the behavior of gas migration through clayey rocks with inherent anisotropy is crucial for assessing the safety of geological disposal facilities.The primary mechanism for gas breakthrough is the opening of micro-fractures due to high gas pressure.This occurs at gas pressures lower than the combined strength of the rock and its minimum principal stress under external loading conditions.To investigate the mechanism of microscale mode-I ruptures,it is essential to incorporate a multiscale approach that includes subcritical microcracks in the modeling framework.In this contribution,we derive the model from microstructures that contain periodically distributed microcracks within a porous material.The damage evolution law is coupled with the macroscopic poroelastic system by employing the asymptotic homogenization method and considering the inherent hydro-mechanical(HM)anisotropy at the microscale.The resulting permeability change induced by fracture opening is implicitly integrated into the gas flow equation.Verification examples are presented to validate the developed model step by step.An analysis of local macroscopic response is undertaken to underscore the influence of factors such as strain rate,initial damage,and applied stress,on the gas migration process.Numerical examples of direct tension tests are used to demonstrate the model’s efficacy in describing localized failure characteristics.Finally,the simulation results for preferential gas flow reveal the robustness of the two-scale model in explicitly depicting gas-induced fracturing in anisotropic clayey rocks.The model successfully captures the common behaviors observed in laboratory experiments,such as a sudden drop in gas injection pressure,rapid build-up of downstream gas pressure,and steady-state gas flow following gas breakthrough.

Compression failure conditions of concrete-granite combined body with different roughness interface

Bedrock and concrete lining are typical composite structures in the engineering field and the stability of the geological body and engineering body is directly connected to the mechanical properties of the composite body.Under this background,the study provides the transverse isotropic equivalent model of concrete-granite double-layer composite based on the notion of strain energy equivalence.Assuming that the strength failure of concrete and granite meets the Mohr-Coulomb criterion,then the strength failure model of the combined body considering the joint roughness coefficient(JRC)is derived,and the influences of JRC,the height ratio of concrete to granite,and confining pressure on the strength failure characteristics of the combined body are emphatically analyzed.Finally,the model applicability is illustrated by the uniaxial and triaxial compression tests on concrete monomer,granite monomer and concretegranite composite samples(CGCSs)with different JRCs.The results revealed that the compressive strength of the composite is closer to the concrete with lower strength in the combined body under different confining pressures.Adding interface roughness causes to raise the compressive strength of the composite due to interfacial adhesion between concrete and granite,and a slowing growth trend is observed in compressive strength as roughness.The model can provide a certain reference for the stability design and evaluation of engineering rock mass.

Mechanical behavior of sandstone during post-peak cyclic loading and unloading under hydromechanical coupling

This paper investigates mechanical behaviours of sandstone during post-peak cyclic loading and unloading subjected to hydromechanical coupling effect, confirming the peak and residual strengths reduction laws of sandstone with water pressure, and revealing the influence of water pressure on the upper limit stress and deformation characteristics of sandstone during post-peak cyclic loading and unloading.Regarding the rock strength, the experimental study confirms that the peak strength σ_(p) and residual strength σ_(r) decrease as water pressure P increases. Especially, the normalized strength parameters σ_(p)/σ_(pk) and σ_(r)/σ_(re) was negatively and linearly correlated with the P/σ_(3). Moreover, the Hoek-Brown strength criterion can be applied to describe the relationship between effective peak strength and effective confining stress. During post-peak cyclic loading and unloading, both the upper limit stress σ_(p(i)) and crack damage threshold stress σ_(cd(i)) of each cycle tend to decrease with the increasing cycle number. A hysteresis loop exists among the loading and unloading stress–strain curves, indicating the unloading deformation modulus E_(unload) is larger than the loading deformation modulus E_(load). Based on experimental results,a post-peak strength prediction model related to water pressure and plastic shear strain is established.

Experimental and numerical studies on progressive debonding of grouted rock bolts

Understanding the mechanism of progressive debonding of bolts is of great significance for underground safety.In this paper,both laboratory experiment and numerical simulation of the pull-out tests were performed.The experimental pull-out test specimens were prepared using cement mortar material,and a relationship between the pull-out strength of the bolt and the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of cement mortar material specimen was established.The locations of crack developed in the pull-out process were identified using the acoustic emission(AE)technique.The pull-out test was reproduced using 2D Particle Flow Code(PFC^(2D))with calibrated parameters.The experimental results show that the axial displacement of the cement mortar material at the peak load during the test was approximately 5 mm for cement-based grout of all strength.In contrast,the peak load of the bolt increased with the UCS of the confining medium.Under peak load,cracks propagated to less than one half of the anchorage length,indicating a lag between crack propagation and axial bolt load transmission.The simulation results show that the dilatation between the bolt and the rock induced cracks and extended the force field along the anchorage direction;and,it was identified as the major contributing factor for the pull-out failure of rock bolt.