Strength weakening and its micromechanism in water–rock interaction,a short review in laboratory tests

Water–rock interaction(WRI)is a topic of interest in geology and geotechnical engineering.Many geological hazards and engineering safety problems are severe under the WRI.This study focuses on the water weakening of rock strength and its infuencing factors(water content,immersion time,and wetting–drying cycles).The strength of the rock mass decreases to varying degrees with water content,immersion time,and wetting–drying cycles depending on the rock mass type and mineral composition.The corresponding acoustic emission count and intensity and infrared radiation intensity also weaken accordingly.WRI enhances the plasticity of rock mass and reduces its brittleness.Various microscopic methods for studying the pore characterization and weakening mechanism of the WRI were compared and analyzed.Various methods should be adopted to study the pore evolution of WRI comprehensively.Microscopic methods are used to study the weakening mechanism of WRI.In future work,the mechanical parameters of rocks weakened under long-term water immersion(over years)should be considered,and more attention should be paid to how the laboratory scale is applied to the engineering scale.

Using true‑triaxial stress path to simulate excavation‑induced rock damage:a case study

This study presents an example illustrating the role of in situ 3D stress path method in simulating the roof damage development observed in the Mine-by tunnel at Underground Research Laboratory(URL)located in Manitoba,Canada.The 3D stress path,at the point 1 cm in the crown of the Mine-by tunnel,was applied to a cubic Lac du Bonnet(LdB)granite sample to further understand the roof damage process and the associated seismicity.After careful calibrations,a numerical model was used to reproduce the experiment,which produced similar seismicity processes and source mechanisms.Acoustic emission(AE)events obtained from laboratory and numerical modeling were converted to locations in relation to the tunnel face and were compared to the feld microseismicity(MS)occurring in the upper notch region of the Mine-by tunnel.The crack development and damage mechanism are carefully illustrated.The diference between tests and feld monitoring was discussed.The intermediate principal stress(σ_(2))unloading process was carried out in numerical simulation to investigate its role in rock damage development.The results clearly showedσ_(2)could play a signifcant role both in damage development and failure mode.It should be considered when predicting the damage region in underground excavations.This study highlights the potential role of laboratory and numerical stress path tests to investigate fracture processes and mechanisms occurring during engineering activities such as tunnel excavation.