Disturbance failure mechanism of highly stressed rock in deep excavation:Current status and prospects

This article reviews the current status on the dynamic behavior of highly stressed rocks under disturbances.Firstly,the experimental apparatus,methods,and theories related to the disturbance dynamics of deep,high-stress rock are reviewed,followed by the introduction of scholars’research on deep rock deformation and failure from an energy perspective.Subsequently,with a backdrop of highstress phenomena in deep hard rock,such as rock bursts and core disking,we delve into the current state of research on rock microstructure analysis and residual stresses from the perspective of studying the energy storage mechanisms in rocks.Thereafter,the current state of research on the mechanical response and the energy dissipation of highly stressed rock formations is briefly retrospected.Finally,the insufficient aspects in the current research on the disturbance and failure mechanisms in deep,highly stressed rock formations are summarized,and prospects for future research are provided.This work provides new avenues for the research on the mechanical response and damage-fracture mechanisms of rocks under high-stress conditions.

A continuous and long-term in-situ stress measuring method based on fiber optic. Part I: Theory of inverse differential strain analysis

A method for in-situ stress measurement via fiber optics was proposed. The method utilizes the relationship between rock mass elastic parameters and in-situ stress. The approach offers the advantage of long-term stress measurements with high spatial resolution and frequency, significantly enhancing the ability to measure in-situ stress. The sensing casing, spirally wrapped with fiber optic, is cemented into the formation to establish a formation sensing nerve. Injecting fluid into the casing generates strain disturbance, establishing the relationship between rock mass properties and treatment pressure.Moreover, an optimization algorithm is established to invert the elastic parameters of formation via fiber optic strains. In the first part of this paper series, we established the theoretical basis for the inverse differential strain analysis method for in-situ stress measurement, which was subsequently verified using an analytical model. This paper is the fundamental basis for the inverse differential strain analysis method.

Impact of effective stress on permeability for carbonate fractured-vuggy rocks

To gain insight into the flow mechanisms and stress sensitivity for fractured-vuggy reservoirs,several core models with different structural characteristics were designed and fabricated to investigate the impact of effective stress on permeability for carbonate fractured-vuggy rocks(CFVR).It shows that the permeability performance curves under different pore and confining pressures(i.e.altered stress conditions)for the fractured core models and the vuggy core models have similar change patterns.The ranges of permeability variation are significantly wider at high pore pressures,indicating that permeability reduction is the most significant during the early stage of development for fractured-vuggy reservoirs.Since each obtained effective stress coefficient for permeability(ESCP)varies with the changes in confining pressure and pore pressure,the effective stresses for permeability of four representative CFVR show obvious nonlinear characteristics,and the variation ranges of ESCP are all between 0 and 1.Meanwhile,a comprehensive ESCP mathematical model considering triple media,including matrix pores,fractures,and dissolved vugs,was proposed.It is proved theoretically that the ESCP of CFVR generally varies between 0 and 1.Additionally,the regression results showed that the power model ranked highest among the four empirical models mainly applied in stress sensitivity characterization,followed by the logarithmic model,exponential model,and binomial model.The concept of“permeability decline rate”was introduced to better evaluate the stress sensitivity performance for CFVR,in which the one-fracture rock is the strongest,followed by the fracture-vug rock and two-horizontalfracture rock;the through-hole rock is the weakest.In general,this study provides a theoretical basis to guide the design of development and adjustment programs for carbonate fractured-vuggy reservoirs.

A modified smoothed particle hydrodynamics method considering residual stress for simulating failure and its application in layered rock mass

Residual strength is an indispensable factor in evaluating rock fracture,yet the current Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics(SPH)framework rarely considers its influence when simulating fracture.An improved cracking strategy considering residual stress in the base bond SPH method was proposed to simulate failures in layered rocks and slopes and verified by experimental results and other simulation methods(i.e.,the discrete element method).Modified Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion was applied to distinguish the mixed failure of tensile and shear.Bond fracture markψwas introduced to improve the kernel function after tensile damage,and the calculation of residual stress after the damage was derived after shear damage.Numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate its performance under different stress and scale conditions and to verify its effectiveness in realistically reproducing crack initiation and propagation and coalescence,even fracture and separation.The results indicate that the improved cracking strategy precisely captures the fracture and failure pattern in layered rocks and rock slopes.The residual stress of brittle tock is correctly captured by the improved SPH method.The improved SPH method that considers residual strength shows an approximately 13%improvement in accuracy for the safety factor of anti-dip layered slopes compared to the method that does not consider residual strength,as validated against analytical solutions.We infer that the improved SPH method is effective and shows promise for applications to continuous and discontinuous rock masses.

Influences of clean fracturing fluid viscosity and horizontal in-situ stress difference on hydraulic fracture propagation and morphology in coal seam

The viscosity of fracturing fluid and in-situ stress difference are the two important factors that affect the hydraulic fracturing pressure and propagation morphology. In this study, raw coal was used to prepare coal samples for experiments, and clean fracturing fluid samples were prepared using CTAB surfactant. A series of hydraulic fracturing tests were conducted with an in-house developed triaxial hydraulic fracturing simulator and the fracturing process was monitored with an acoustic emission instrument to analyze the influences of fracturing fluid viscosity and horizontal in-situ stress difference on coal fracture propagation. The results show that the number of branched fractures decreased, the fracture pattern became simpler, the fractures width increased obviously, and the distribution of AE event points was concentrated with the increase of the fracturing fluid viscosity or the horizontal in-situ stress difference. The acoustic emission energy decreases with the increase of fracturing fluid viscosity and increases with the increase of horizontal in situ stress difference. The low viscosity clean fracturing fluid has strong elasticity and is easy to be compressed into the tip of fractures, resulting in complex fractures. The high viscosity clean fracturing fluids are the opposite. Our experimental results provide a reference and scientific basis for the design and optimization of field hydraulic fracturing parameters.

Measurement and study of the distributing law of in-situ stresses in rock mass at great depth

To solve the technical cruxes of the conventional system in deep rock mass, an automatic testing system for hydraulic fracturing that includes a single tube for hydraulic loop, a pressure-relief valve, central-tubeless packers, and a multichannel real-time data acquisition system was used for in-situ stresses measurement at great depths （over 1000 m） in a coalfield in Juye of Northern China. The values and orientations of horizontal principal stresses were determined by the new system. The virgin stress field and its distributing law were decided by the linear regression from the logged 37 points in seven boreholes. Besides, the typical boreholes arranged in both the adjacent zone and far away zone of the faults were analyzed, respectively. The results show that a stress concentration phenomenon and a deflection in the orientation of the maximal horizontal stress exist in the adjacent zone of the faults, which further provides theoretical basis for design and optimization of mining.

In-situ observations of damage-fracture evolution in surrounding rock upon unloading in 2400-m-deep tunnels

The damage-fracture evolution of deep rock mass has obvious particularity,which is revealed in 2400-mdeep tunnels by field tests.The evolution of the excavation damaged zone depth is consistent with that of the fractured zone depth.The ratio of the excavation damaged zone depth to the excavation fractured zone depth is greater than 2.0 in a rock mass with both high strength and good integrity,but less than1.5 in a rock mass with lower strength or poor integrity.Zonal disintegration in a rock mass with high strength and fair integrity is more likely to occur when it contains more than two groups of primary fractures in damaged zones.Fractures develop outward in zonal disintegration but are totally different from the single-zone fracture,in which the fractures develop inward,and it is the starting position of the fractured zone when the excavation surface of the middle pilot is 7–9 m close to the pre-set borehole and it stops after the excavation surface of the baseplate is 11–14 m away.The most intense evolution occurs around 2–4 m from the pre-set borehole in the sidewall expansion stage.The research results provide a reference for the monitoring scheme and support design of CJPL-Ⅲin its future construction.

Stress release mechanism of deep bottom hole rock by ultra-high-pressure water jet slotting

To solve the problems of rock strength increase caused by high in-situ stress,the stress release method with rock slot in the bottom hole by an ultra-high-pressure water jet is proposed.The stress conditions of bottom hole rock,before and after slotting are analyzed and the stress release mechanism of slotting is clarified.The results show that the stress release by slotting is due to the coupling of three factors:the relief of horizontal stress,the stress concentration zone distancing away from the cutting face,and the increase of pore pressure caused by rock mass expansion;The stress concentration increases the effective stress of rock along the radial distance from O.6R to 1R(R is the radius of the well),and the presence of groove completely releases the stress,it also allows the stress concentration zone to be pushed away from the cutting face,while significantly lowering the value of stresses in the area the drilling bit acting,the maximum stress release efficiency can reach 80%.The effect of slotting characteristics on release efficiency is obvious when the groove location is near the borehole wall.With the increase of groove depth,the stress release efficiency is significantly increased,and the release range of effective stress is enlarged along the axial direction.Therefore,the stress release method and results of simulations in this paper have a guiding significance for best-improving rock-breaking efficiency and further understanding the technique.

Stress wave analysis of high-voltage pulse discharge rock fragmentation based on plasma channel impedance model

High-voltage pulse discharge(HVPD)rock fragmentation controls a plasma channel forming inside the rock by adjusting the electrical parameters,electrode type,etc.In this work,an HVPD rock fragmentation test platform was built and the test waveforms were measured.Considering the effects of temperature,channel expansion and electromagnetic radiation,the impedance model of the plasma channel in the rock was established.The parameters and initial values of the model were determined by an iterative computational process.The model calculation results can reasonably characterize the development of the plasma channel in the rock and estimate the shock wave characteristics.Based on the plasma channel impedance model,the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of the radial stress and tangential stress in the rock were calculated,and the rock fragmentation effect of the HVPD was analyzed.

Numerical analysis on mechanical difference of sandstone under in-situ stress,pore pressure preserved environment at depth

Deep in-situ rock mechanics considers the influence of the in-situ environment on mechanical properties,differentiating it from traditional rock mechanics.To investigate the effect of in-situ stress,pore pressure preserved environment on the mechanical difference of sandstone,four tests are numerically modeled by COMSOL:conventional triaxial test,conventional pore pressure test,in-situ stress restoration and reconstruction test,and in-situ pore pressure-preserved test(not yet realized in the laboratory).The in-situ stress restoration parameter is introduced to characterize the recovery effect of in-situ stress on elastic modulus and heterogeneous distribution of sandstone at different depths.A random function and nonuniform pore pressure coefficient are employed to describe the non-uniform distribution of pore pressure in the in-situ environment.Numerical results are compared with existing experimental data to validate the models and calibrate the numerical parameters.By extracting mechanical parameters from numerical cores,the stress-strain curves of the four tests under different depths,in-situ stress and pore pressure are compared.The influence of non-uniform pore pressure coefficient and depth on the peak strength of sandstone is analyzed.The results show a strong linear relationship between the in-situ stress restoration parameter and depth,effectively characterizing the enhanced effect of stress restoration and reconstruction methods on the elastic modulus of conventional cores at different depths.The in-situ pore pressurepreserved test exhibits lower peak stress and peak strain compared to the other three tests,and sandstone subjected to non-uniform pore pressure is more prone to plastic damage and failure.Moreover,the influence of non-uniform pore pressure on peak strength gradually diminished with increasing depth.

Analysis of stresses at the center of transversely isotropic Brazilian disk

This article presents the stresses at the center of a Brazilian disk(BD)for transversely isotropic rocks.It is shown that the solution of stresses at the center of an anisotropic disk is a function of the disk radius and the magnitude of applied load,as well as the material orientation with respect to the load axis and two dimensionless ratios with specific physical meanings and limitations.These two dimensionless parameters are the ratios of Young’s modulus and apparent shear modulus,although the ratio of apparent shear modulus will be eliminated if the Saint-Venant assumption is considered.Considerable finite element simulations are carried out to find the stresses at the disk center concerning the material orientation and the two dimensionless parameters.Also,an approximate formula obtained from analytical results,previously proposed in the literature for solving the tensile and compressive stresses at the disk center,is re-written and simplified based on these new definitions.The results of the approximate formula fitted to the analytical results are compared to those obtained from numerical solutions,suggesting a good agreement between the numerical and analytical methods.An approximate equation for the shear stress at the disk center is also formulated based on the numerical results.Finally,the influence of the assumptions for simplification of the proposed formula for the tensile,compressive,and shear stresses at the disk center is discussed,and simple and practical equations are proposed as estimations for the stresses at the center of the BD specimen for low to moderate anisotropic rocks.For highly anisotropic rocks,the reference plots can be used for more accuracy.

A rigid true triaxial apparatus for analyses of deformation and failure features of deep weak rock under excavation stress paths

The squeezing scenario in deep weak rock tunnels can hinder underground construction.However,due to the limitations of test technologies at hand,the real excavation stress path cannot be mimicked in the laboratory.Thus,the large deformation mechanism of deep weak rocks still remains unclear.For this,a true triaxial apparatus(TTA)to investigate the mechanical responses of deep weak rock under excavation stress paths in field and reveal the squeezing mechanism of deep tunnels is assembled and developed at Northeastern University,China.The apparatus can perform instantaneous unloading in s3 direction based on electromagnetism technology.In addition,uniform loading and deformation measurements can be carried out based on the proposed linked interlocking clamp and antifriction device,even if the sample has a strong dilatation deformation performance.Next,a bore trepanning is designed to capture noiseless acoustic emission(AE)signals for deep weak rock at a low threshold.Finally,two tests were are conducted using this instrument to preliminarily understand the failure and deformation features of deep weak rock based on fractured marble.The results show that the complete stressestrain curves of fractured marble have the characteristics of low strengths and large deformations,and the larger deformation and the more serious failure occur when the fractured marble enters the post-peak state after excavation.The results show that the developed apparatus is likely to be applicable for deep weak rock engineering.

Assessment of cyclic deformation and critical stress amplitude of jointed rocks via cyclic triaxial testing

Jointed rock specimens with a natural replicated joint surface oriented at a mean dip angle of 60were prepared,and a series of cyclic triaxial tests was performed at different confining pressures and cyclic deviatoric stress amplitudes.The samples were subjected to 10,000 loading-unloading cycles with a frequency of 8 Hz.At each level of confining pressure,the applied cyclic deviatoric stress amplitude was increased incrementally until excessive deformation of the jointed rock specimen was observed.Analysis of the test results indicated that there existed a critical cyclic deviatoric stress amplitude(i.e.critical dynamic deviatoric stress)beyond which the jointed rock specimens yielded.The measured critical dynamic deviatoric stress was less than the corresponding static deviatoric stress.At cyclic deviatoric stress amplitudes less than the critical dynamic deviatoric stress,minor cumulative residual axial strains were observed,resulting in hysteretic damping.However,for cyclic deviatoric stresses beyond the critical dynamic deviatoric stress,the plastic strains increased promptly,and the resilient moduli degraded rapidly during the initial loading cycles.Cyclic triaxial test results showed that at higher confining pressures,the ultimate residual axial strain attained by the jointed rock specimen decreased,the steadystate dissipated energy density and steady-state damping ratio per load cycle decreased,while steadystate resilient moduli increased.

Analysis on method for effective in-situ stress measurement in hot dry rock reservoir

With the rapid increase of energy demand and the increasingly highlighted environmental problems, clean, safe and widely distributed geothermal resources have become a hot spot for renewable resources development. The state of in-situ stress is a major control parameter for multiple links including well location, fracture inspiration and reservoir assessment, so how to determine the accurate state of in-situ stress in the deep thermal reservoir becomes a core problem drawing widely attention and urgent to be solved. Based on features of hot dry rock reservoir in terms of temperature and pressure and the comparison analysis, this article proposes the method of Anelastic Strain Recovery(ASR) as an effective method for determining the state of in-situ stress in the area with HDR resources distributed and explains the availability of ASR method by application examples.

Rock Stress Measurement Methods in Rock Mechanics—A Brief Overview

The current brief review paper on rock stress measurement methods is very crucial factors in mining, civil infrastructure, geothermal energy, nuclear underground disposal, large underground oil storage caverns, etc as well as in geology and geophysical area. Measurement of in situ rock stress is a very challenging and difficult quantity and not possible to measure directly. Measure the deformation or displacements or hydraulic factors by perturbing the rock and converting the measured quantity into rock stress. There are two main categories for measuring methods: direct and indirect methods. The most common methods of direct in situ stress techniques are briefly described including advantages, disadvantages and limitations. Moreover, authors included the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for rock stress measurement methods.

Study on Asymmetric Deformation Law and Surrounding Rock Control Technology of High Stress Soft Rock Crossing Roadway

In order to solve the problem of asymmetric large deformation of high-stress soft rock crossing roadway under complex geological conditions in deep mines, taking the 2# total return airway of 76.2# section of Wuyang Coal Mine as the engineering background, the causes of asymmetric deformation and failure of soft rock crossing roadway in deep mines were summarized and analyzed by means of field investigation, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, and the asymmetric high-efficiency support technology with large row spacing was studied. The results show that the lithology of roadway strata is the main cause of asymmetric deformation and failure of roadway. The shape change of roadway is not the main influencing factor of asymmetric deformation of roadway, but for the control of roadway surrounding rock, the straight wall semi-circular arch roadway is better than the rectangular roadway. The field industrial test shows that after adopting the new support design scheme, the displacement of the roof and floor of the roadway is reduced by 86.39% compared with the original support design scheme, and the displacement of the two sides of the roadway is reduced by 86.05% compared with the original support design scheme, which can ensure the normal and safe production of the roadway during the service period, and provide reference for the support design of other similar geological conditions.

Risk evaluation of rock burst through theory of static and dynamic stresses superposition

Rock burst is one of the most catastrophic dynamic hazards in coal mining. A static and dynamic stresses superposition-based(SDSS-based) risk evaluation method of rock burst was proposed to pre-evaluate rock burst risk. Theoretical basis of this method is the stress criterion incurring rock burst and rock burst risk is evaluated according to the closeness degree of the total stress(due to the superposition of static stress in the coal and dynamic stress induced by tremors) with the critical stress. In addition, risk evaluation criterion of rock burst was established by defining the "Satisfaction Degree" of static stress. Furthermore,the method was used to pre-evaluate rock burst risk degree and prejudge endangered area of an insular longwall face in Nanshan Coal Mine in China. Results show that rock burst risk is moderate at advance extent of 97 m, strong at advance extent of 97-131 m,and extremely strong(i.e. inevitable to occur) when advance extent exceeds 131 m(mining is prohibited in this case). The section of two gateways whose floor abuts 15-3 coal seam is a susceptible area prone to rock burst. Evaluation results were further compared with rock bursts and tremors detected by microseismic monitoring. Comparison results indicate that evaluation results are consistent with microseismic monitoring, which proves the method's feasibility.

In-situ stress of coal reservoirs in the Zhengzhuang area of the southern Qinshui Basin and its effects on coalbed methane development

In-situ stress is a critical factor influencing the permeability of coal reservoirs and the production capacity of coalbed methane(CBM)wells.Accurate prediction of in-situ stress and investigation of its influence on coal reservoir permeability and production capacity are significant for CBM development.This study investigated the CBM development zone in the Zhengzhuang area of the Qinshui Basin.According to the low mechanical strength of coal reservoirs,this study derived a calculation model of the in-situ stress of coal reservoirs based on the multi-loop hydraulic fracturing method and analyzed the impacts of initial fractures on the calculated results.Moreover,by combining the data such as the in-situ stress,permeability,and drainage and recovery data of CBM wells,this study revealed the spatial distribution patterns of the current in-situ stress of the coal reservoirs and discussed the impacts of the insitu stress on the permeability and production capacity.The results are as follows.(1)Under given fracturing pressure,longer initial fractures are associated with higher calculated maximum horizontal principal stress values.Therefore,ignoring the effects of the initial fractures will cause the calculated values of the in-situ stress to be less than the actual values.(2)As the burial depth increases,the fracturing pressure,closure pressure,and the maximum and minimum horizontal principal stress of the coal reservoirs in the Zhengzhuang area constantly increase.The average gradients of the maximum and minimum horizontal principal stress are 3.17 MPa/100 m and 2.05 MPa/100 m,respectively.(3)Coal reservoir permeability is significantly controlled by the magnitude and state of the current in-situ stress.The coal reservoir permeability decreases exponentially with an increase in the effective principal stress.Moreover,a low lateral pressure coefficient(less than 1)is associated with minor horizontal compressive effects and high coal reservoir permeability.(4)Under similar conditions,such as resource endowments,CBM well capacity is higher in primary structural coal regions with moderate paleotectonic stress modification,low current in-situ stress,and lateral pressure coefficient of less than 1.

An Estimation Method of Stress in Soft Rock Based on In-situ Measured Stress in Hard Rock

The law of variation of deep rock stress in gravitational and tectonic stress fields is analyzed based on the Hoek-Brown strength criterion. In the gravitational stress field,the rocks in the shallow area are in an elastic state and the deep,relatively soft rock may be in a plastic state. However,in the tectonic stress field,the relatively soft rock in the shallow area is in a plastic state and the deep rock in an elastic state. A method is proposed to estimate stress values in coal and soft rock based on in-situ measurements of hard rock. Our estimation method relates to the type of stress field and stress state. The equations of rock stress in various stress states are presented for the elastic,plastic and critical states. The critical state is a special stress state,which indicates the conversion of the elastic to the plastic state in the gravitational stress field and the conversion of the plastic to the elastic state in the tectonic stress field. Two cases stud-ies show that the estimation method is feasible.

Non-complete relief method for measuring surface stresses in surrounding rocks

The measurement of surface stresses in surrounding rocks with the use of a relief method of annular hole-drilling was studied by numerical analysis. The stress relief process by hole-drilling was then simulated with the use of finite element method. The influences of the borehole diameter(d), the initial stresses and the ratio of the initial principle stresses on the variations of the remained stress and the released stress in function of the relief depth(h) were discussed. The relation between the non-dimensional ratio of the released principle strains and that of the initial principle stresses, and the effect of the elastic modulus and the Poisson ratio of the rock mass on the stress relief curves were studied. The results show that the stress relief behavior formulated with the non-dimensional ratio of the released stress and the ratio of h/d is only sensitive to the ratio of the initial principle stresses and the Poisson ratio. The stresses are completely released when h equals 1.6d, and the tensile stresses take place on the bore core surface in the relief measurement process. Finally, a non-complete relief method of annular hole-drilling for measuring surface stress in surrounding rocks is proposed and the procedure is presented.