Unconfined compressive strength and failure behaviour of completely weathered granite from a fault zone

Understanding the strength characteristics and deformation behaviour of the tunnel surrounding rock in a fault zone is significant for tunnel stability evaluation.In this study,a series of unconfined compression tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical characteristics and failure behaviour of completely weathered granite(CWG)from a fault zone,considering with height-diameter(h/d)ratio,dry densities(ρd)and moisture contents(ω).Based on the experimental results,a regression mathematical model of unconfined compressive strength(UCS)for CWG was developed using the Multiple Nonlinear Regression method(MNLR).The research results indicated that the UCS of the specimen with a h/d ratio of 0.6 decreased with the increase ofω.When the h/d ratio increased to 1.0,the UCS increasedωwith up to 10.5%and then decreased.Increasingρd is conducive to the improvement of the UCS at anyω.The deformation and rupture process as well as final failure modes of the specimen are controlled by h/d ratio,ρd andω,and the h/d ratio is the dominant factor affecting the final failure mode,followed byωandρd.The specimens with different h/d ratio exhibited completely different fracture mode,i.e.,typical splitting failure(h/d=0.6)and shear failure(h/d=1.0).By comparing the experimental results,this regression model for predicting UCS is accurate and reliable,and the h/d ratio is the dominant factor affecting the UCS of CWG,followed byρd and thenω.These findings provide important references for maintenance of the tunnel crossing other fault fractured zones,especially at low confining pressure or unconfined condition.

A coupled strain softening and hardening model for completely weathered granite in a fault zone

his study focused on exploring the specificity of mechanical behavior for completely weathered granite,as a special soil,by consolidated drained triaxial tests.The influences of dry density(1.60,1.70,1.80 and 1.90 g/cm^(3)),confining pressure(100,200,400 and 600 kPa),and moisture content(13.0%,that is,natural moisture content)were investigated in the present work.A newly developed Duncan-Chang model was established based on the experimental data and Duncan-Chang model.The influence of each parameter on the type of the proposed model curve was also evaluated.The experimental results revealed that with varying dry density and confining pressure,the deviatoric stress–strain curves have diversified characteristics including strain-softening,strain-stabilization and strain-hardening.Under high confining pressure condition,specimens with different densities all showed strain-hardening characteristic.Whereas at the low confining pressure levels,specimens with higher densities gradually transform into softening characteristics.Except for individual compression shear failure,the deformation modes of the specimens all showed swelling deformation,and all the damaged specimens maintained good integrity.Through comparing the experiment results,the strain-softening or strain-hardening behavior of CWG specimens could be predicted following the proposed model with high accuracy.Additionally,the proposed model can accurately characterize the key mechanical indicators,such as tangent modulus,peak value and residual strength,which is simple to implement and depends on fewer parameters.