Surface crack evolution patterns in freeze-thaw damage of fissured rock bodies

To explore the effects of freeze‒thaw cycles on the mechanical properties and crack evolution of fissured sandstone,biaxial compression experiments were carried out on sandstone subjected to freeze‒thaw cycles to characterize the changes in the physical and mechanical properties of fissured sandstone caused by freeze‒thaw cycles.The crack evolution and crack change process on the surface of the fissured sandstone were recorded and analysed in detail via digital image technology(DIC).Numerical simulation was used to reveal the expansion process and damage mode of fine-scale cracks under the action of freeze‒thaw cycles,and the simulation results were compared and analysed with the experimental data to verify the reliability of the numerical model.The results show that the mass loss,porosity,peak stress and elastic modulus all increase with increasing number of freeze‒thaw cycles.With an increase in the number of freeze‒thaw cycles,a substantial change in displacement occurs around the prefabricated cracks,and a stress concentration appears at the crack tip.As new cracks continue to sprout at the tips of the prefabricated cracks until the microcracks gradually penetrate into the main cracks,the displacement cloud becomes obviously discontinuous,and the contours of the displacement field in the crack fracture damage area simply intersect with the prefabricated cracks to form an obvious fracture.The damage patterns of the fractured sandstone after freeze‒thaw cycles clearly differ,forming a symmetrical"L"-shaped damage pattern at zero freeze‒thaw cycles,a symmetrical"V"-shaped damage pattern at 10 freeze‒thaw cycles,and a"V"-shaped damage pattern at 20 freeze‒thaw cycles.After 20 freeze‒thaw cycles,a"V"-shaped destruction pattern and"L"-shaped destruction pattern are formed;after 30 freeze‒thaw cycles,an"N"-shaped destruction pattern is formed.This shows that the failure mode of fractured sandstone gradually becomes more complicated with an increasing number of freeze‒thaw cycles.The effects of freeze‒thaw cycles on the direction and rate of crack propagation are revealed through a temperature‒load coupled model,which provides an important reference for an in-depth understanding of the freeze‒thaw failure mechanisms of fractured rock masses.

Physical and mechanical properties of sandstone containing a single fissure after exposure to high temperatures

In order to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of sandstone containing fissures after exposure to high temperatures,fissures with different angles α were prefabricated in the plate sandstone samples,and the processed samples were then heated at 5 different temperatures.Indoor uniaxial compression was conducted to analyze the change rules of physical properties of sandstone after exposure to high temperature,and the deformation,strength and failure characteristics of sandstone containing fissures.The results show that,with increasing temperature,the volume of sandstone increases gradually while the quality and density decrease gradually,and the color of sandstone remains basically unchanged while the brightness increases markedly when the temperature is higher than 585 ℃;the peak strength of sandstone containing fissures first decreases then increases when the temperature is between 25℃and 400℃.The peak strain of sandstone containing fissures increases gradually while the average modulus decreases gradually with increasing temperature,and the mechanical properties of sandstone show obvious deterioration after 400 ℃.The peak strain of sandstone containing fissures increases gradually while the average modulus decreases gradually with increasing temperature;with increasing angle αof the fissure,the evolution characteristics of the macro-mechanical parameters of sandstone are closely related to the their own mechanical properties.When the temperature is 800 ℃,the correlation between the peak strength and average modulus of sandstone and the angle α of the fissure is obviously weakened.The failure modes of sandstone containing fissures after high temperature exposure are of three different kinds including:tensile crack failure,tensile and shear cracks mixed failure,and shear crack failure.Tensile and shear crack mixed failure occur mainly at low temperatures and small angles;tensile crack failure occurs at high temperatures and large angles.