State-of-the-art on the anchorage performance of rock bolts subjected to shear load

Rock bolts are extensively utilized in underground engineering as a means of offering support and stability to rock masses in tunnels,mines,and other underground structures.In environments of high ground stress,faults or weak zones can frequently arise in rock formations,presenting a significant challenge for engineering and potentially leading to underground engineering collapse.Rock bolts serve as a crucial structural element for the transmission of tensile stress and are capable of withstanding shear loads to prevent sliding of weak zones within rock mass.Therefore,a complete understanding of the behavior of rock bolts subjected to shear loads is essential.This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of the research progress of rock bolts subjected to shear load in three categories:experiment,numerical simulation,and analytical model.The review focuses on the research studies and developments in this area since the 1970s,providing a comprehensive overview of numerous factors that influence the anchorage performance of rock bolts.These factors include the diameter and angle of the rock bolt installation,rock strength,grouting material,bolt material,borehole diameter,rock bolt preload,normal stress,joint surface roughness and joint expansion angle.The paper reviews the improvement of mechanical parameter setting in numerical simulation of rock bolt shear.Furthermore,it delves into the optimization of the analytical model concerning rock bolt shear theory,approached from the perspectives of both Elastic foundation beam theory coupled with Elastoplasticity theory and Structural mechanic methods.The significance of this review lies in its ability to provide insights into the mechanical behavior of rock bolts.The paper also highlights the limitations of current research and guidelines for further research of rock bolts.

Mechanical behaviors of backfill-rock composites: Physical shear test and back-analysis

The shear behavior of backfill-rock composites is crucial for mine safety and the management of surface subsidence.For exposing the shear failure mechanism of backfill-rock composites,we conducted shear tests on backfill-rock composites under three constant normal loads,compared with the unfilled rock.To investigate the macro-and meso-failure characteristics of the samples in the shear tests,the cracking behavior of samples was recorded by a high-speed camera and acoustic emission monitoring.In parallel with the experimental test,the numerical models of backfill-rock composites and unfilled rock were established using the discrete element method to analyze the continuous-discontinuous shearing process.Based on the damage mechanics and statistics,a novel shear constitutive model was proposed to describe mechanical behavior.The results show that backfill-rock composites had a special bimodal phenomenon of shearing load-deformation curve,i.e.the first shearing peak corresponded to rock break and the second shearing peak induced by the broken of aeolian sand-cement/fly ash paste backfill.Moreover,the shearing characteristic curves of the backfill-rock composites could be roughly divided into four stages,i.e.the shear failure of the specimens experienced:stage I:stress concentration;stage II:crack propagation;stage III:crack coalescence;stage IV:shearing friction.The numerical simulation shows that the existence of aeolian sand-cement/fly ash paste backfill inevitably altered the coalescence type and failure mode of the specimens and had a strengthening effect on the shear strength of backfillrock composites.Based on damage mechanics and statistics,a shear constitutive model was proposed to describe the shear fracture characteristics of specimens,especially the bimodal phenomenon.Finally,the micro-and meso-mechanisms of shear failure were discussed by combining the micro-test and numerical results.The research can advance the better understanding of the shear behavior of backfill-rock composites and contribute to the safety of mining engineering.

A multifunctional shear apparatus for rocks subjected to true triaxial stress and high temperature in real-time

Deep engineering disasters,such as rockbursts and collapses,are more related to the shear slip of rock joints.A novel multifunctional device was developed to study the shear failure mechanism in rocks.Using this device,the complete shearedeformation process and long-term shear creep tests could be performed on rocks under constant normal stiffness(CNS)or constant normal loading(CNL)conditions in real-time at high temperature and true-triaxial stress.During the research and development process,five key technologies were successfully broken through:(1)the ability to perform true-triaxial compressioneshear loading tests on rock samples with high stiffness;(2)a shear box with ultra-low friction throughout the entire stress space of the rock sample during loading;(3)a control system capable of maintaining high stress for a long time and responding rapidly to the brittle fracture of a rock sample as well;(4)a refined ability to measure the volumetric deformation of rock samples subjected to true triaxial shearing;and(5)a heating system capable of maintaining uniform heating of the rock sample over a long time.By developing these technologies,loading under high true triaxial stress conditions was realized.The apparatus has a maximum normal stiffness of 1000 GPa/m and a maximum operating temperature of 300C.The differences in the surface temperature of the sample are constant to within5C.Five types of true triaxial shear tests were conducted on homogeneous sandstone to verify that the apparatus has good performance and reliability.The results show that temperature,lateral stress,normal stress and time influence the shear deformation,failure mode and strength of the sandstone.The novel apparatus can be reliably used to conduct true-triaxial shear tests on rocks subjected to high temperatures and stress.

Estimating shear strength of high-level pillars supported with cemented backfilling using the HoekeBrown strength criterion

Deep metal mines are often mined using the high-level pillars with subsequent cementation backfilling(HLSCB)mining method.At the design stage,it is therefore important to have a reasonable method for determining the shear strength of the high-level pillars(i.e.cohesion and internal friction angle)when they are supported by cemented backfilling.In this study,a formula was derived for the upper limit of the confining pressure σ3max on a high-level pillar supported by cemented backfilling in a deep metal mine.A new method of estimating the shear strength of such pillars was then proposed based on the Hoek eBrown failure criterion.Our analysis indicates that the horizontal stress σhh acting on the cemented backfill pillar can be simplified by expressing it as a constant value.A reasonable and effective value for σ3max can then be determined.The value of s3max predicted using the proposed method is generally less than 3 MPa.Within this range,the shear strength of the high-level pillar is accurately calculated using the equivalent MohreCoulomb theory.The proposed method can effectively avoid the calculation of inaccurate shear strength values for the high-level pillars when the original HoekeBrown criterion is used in the presence of large confining pressures,i.e.the situation in which the cohesion value is too large and the friction angle is too small can effectively be avoided.The proposed method is applied to a deep metal mine in China that is being excavated using the HLSCB method.The shear strength parameters of the high-level pillars obtained using the proposed method were input in the numerical simulations.The numerical results show that the recommended level heights and sizes of the high-level pillars and rooms in the mine are rational.

Cyclic shear behavior of en-echelon joints under constant normal stiffness conditions

To reveal the mechanism of shear failure of en-echelon joints under cyclic loading,such as during earthquakes,we conducted a series of cyclic shear tests of en-echelon joints under constant normal stiffness(CNS)conditions.We analyzed the evolution of shear stress,normal stress,stress path,dilatancy characteristics,and friction coefficient and revealed the failure mechanisms of en-echelon joints at different angles.The results show that the cyclic shear behavior of the en-echelon joints is closely related to the joint angle,with the shear strength at a positive angle exceeding that at a negative angle during shear cycles.As the number of cycles increases,the shear strength decreases rapidly,and the difference between the varying angles gradually decreases.Dilation occurs in the early shear cycles(1 and 2),while contraction is the main feature in later cycles(310).The friction coefficient decreases with the number of cycles and exhibits a more significant sensitivity to joint angles than shear cycles.The joint angle determines the asperities on the rupture surfaces and the block size,and thus determines the subsequent shear failure mode(block crushing and asperity degradation).At positive angles,block size is more greater and asperities on the rupture surface are smaller than at nonpositive angles.Therefore,the cyclic shear behavior is controlled by block crushing at positive angles and asperity degradation at negative angles.

Failure transition of shear-to-dilation band of rock salt under triaxial stresses

Great potential of underground gas/energy storage in salt caverns seems to be a promising solution to support renewable energy.In the underground storage method,the operating cycle unfortunately may reach up to daily or even hourly,which generates complicated pressures on the salt cavern.Furthermore,the mechanical behavior of rock salt may change and present distinct failure characteristics under different stress states,which affects the performance of salt cavern during the time period of full service.To reproduce a similar loading condition on the cavern surrounding rock mass,the cyclic triaxial loading/unloading tests are performed on the rock salt to explore the mechanical transition behavior and failure characteristics under different confinement.Experimental results show that the rock salt samples pre-sent a diffused shear failure band with significant bulges at certain locations in low confining pressure conditions(e.g.5 MPa,10 MPa and 15 MPa),which is closely related to crystal misorientation and grain boundary sliding.Under the elevated confinement(e.g.20 MPa,30 MPa and 40 MPa),the dilation band dominates the failure mechanism,where the large-size halite crystals are crushed to be smaller size and new pores are developing.The failure transition mechanism revealed in the paper provides additional insight into the mechanical performance of salt caverns influenced by complicated stress states.

Anisotropic time-dependent behaviors of shale under direct shearing and associated empirical creep models

Understanding the anisotropic creep behaviors of shale under direct shearing is a challenging issue.In this context,we conducted shear-creep and steady-creep tests on shale with five bedding orientations (i.e.0°,30°,45°,60°,and 90°),under multiple levels of direct shearing for the first time.The results show that the anisotropic creep of shale exhibits a significant stress-dependent behavior.Under a low shear stress,the creep compliance of shale increases linearly with the logarithm of time at all bedding orientations,and the increase depends on the bedding orientation and creep time.Under high shear stress conditions,the creep compliance of shale is minimal when the bedding orientation is 0°,and the steady-creep rate of shale increases significantly with increasing bedding orientations of 30°,45°,60°,and 90°.The stress-strain values corresponding to the inception of the accelerated creep stage show an increasing and then decreasing trend with the bedding orientation.A semilogarithmic model that could reflect the stress dependence of the steady-creep rate while considering the hardening and damage process is proposed.The model minimizes the deviation of the calculated steady-state creep rate from the observed value and reveals the behavior of the bedding orientation's influence on the steady-creep rate.The applicability of the five classical empirical creep models is quantitatively evaluated.It shows that the logarithmic model can well explain the experimental creep strain and creep rate,and it can accurately predict long-term shear creep deformation.Based on an improved logarithmic model,the variations in creep parameters with shear stress and bedding orientations are discussed.With abovementioned findings,a mathematical method for constructing an anisotropic shear creep model of shale is proposed,which can characterize the nonlinear dependence of the anisotropic shear creep behavior of shale on the bedding orientation.

Study of hydro-mechanical behaviours of rough rock fracture with shear dilatancy and asperities using shear-flow model

The geometric properties of fracture surfaces significantly influence shear-seepage in rock fractures,introducing complexities to fracture modelling.The present study focuses on the hydro-mechanical behaviours of rough rock fractures during shear-seepage processes to reveal how dilatancy and fracture asperities affect these phenomena.To achieve this,an improved shear-flow model(SFM)is proposed with the incorporation of dilatancy effect and asperities.In particular,shear dilatancy is accounted for in both the elastic and plastic stages,in contrast to some existing models that only consider it in the elastic stage.Depending on the computation approaches for the peak dilatancy angle,three different versions of the SFM are derived based on Mohr-Coulomb,joint roughness coefficient-joint compressive strength(JRC-JCS),and Grasselli’s theories.Notably,this is a new attempt that utilizes Grasselli’s model in shearseepage analysis.An advanced parameter optimization method is introduced to accurately determine model parameters,addressing the issue of local optima inherent in some conventional methods.Then,model performance is evaluated against existing experimental results.The findings demonstrate that the SFM effectively reproduces the shear-seepage characteristics of rock fracture across a wide range of stress levels.Further sensitivity analysis reveals how dilatancy and asperity affect hydraulic properties.The relation between hydro-mechanical properties(dilatancy displacement and hydraulic conductivity)and asperity parameters is analysed.Several profound understandings of the shear-seepage process are obtained by exploring the phenomenon under various conditions.

Rheological properties and concentration evolution of thickened tailings under the coupling effect of compression and shear

Cemented paste backfill(CPB)is a key technology for green mining in metal mines,in which tailings thickening comprises the primary link of CPB technology.However,difficult flocculation and substandard concentrations of thickened tailings often occur.The rheological properties and concentration evolution in the thickened tailings remain unclear.Moreover,traditional indoor thickening experiments have yet to quantitatively characterize their rheological properties.An experiment of flocculation condition optimization based on the Box-Behnken design(BBD)was performed in the study,and the two response values were investigated:concentration and the mean weighted chord length(MWCL)of flocs.Thus,optimal flocculation conditions were obtained.In addition,the rheological properties and concentration evolution of different flocculant dosages and ultrafine tailing contents under shear,compression,and compression-shear coupling experimental conditions were tested and compared.The results show that the shear yield stress under compression and compression-shear coupling increases with the growth of compressive yield stress,while the shear yield stress increases slightly under shear.The order of shear yield stress from low to high under different thickening conditions is shear,compression,and compression-shear coupling.Under compression and compression-shear coupling,the concentration first rapidly increases with the growth of compressive yield stress and then slowly increases,while concentration increases slightly under shear.The order of concentration from low to high under different thickening conditions is shear,compression,and compression-shear coupling.Finally,the evolution mechanism of the flocs and drainage channels during the thickening of the thickened tailings under different experimental conditions was revealed.

Transient response of doubly-curved bio-inspired composite shells resting on viscoelastic foundation subject to blast load using improved first-order shear theory and isogeometric approach

Investigating natural-inspired applications is a perennially appealing subject for scientists. The current increase in the speed of natural-origin structure growth may be linked to their superior mechanical properties and environmental resilience. Biological composite structures with helicoidal schemes and designs have remarkable capacities to absorb impact energy and withstand damage. However, there is a dearth of extensive study on the influence of fiber redirection and reorientation inside the matrix of a helicoid structure on its mechanical performance and reactivity. The present study aimed to explore the static and transient responses of a bio-inspired helicoid laminated composite(B-iHLC) shell under the influence of an explosive load using an isomorphic method. The structural integrity of the shell is maintained by a viscoelastic basis known as the Pasternak foundation, which encompasses two coefficients of stiffness and one coefficient of damping. The equilibrium equations governing shell dynamics are obtained by using Hamilton's principle and including the modified first-order shear theory,therefore obviating the need to employ a shear correction factor. The paper's model and approach are validated by doing numerical comparisons with respected publications. The findings of this study may be used in the construction of military and civilian infrastructure in situations when the structure is subjected to severe stresses that might potentially result in catastrophic collapse. The findings of this paper serve as the foundation for several other issues, including geometric optimization and the dynamic response of similar mechanical structures.

Numerical parametric study on the influence of location and inclination of large-scale asperities on the shear strength of concreterock interfaces of small buttress dams

When assessing the sliding stability of a concrete dam,the influence of large-scale asperities in the sliding plane is often ignored due to limitations of the analytical rigid body assessment methods provided by current dam assessment guidelines.However,these asperities can potentially improve the load capacity of a concrete dam in terms of sliding stability.Although their influence in a sliding plane has been thoroughly studied for direct shear,their influence under eccentric loading,as in the case of dams,is unknown.This paper presents the results of a parametric study that used finite element analysis(FEA)to investigate the influence of large-scale asperities on the load capacity of small buttress dams.By varying the inclination and location of an asperity located in the concrete-rock interface along with the strength of the rock foundation material,transitions between different failure modes and correlations between the load capacity and the varied parameters were observed.The results indicated that the inclination of the asperity had a significant impact on the failure mode.When the inclinationwas 30and greater,interlocking occurred between the dam and foundation and the governing failure modes were either rupture of the dam body or asperity.When the asperity inclination was significant enough to provide interlocking,the load capacity of the dam was impacted by the strength of the rock in the foundation through influencing the load capacity of the asperity.The location of the asperity along the concrete-rock interface did not affect the failure mode,except for when the asperity was located at the toe of the dam,but had an influence on the load capacity when the failure occurred by rupture of the buttress or by sliding.By accounting for a single large-scale asperity in the concrete-rock interface of the analysed dam,a horizontal load capacity increase of 30%e160%was obtained,depending on the inclination and location of the asperity and the strength of the foundation material.

Granular behaviour under bi-directional shear with constant vertical stress and constant volume

This paper aims to investigate the role of bi-directional shear in the mechanical behaviour of granular materials and macro-micro relations by conducting experiments and discrete element method(DEM)modelling.The bi-directional shear consists of a static shear consolidation and subsequent shear under constant vertical stress and constant volume conditions.A side wall node loading method is used to exert bi-directional shear of various angles.The results show that bi-directional shear can significantly influence the mechanical behaviour of granular materials.However,the relationship between bidirectional shear and mechanical responses relies on loading conditions,i.e.constant vertical stress or constant volume conditions.The stress states induced by static shear consolidation are affected by loading angles,which are enlarged by subsequent shear,consistent with the relationship between bidirectional shear and principal stresses.It provides evidence for the dissipation of stresses accompanying static liquefaction of granular materials.The presence of bi-directional principal stress rotation(PSR)is demonstrated,which evidences why the bi-directional shear of loading angles with components in two directions results in faster dissipations of stresses with static liquefaction.Contant volume shearing leads to cross-anisotropic stress and fabric at micro-contacts,but constant vertical stress shearing leads to complete anisotropic stress and fabric at micro-contacts.It explains the differentiating relationship between stress-strain responses and fabric anisotropy under these two conditions.Micromechanical signatures such as the slip state of micro-contacts and coordination number are also examined,providing further insights into understanding granular behaviour under bi-directional shear.

Anisotropic shearing mechanism of Kangding slate:Experimental investigation and numerical analysis

The shear mechanical behavior is regarded as an essential factor affecting the stability of the surrounding rocks in underground engineering.The shear strength and failure mechanisms of layered rock are significantly affected by the foliation angles.Direct shear tests were conducted on cubic slate samples with foliation angles of 0°,30°,45°,60°,and 90°.The effect of foliation angles on failure patterns,acoustic emission(AE)characteristics,and shear strength parameters was analyzed.Based on AE characteristics,the slate failure process could be divided into four stages:quiet period,step-like increasing period,dramatic increasing period,and remission period.A new empirical expression of cohesion for layered rock was proposed,which was compared with linear and sinusoidal cohesion expressions based on the results made by this paper and previous experiments.The comparative analysis demonstrated that the new expression has better prediction ability than other expressions.The proposed empirical equation was used for direct shear simulations with the combined finite-discrete element method(FDEM),and it was found to align well with the experimental results.Considering both computational efficiency and accuracy,it was recommended to use a shear rate of 0.01 m/s for FDEM to carry out direct shear simulations.To balance the relationship between the number of elements and the simulation results in the direct shear simulations,the recommended element size is 1 mm.

The Influence of the Closure of the East Paleo-Tethys Ocean on Southern South China:Evidences from Kinematics and^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar Geochronology of the Rongxian Ductile Shear Zone in Southeastern Guangxi

The Triassic was a crucial period in the tectonic evolution of the South China Block.Research on tectonic deformation during this period provides information on intracontinental orogenic mechanisms in South China.In this study,alongside thermochronological analyses,we examine the macroscopic and microscopic structural features of the Rongxian ductile shear zone,located south of the Darongshan granite in the southeastern part of Guangxi Province,on the southern margin of South China.Sinistral shear is indicated by the characteristics of rotatedσ-type feldspar porphyroclasts,stretching lineations defined by elongated quartz grains and the orientations of quartz c-axes.LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of zircons from two samples of granitic mylonite and one of granite yielded ages of ca.256 Ma.Furthermore,two samples of granitic mylonite yield muscovite^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar plateau ages of 249-246 Ma.These results indicate that the Rongxian ductile shear zone resulted from Early Triassic deformation of the late Permian Darongshan granite.This deformation was likely related to the closure of the eastern Paleo-Tethys Ocean and the subsequent collision of the South China and Indochina blocks,during the early stage of the Indosinian orogeny.

Shear resistance of assembled bentonite interface after confined water saturation and interfacial self-healing capacity

The requisite functions of a bentonite buffer in a deep geological repository depend on the sealing/healing of bentonite interfaces,with particular emphasis on the self-healing(automatic healing upon wetting)of assembled bentonite-bentonite interfaces.This study determined the shear resistance(including the peak shear strength and secant modulus)of densely compacted Gaomiaozi(GMZ)bentonite and its assembled interface after confined water saturation.The effect of bentonite dry density and saturation time on the shear resistance of saturated healed interfaces was elucidated,and the interfacial self-healing capacity was assessed.The results indicate that the shear resistance of the saturated healed interfaces increased with the bentonite dry density but had a non-monotonic correlation with the saturation time.For a given dry density of the bentonite,the saturated healed interface exhibits a lower peak shear strength than the saturated intact bentonite but a higher peak shear strength than the saturated separated interface.The saturated healed and separated interfaces have comparable shear moduli(secant moduli),which are lower than that of the saturated intact bentonite.The saturated healed interfaces display smooth shear failure planes,while the saturated assembled interfaces and intact bentonite exhibit comparable frictional angles.This indicates that interfacial self-healing plays a pivotal role in enhancing interfacial peak shear strength by facilitating microstructural bonding at the assembled interface.Finally,it can be stated that densely compacted GMZ bentonite has a robust interfacial self-healing capacity in terms of shear resistance.These findings contribute to the design of the bentonite buffer and facilitate the evaluation of its safe operation at specified disposal ages.

Experimental investigation on shear strength deterioration at the interface between different rock types under cyclic loading

The shear strength deterioration of bedding planes between different rock types induced by cyclic loading is vital to reasonably evaluate the stability of soft and hard interbedded bedding rock slopes under earthquake;however,rare work has been devoted to this subject due to lack of attention.In this study,experimental investigations on shear strength weakening of discontinuities with different joint wall material(DDJM)under cyclic loading were conducted by taking the interface between siltstone and mudstone in the Shaba slope of Yunnan Province,China as research objects.A total of 99 pairs of similar material samples of DDJM(81 pairs)and discontinuities with identical joint wall material(DIJM)(18 pairs)were fabricated by inserting plates,engraved with typical surface morphology obtained by performing three-dimensional laser scanning on natural DDJMs sampled from field,into mold boxes.Cyclic shear tests were conducted on these samples to study their shear strength changes with the cyclic number considering the effects of normal stress,joint surface morphology,shear displacement amplitude and shear rate.The results indicate that the shear stress vs.shear displacement curves under each shear cycle and the peak shear strength vs.cyclic number curves of the studied DDJMs are between those of DIJMs with siltstone and mudstone,while closer to those of DIJMs with mudstone.The peak shear strengths of DDJMs exhibit an initial rapid decline followed by a gradual decrease with the cyclic number and the decrease rate varies from 6%to 55.9%for samples with varied surface morphology under different testing conditions.The normal stress,joint surface morphology,shear displacement amplitude and shear rate collectively influence the shear strength deterioration of DDJM under cyclic shear loading,with the degree of influence being greater for larger normal stress,rougher surface morphology,larger shear displacement amplitude and faster shear rate.

Field testing of shear strength of granite residual soils

The characteristics of residual soils are very different from those of sedimentary soils.Although the strength characteristics of sedimentary soils have been studied extensively,the shear strength characteristics of granitic residual soils(GRS)subjected to the weathering of parent rocks have rarely been investigated.In this study,the shear strength characteristics of GRS in the Taishan area of southeast China(TSGRS)were studied by field and laboratory tests.The field tests consisted of a cone penetration test(CPT),borehole shear test(BST),self-boring pressuremeter test(SBPT),and seismic dilatometer Marchetti test(SDMT).The shortcomings of laboratory testing are obvious,with potential disturbances arising through the sampling,transportation,and preparation of soil samples.Due to the special structure of GRS samples and the ease of disturbance,the results obtained from laboratory tests were generally lower than those obtained from situ tests.The CPT and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)results indicated significant weathering and crustal hardening in the shallow TSGRS.This resulted in significant differences in the strength and strength parameters of shallow soil obtained by the BST.Based on the SDMT and SBPT results,a comprehensive evaluation method of shear strength for TSGRS was proposed.The SBPT was suitable for evaluating the strength of shallow GRS.The material index(ID)and horizontal stress index(KD)values obtained by the SDMT satisfied the empirical relationship proposed by Marchetti based on the ID index,and were therefore considered suitable for the evaluation of the shear strength of deep GRS.

Shear band evolution and acoustic emission characteristics of sandstone containing non-persistent flaws

Direct shear tests were conducted on sandstone specimens under different constant normal stresses to study the coalescence of cracks between non-persistent flaws and the shear sliding characteristics of the shear-formed fault.Digital image correlation and acoustic emission(AE)techniques were used to monitor the evolution of shear bands at the rock bridge area and microcracking behaviors.The experimental results revealed that the shear stresses corresponding to the peak and sub-peak in the stressdisplacement curve are significantly affected by the normal stress.Strain localization bands emerged at both the tip of joints and the rock bridge,and their extension and interaction near the peak stress caused a surge in the AE hit rate and a significant decrease in the AE b value.Short and curvilinear strain bands were detected at low normal stress,while high normal stress generally led to more microcracking events and longer coplanar cracks at the rock bridge area.Furthermore,an increase in normal stress resulted in a higher AE count rate and more energetic AE events during friction sliding along the shearformed fault.It was observed that the elastic energy released during the crack coalescence at the prepeak stage was much greater than that released during friction sliding at the post-peak stage.More than 75%of AE events were located in the low-frequency band(0e100 kHz),and this proportion continued to rise with increasing normal stress.Moreover,more AE events of low AF value and high RA value were observed in specimens subjected to high normal stress,indicating that greater normal stress led to more microcracks of shear nature.

Retraction to: Shear strength of extremely altered serpentinites based on degree of saturation (Ankara, Turkey)

The Editor in Chief has retracted this article.After publication,concerns were raised over potentially inconsistent data-for example,the author mentioned residual soil with silt fraction,but Fig.5 shows even the smallest grains are beyond silt grains.Further analysis showed that Fig.6 and Fig.9 show both loose and dense soils exhibiting very similar dilatance behaviour,which is not typical.The author shared raw data,but it was incomplete and could not be verified.The Editor in Chief,therefore,has lost confidence in the findings of this article.The author does not agree to this retraction.

Photoacoustic elastography based on laser-excited shear wave

Elastography can be used as a diagnostic method for quantitative characterization of tissue hardness information and thus,differential changes in pathophysiological states of tissues.In this study,we propose a new method for shear wave elastography(SWE)based on laser-excited shear wave,called photoacoustic shear wave elastography(PASWE),which combines photoacoustic(PA)technology with ultrafast ultrasound imaging.By using a focused laser to excite shear waves and ultrafast ultrasonic imaging for detection,high-frequency excitation of shear waves and noncontact elastic imaging can be realized.The laser can stimulate the tissue with the light absorption characteristic to produce the thermal expansion,thus producing the shear wave.The frequency of shear wave induced by laser is higher and the frequency band is wider.By tracking the propagation of shear wave,Young’s modulus of tissue is reconstructed in the whole shear wave propagation region to further evaluate the elastic information of tissue.The feasibility of the method is verified by experiments.Compared with the experimental results of supersonic shear imaging(SSI),it is proved that the method can be used for quantitative elastic imaging of the phantoms.In addition,compared with the SSI method,this method can realize the noncontact excitation of the shear wave,and the frequency of the shear wave excited by the laser is higher than that of the acoustic radiation force(ARF),so the spatial resolution is higher.Compared to the traditional PA elastic imaging method,this method can obtain a larger imaging depth under the premise of ensuring the imaging resolution,and it has potential application value in the clinical diagnosis of diseases requiring noncontact quantitative elasticity.