Characterization of Hydraulic Behaviours of Coarse Rock Materials in a Large Permeameter

The hydraulic behaviour of a rock material structure is a major feature for its design and safety assess- ment. Similar to all other physical problems, in order to enclose the governing equations systems and achieve a solution, the hydraulic characteristics of these materials need to be determined experimentally and implemented then into adopted thermo-dynamical models. This paper covers the process of the design, construction and operation of an experimental rig built for this specific purpose. Using the constructed large-scale permeameter, tests have been conducted. The non-linear hydraulic behaviour of various mate- rials under extreme turbulent conditions, where Reynolds number reaches unprecedented values, has not been studied before. Preliminary results are presented and discussed.

Accuracy and Precision of Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Analysis of Trace and Major Elements in Rock Standard Reference Materials Using Fine Powder

In this work the performance of a screening analytical method for Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis in terms of accuracy and precision was evaluated through analysis of rock standard reference materials. The method allowed the division of elements into four groups taking into account the excitation energies and measurement conditions of the sample. Two standard reference materials were used and 15 sample replicates were prepared and analyzed, then statistics were applied to assess the precision and accuracy of analytical results. The obtained results show that major compounds or elements (SiO2, P2O5, K2O, CaO, Fe2O3, Ti) can be determined in fine powder sample with a deviation lower than 15%, and a relative standard deviation in the range (1 - 10)%. The deviation was found to be lower than 5% for major compounds such as K2O, and CaO, which suggest that the EDXRF is accurate in evaluating major elemental concentrations in rock samples. It was also found that the method seems to be more accurate and precise for major elements than for trace element investigation. This screening analytical method can be used for routine analysis with acceptable results, even though the method should be optimized to increase its precision and accuracy.

A modified damage and fracture phase field model considering heterogeneity for rock‐like materials

Damage and fracture are the most extensive failure modes of rock materials,which may easily induce disaster and instability of engineering structures.This study developed a nonlocal damage fracture phase field model for rocks considering the heterogeneity of rocks.The modified phase field model introduced the heterogeneity of fracture parameters and modified the governing equations.Meanwhile,the free energy was constructed by the elastic strain energy sphere‐bias decomposition and the plastic strain energy.As for the numerical implementation,the three layers finite elements method structure was used in the frame of the finite element method.The ability of the modified phase field model has been illustrated by reproducing the experiment results of rock samples with pre‐existing cracks under compression.

Experimental Study on Application of Shaped Charge to Rock Materials Cutting

The mechanic affection on the blast holewalls is simply analyzed and cracking propaga-tion caused by shaped charge is explained inthis paper. In the rock materials cutting, pri-

Mechanical properties of rock materials with related to mineralogical characteristics and grain size through experimental investigation： a comprehensive review

Mechanical properties of rock materials are related to textural characteristics. The relationships between mechanical properties and textural characteristics have been extensively investigated for differently types of rocks through experimental tests. Based on the experimental test data, single- and multiple- variant regression analyses are conducted among mechanical properties and textural characteristics. Textural characteristics of rock materials are influenced by the following factors： mineral composition, size, shape, and spatial distribution of mineral grains, porosity, and inherent microcracks. This study focuses on the first two： mineral composition and grain size. This study comprehensively summarizes the regression equations between mechanical properties and mineral content and the regression equations between mechanical properties and grain size. Further research directions are suggested at the end of this study.

THEORETICAL MODEL OF EFFECTIVE STRESS COEFFICIENT FOR ROCK/SOIL-LIKE POROUS MATERIALS

Physical mechanisms and influencing factors on the effective stress coefficient for rock/soil-like porous materials are investigated, based on which equivalent connectivity index is proposed. The equivalent connectivity index, relying on the meso-scale structure of porous material and the property of liquid, denotes the connectivity of pores in Representative Element Area （REA）. If the conductivity of the porous material is anisotropic, the equivalent connectivity index is a second order tensor. Based on the basic theories of continuous mechanics and tensor analysis, relationship between area porosity and volumetric porosity of porous materials is deduced. Then a generalized expression, describing the relation between effective stress coefficient tensor and equivalent connectivity tensor of pores, is proposed, and the expression can be applied to isotropic media and also to anisotropic materials. Furthermore, evolution of porosity and equivalent connectivity index of the pore are studied in the strain space, and the method to determine the corresponding functions in expressions above is proposed using genetic algorithm and genetic programming. Two applications show that the results obtained by the method in this paper perfectly agree with the test data. This paper provides an important theoretical support to the coupled hydro-mechanical research.

Modeling hydraulic fracture in heterogeneous rock materials using permeability-based hydraulic fracture model

Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most important techniques for enhancing oil/gas production.The permeability-based hydraulic fracture(PHF)model,which is based on the smeared-crack method and considers the interaction between the pore pressure and solid phase,is adopted in the present study for a fully-coupled simulation of the hydraulic fracture in a heterogeneous rock formation.The level set method(LSM),which is used to describe the distribution of material properties of heterogeneous rocks,is coupled with the PHF model.Using the coupled PHF–LSM model,a series of finite element method(FEM)simulations are carried out to investigate the characteristics of a hydraulic fracture(e.g.,the breakdown pressure and fracture propagation)in heterogeneous rocks.Three types of heterogeneous rocks are examined:layered rock,rock with distributed inclusions,and rock with random spatial variations in the material properties.The results of the numerical simulations show that the coupled PHF–LSM model can describe the material interface without changing the FEM mesh used to discretize the physical domain.Further,the model effectively simulates hydraulic-fracturing problems for various heterogeneous rocks.

A waveform modification method for testing dynamic properties of rock under high temperature

In this study,a waveform modification method was proposed using a self-designed heating device combined with the split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)technique for determination of dynamic behaviors of rock at high temperature.Firstly,the temperature gradient distribution on the incident bar was measured according to the variation of elastic modulus of the bar with temperature,and the relationship between the longitudinal wave velocity and temperature of the bar was obtained based on onedimensional stress wave theory.The incident bar with a temperature gradient was divided into a series of microelements,and then the transmission coefficient of the whole incident bar was obtained.Finally,the stress wave was modified by the transmission coefficient from 25℃ to 600℃.This method was used to study the dynamic properties of rock at high temperature,which not only preserves a classical SHPB device,but also effectively ensures the accuracy of the experimental results.A dynamic Brazilian disc experiment was carried out to explore the influences of loading rate and temperature on dynamic tensile strength of sandstone at high temperature using the proposed waveform modification method.

Critical issues in soft rocks

This paper discusses several efforts made to study and investigate soft rocks, as well as their physico- mechanical characteristics recognized up to now, the problems in their sampling and testing, and the possibility of its reproduction through artificially made soft rocks, The problems in utilizing current and widespread classification systems to some types of weak rocks are also discussed, as well as other problems related to them. Some examples of engineering works in soft rock or in soft ground are added, with emphasis on their types of problems and solutions.

Ground reaction curves for circular excavations in non-homogeneous,axisymmetric strain-softening rock masses

Fast methods to solve the unloading problem of a cylindrical cavity or tunnel excavated in elasto-perfectly plastic, elasto-brittle or strain-softening materials under a hydrostatic stress feld can be derived based on the self-similarity of the solution. As a consequence, they only apply when the rock mass is homogeneous and so exclude many cases of practical interest. We describe a robust and fast numerical technique that solves the tunnel unloading problem and estimates the ground reaction curve for a cylindrical cavity excavated in a rock mass with properties depending on the radial coordinate, where the solution is no longer self-similar. The solution is based on a continuation-like approach(associated with the unloading and with the incremental formulation of the elasto-plastic behavior), fnite element spatial discretization and a combination of explicit sub-stepping schemes and implicit techniques to integrate the constitutive law, so as to tackle the diffculties associated with both strong strain-softening and elasto-brittle behaviors. The developed algorithm is used for two practical ground reaction curve computation applications. The frst application refers to a tunnel surrounded by an aureole of material damaged by blasting and the second to a tunnel surrounded by a ring-like zone of reinforced(rock-bolted) material.

DOUBLE-MEDIUM CONSTITUTIVE MODEL OF GEOLOGICAL MATERIAL IN UNIAXIAL TENSION AND COMPRESSION

Based on elasto-plasticity and damage mechanics, a double-medium constitutive model of geological material under uniaxial tension and compression was presented, on the assumption that rock and soil materials are the pore-fracture double-medium, and porous medium has no damage occurring, while fracture medium has damage occurring with load. To the implicit equation of the model, iterative method was adopted to obtain the complete stress-strain curve of the material. The result shows that many different distributions （uniform distribution, concentrated distribution and random distribution） of fractures in rock and soil material are the essential reasons of the daedal constitutive relations. By the reason that the double-medium constitutive model separates the material to be porous medium part, which is the main body of elasticity, and fracture medium part, which is the main body of damage, it is of important practical values and theoretical meanings to the study on failure of rock and soil or materials containing damage.