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.

The primary influence of shear band evolution on the slope bearing capacity

Slope bearing capacity is one of the most important characteristics in slope engineering and is strongly influenced by weak planes,loading conditions,and slope geometry.By presenting the evolution of slip surfaces,this paper explored how the slope bearing capacity is affected by widely observed influencing factors.The initiation and propagation of slip surfaces are presented in laboratory model tests of slope using the transparent soil technique.Shear band evolution under various weak planes,loading conditions,and slope geometries were experimentally presented,and slope bearing capacities were analyzed with the process of shear band evolution.This paper verified that slip surface morphologies have a strong relation with the slope bearing capacity.The same slip surface morphology can have different evolutionary processes.In this case,it is the shear band evolution that determines the slope bearing capacity,not the morphology of the slip surface.The influencing factors such as pre-existing weak planes,loading conditions,and slope geometry strongly affect the slope bearing capacity as these factors govern the process of shear band evolution inside the slope.