A 3D microseismic data-driven damage model for jointed rock mass under hydro-mechanical coupling conditions and its application

Rock mass is a fractured porous medium usually subjected to complex geostress and fluid pressure simultaneously.Moreover,the properties of rock mass change in time and space due to mining-induced fractures.Therefore,it is always challenging to accurately measure rock mass properties.In this study,a three-dimensional(3D)microseismic(MS)data-driven damage model for jointed rock mass under hydro-mechanical coupling conditions is proposed.It is a 3D finite element model that takes seepage,damage and stress field effects into account jointly.Multiple factors(i.e.joints,water and microseismicity)are used to optimize the rock mass mechanical parameters at different scales.The model is applied in Shirengou iron mine to study the damage evolution of rock mass and assess the crown pillar stability during the transition from open-pit to underground mining.It is found that the damage pattern is mostly controlled by the structure,water and rock mass parameters.The damage pattern is evidently different from the two-dimensional result and is more consistent with the field observations.This difference is caused by the MS-derived damage acting on the rock mass.MS data are responsible for gradually correcting the damage zone,changing the direction in which it expands,and promoting it to evolve close to reality.For the crown pillar,the proposed model yields a more trustworthy safety factor.In order to guarantee the stability of the pillar,it is suggested to take waterproof and reinforcement measures in areas with a high degree of damage.

Spatial-temporal coupling between high-quality source rocks and reservoirs for tight sandstone oil and gas accumulations in the Songliao Basin, China

The spatial-temporal relationship between high-quality source rocks and reservoirs is a key factor when evaluating the formation,occurrence,and prospectivity of tight oil and gas reservoirs.In this study,we analyze the fundamental oil and gas accumulation processes occurring in the Songliao Basin,contrasting tight oil sand reservoirs in the south with tight gas sand reservoirs in the north.This is done using geochemical data,constant-rate and conventional mercury injection experiments,and fluid inclusion analyses.Our results demonstrate that as far as fluid mobility is concerned,the expulsion center coincides with the overpressure zone,and its boundary limits the occurrence of tight oil and gas accumulations.In addition,the lower permeability limit of high-quality reservoirs,controlled by pore-throat structures,is 0.1×10^-3μm^2 in the fourth member of the Lower Cretaceous Quantou Formation(K1q^4)in the southern Songliao Basin,and 0.05×10^-3μm^2 in the Lower Cretaceous Shahezi Formation(K1sh)in the northern Songliao Basin.Furthermore,the results indicate that the formation of tight oil and gas reservoirs requires the densification of reservoirs prior to the main phase of hydrocarbon expulsion from the source rocks.Reservoir“sweet spots”develop at the intersection of high-quality source rocks(with high pore pressure)and reservoirs(with high permeability).

System dynamics model of the support-surrounding rock system in fully mechanized mining with large mining height face and its application

Fully mechanized mining with large mining height(FMMLMH)is widely used in thick coal seam mining face for its higher recovery ratio,especially where the thickness is less than 7.0 m.However,because of the great mining height and intense rock pressure,the coal wall rib spalling,roof falling and the instability of support occur more likely in FMMLMH working face,and the above three types of disasters interact with each other with complicated relationships.In order to get the relationship between each two of coal wall,roof,floor and support,and reduce the occurrence probability of the three types of disasters,we established the system dynamics(SD)model of the support-surrounding rock system which is composed of"coal wall-roof-floor-support"(CW-R-F-S)in a FMMLMH working face based on the condition of No.15104 working face in Sijiazhuang coal mine.With the software of Vensim,we also simulated the interaction process between each two factors of roof,floor,coal wall and the support.The results show that the SD model of"CW-R-F-S"system can reveal the complicated and interactive relationship clearly between the support and surrounding rock in the FMMLMH working face.By increasing the advancing speed of working face,the support resistance or the length of support guard,or by decreasing the tipto-face distance,the stability of"CW-R-F-S"system will be higher and the happening probability of the disasters such as coal wall rib spalling,roof falling or the instability of support will be lower.These research findings have been testified in field application in No.15104 working face,which can provide a new approach for researching the interaction relationship of support and surrounding rock.

Modelling erosion of a single rock block using a coupled CFD-DEM approach

Rock block removal is the prevalent physical mechanism for rock erosion and could affect the stability of dam foundations and spillways.Despite this,understanding of block removal is still inadequate because of the complex interactions among block characteristics,hydraulic forces,and erosive processes acting on the block.Herein,based on a previously conducted physical experiment of erosion of a single rock block,the removal processes of two different protruding blocks are represented by a coupled computational fluid dynamics-discrete element model(CFD-DEM)approach under varied flow conditions.Additionally,the blocks could be rotated with respect to the flow direction to consider the effect of the discontinuity orientation on the block removal process.Simulation results visualize the entire block removal process.The simulations reproduce the effects of the discontinuity orientation on the critical flow velocity inducing block incipient motion and the trajectory of the block motion observed in the physical experiments.The numerical results present a similar tendency of the critical velocities at different discontinuity orientations but have slightly lower values.The trajectory of the block in the simulations fits well with the experimental measurements.The relationship between the dimensionless critical shear stress and discontinuity orientation observed from the simulations shows that the effect of block protrusion becomes more dominant on the block incipient motion with the increase of relative protrusion height.To our knowledge,this present study is the first attempt to use the coupled finite volume method(FVM)-DEM approach for modelling the interaction behavior between the block and the flowing water so that the block removal process can be reproduced and analyzed.

Seepage-heat transfer coupling process of low temperature return water injected into geothermal reservoir in carbonate rocks in Xian County,China

Fracture seepage and heat transfer in the geothermal reservoir of carbonate rocks after the reinjection of low temperature geothermal return water is a complex coupling process,which is also the frontier of geothermal production and reinjection research.Based on the research of cascade comprehensive development of geothermal resources in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei(Xian County),the carbonate geothermal reservoir of Wumishan formation in the geothermal field in Xian County is investigated.With the development of the discrete fracture network model and the coupling model of seepage and heat transfer,the numerical solution of seepage field and temperature field with known fracture network is reached using the finite element software COMSOL,and the coupling process of seepage flow and heat in carbonate rocks is revealed.The results show that the distribution of temperature field of fractured rocks in geothermal reservoir of carbonate rocks has strong non-uniformity and anisotropy.The fracture network is interpenetrated,which constitutes the dominant channel of water conduction,and along which the fissure water moves rapidly.Under the influence of convective heat transfer and conductive heat transfer,one of the main factors to be considered in the study of thermal breakthrough is to make the cold front move forward rapidly.When the reinjection and production process continues for a long time and the temperature of the geothermal reservoir on the pumping side drops to a low level,the temperature of bedrocks is still relatively high and continues to supply heat to the fissure water,so that the temperature of the thermal reservoir on the pumping side will not decrease rapidly to the water temperature at the inlet of reinjection,but will gradually decrease after a long period of time,showing an obvious long tail effect.The distribution of fractures will affect the process of seepage and heat transfer in carbonate reservoirs,which should be considered in the study of fluid thermal coupling in carbonate reservoirs.

Numerical investigation on permeability evolution behavior of rock by an improved flow-coupling algorithm in particle flow code

岩石渗透性的意义重大,构造应力和人类工程活动会对渗透性产生巨大影响。岩石内部孔压与流速分布情况的全面监测对阐明渗透性的演化机制至关重要,其在试验中难以实施,但在数值模拟中可容易实现。因此,本文采用一种离散元方法—颗粒流程序(Particle Flow Code,简称PFC)开展岩石材料渗透性行为的模拟研究。针对PFC中原流–固耦合算法的不足,对其进行改进,使改进后的算法更能体现流体在岩石裂隙中的流动优势。分别采用原算法与改进算法对三轴压缩过程中的渗透性演化进行数值模拟,对比结果表明改进算法能更好地反映试验现象。本文利用改进流–固耦合算法,进一步分析了渗流过程中的孔压和流速分布的演化情况。结果表明,孔压和流速都优先通过裂隙传递而非岩石基质。根据运移流体的能力将裂隙划分为三类:Ⅰ)贯穿进口端和出口端的裂隙;Ⅱ)仅与进口端连接的裂隙;Ⅲ)仅与出口端连接的裂隙。Ⅰ)类裂隙始终是最主要的流速和孔压的传递通道。Ⅱ)类裂隙中孔压首先增大并逐渐趋于稳定,而流速首先增大,当流体运移到裂隙终端后流速减小甚至降低为零。在Ⅲ)类裂隙中,无明显的流体运移或孔压集中。

Anisotropic strength,deformation and failure of gneiss granite under high stress and temperature coupled true triaxial compression

The anisotropic mechanical behavior of rocks under high-stress and high-temperature coupled conditions is crucial for analyzing the stability of surrounding rocks in deep underground engineering.This paper is devoted to studying the anisotropic strength,deformation and failure behavior of gneiss granite from the deep boreholes of a railway tunnel that suffers from high tectonic stress and ground temperature in the eastern tectonic knot in the Tibet Plateau.High-temperature true triaxial compression tests are performed on the samples using a self-developed testing device with five different loading directions and three temperature values that are representative of the geological conditions of the deep underground tunnels in the region.Effect of temperature and loading direction on the strength,elastic modulus,Poisson’s ratio,and failure mode are analyzed.The method for quantitative identification of anisotropic failure is also proposed.The anisotropic mechanical behaviors of the gneiss granite are very sensitive to the changes in loading direction and temperature under true triaxial compression,and the high temperature seems to weaken the inherent anisotropy and stress-induced deformation anisotropy.The strength and deformation show obvious thermal degradation at 200℃due to the weakening of friction between failure surfaces and the transition of the failure pattern in rock grains.In the range of 25℃ 200℃,the failure is mainly governed by the loading direction due to the inherent anisotropy.This study is helpful to the in-depth understanding of the thermal-mechanical behavior of anisotropic rocks in deep underground projects.

Thermal-hydro-mechanical coupling damage model of brittle rock

Based on fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and damage mechanics, thermal-hydro-mechanical(THM) coupling damage model of brittle rock is established by analyzing THM coupling mechanism, where THM coupling damage variable DTHM is dominated by TH coupling damage variable DTH, TM coupling damage variable DTM and HM coupling damage variable DHM, and DTH is firstly expressed in term of dimensionless total thermal conductivity of the water Nu. Permeability test, uni-axial compression test and THM coupling test are conducted to measure the permeability, elastic modulus and THM coupling stress-strain curves of brittle rock. The tested values of THM coupling elastic modulus THME? are in good agreement with the predicted values of THM coupling elastic modulus ETHM, which can verify the newly established THM coupling damage model.

Seepage-stress coupling constitutive model of anisotropic soft rock

To provide a seepage-stress coupling constitutive model that can directly describe the seepage-stress coupling relationship, a series of one-dimensional seepage-stress coupling tests on two kinds of soft rock (argillaceous siltstone and brown mudstone) were performed by using an MTS-815.02 tri-axial rock mechanics test system, with which the stress-strain curves according to the seepage variation were obtained. Based on the experimental results and by employing Hooke's law, the formulation of the coefficient of strain-dependent permeability was presented and introduced to establish a coupling model. In addition, the mathematical expression and the incremental formulation for coupling model were advanced, in which five parameters that can be respectively determined by using the experimental results were included. The calculated results show that the proposed coupling model is capable of simulating the stress-strain relationship with considering the seepage-stress coupling in the nonlinear elastic stage of two kinds of soft rock.

Numerical simulation and analysis of moisture-heat coupling of soft rock tunnels in the cold regions

With the western development in China, more problems with rock and soil engineering in cold regions will be encountered. To study the stability of rock mass under the frost and thaw condition is of far significance. We attempt to simulate and analyze the temperature and moisture field in the surrounding rock of Dabanshan tunnel at its exit K106+025 in the cold region by software Femlab. First, introduced the common numerical solution to the moisture and heat coupled about the soft rock in tunnels of cold region. Then gave emphasis on simulation of the law of temperature distribution coupled temperature-moisture field and draw a parallel between temperature fields with different coefficient of percolation. In the course of simulation we considered the problem of caloric receptivity, thermal conductivity and critical heat varying with temperature.

Heat-fluid-solid coupling mechanism of supercritical carbon dioxide jet in rock-breaking

Aiming at the synergistic rock-breaking mechanism of supercritical carbon dioxide(SC-CO_(2))jet pressure and tem-perature difference,a heat-fluid-solid calculation model of rock-breaking stress was established and verified to be effective,and the variations of jet flow field and rock stress with jet standoff distance of SC-CO_(2),water and nitrogen were studied.With the increase of jet standoff distance,the jet pressure of SC-CO_(2) decreases and the jet temperature difference increases.The SC-CO_(2) jet is higher in pressure than the nitrogen jet and differs little from the water jet.Temperature difference of SC-CO_(2) jet is 5 times that of water jet and more than 2.5 ti mes that of nitrogen jet when the jet standoff distance is larger than 10.The tem-perature stress is the main reason why SC-CO_(2) jet is superior to water and nitrogen jets in rock-breaking.The rock under the SC-CO_(2) jet has greater rock stress,effective rock-breaking jet standoff distance and rock-breaking area.The jet pressure plays a major role in rock-breaking when the jet standoff distance is small,while the jet temperature difference plays a major role in rock-breaking when the jet standoff distance is large.The SC-CO_(2) jet is an efficient volume rock-breaking method,which results in tensile and shear failure on the rock surface under short time jet and large area tensile failure inside the rock simultaneously under long time jet.

Mechanical Behaviors of Silt Rock Subjected to Coupling Static and Impact Loads

Experiments of silt rock subjected to coupling loads were carried out on tailormade equipment. With a constant dynamic load, the behaviors of eight sets of siltite specimens were investigated with different axial static loads. The experimental results show that the modulus of the specimens under coupling loads increases at first and then decreases with the increase of axial static pressure. The failure model of the specimens also varies. Keeping the dynamic load constant, when the axial static pressure is low, the specimen breaks in two simply. With the increase of axial static pressure, the cone-shaped fragment appeares. When the axial static pressure reaches 90% of the static strength of rock, the specimen smashes into amount of small fragments.

Numerical simulation for influences of pressure solution on T-H-M coupling in aggregate rock

The pressure solution model of granular aggregates was introduced into a FEM code which was developed for the analysis of thermo-hydro-mechanical(T-H-M) coupling in porous medium. Aimed at creating a hypothetical model of nuclear waste disposal in unsaturated quartz aggregate rock mass with laboratory scale, two 4-year computation cases were designed: 1) The porosity and permeability of rock mass are functions of the pressure solution; 2) The porosity and the permeability are constants. Calculation results show that the magnitude and distribution of stresses in the rock mass of these two calculation cases are roughly the same. And, the porosity and the permeability decrease to 43%-54% and 4.4%-9.1% of their original values after case 1 being accomplished; but the negative pore water pressures in cases 1 and 2 are respectively 1.0-1.25 and 1.0-1.1 times of their initial values under the action of nuclear waste. Case 1 exhibits the obvious effect of pressure solution.

Failure mechanism and coupled static-dynamic loading theory in deep hard rock mining: A review

Rock failure phenomena,such as rockburst,slabbing(or spalling) and zonal disintegration,related to deep underground excavation of hard rocks are frequently reported and pose a great threat to deep mining.Currently,the explanation for these failure phenomena using existing dynamic or static rock mechanics theory is not straightforward.In this study,new theory and testing method for deep underground rock mass under coupled static-dynamic loading are introduced.Two types of coupled loading modes,i.e.'critical static stress + slight disturbance' and 'elastic static stress + impact disturbance',are proposed,and associated test devices are developed.Rockburst phenomena of hard rocks under coupled static-dynamic loading are successfully reproduced in the laboratory,and the rockburst mechanism and related criteria are demonstrated.The results of true triaxial unloading compression tests on granite and red sandstone indicate that the unloading can induce slabbing when the confining pressure exceeds a certain threshold,and the slabbing failure strength is lower than the shear failure strength according to the conventional Mohr-Column criterion.Numerical results indicate that the rock unloading failure response under different in situ stresses and unloading rates can be characterized by an equivalent strain energy density.In addition,we present a new microseismic source location method without premeasuring the sound wave velocity in rock mass,which can efficiently and accurately locate the rock failure in hard rock mines.Also,a new idea for deep hard rock mining using a non-explosive continuous mining method is briefly introduced.

Mechanical properties of rock under coupled static-dynamic loads

Rock drilling machine,INSTRON testing system,and SHPB device are updated to investigate the characteristics of rocks at great depth,with high loads from overburden,tectonic stresses and dynamic impacts due to blasting and boring.It is verified that these testing systems can be used to study the mechanical properties of rock material under coupled static and dynamic loading condition and give useful guidance for the deep mining and underground cavern excavation.Various tests to determine the rock strength,fragmentation behavior,and energy absorption were conducted using the updated testing systems.It is shown that under coupled static-dynamic loads,if the axial prestress is lower than its elastic limit,the rock strength is higher than the individual static or dynamic strength.At the same axial prestress,rock strength under coupled loads rises with the increasing strain rates.Under coupled static and dynamic loads,rock is observed to fail with tensile mode.While shear failure may exist if axial prestress is high enough.In addition,it is shown that the percentage of small particles increases with the increasing axial prestress and impact load based on the analysis of the particle-size distribution of fragments.It is also suggested that the energy absorption ratio of a specimen varies with coupled loads,and the maximum energy absorption ratio for a rock can be obtained with an appropriate combination of static and dynamic loads.

Cyclic constitutive equations of rock with coupled damage induced by compaction and cracking

In this paper,the cyclic constitutive equations were proposed to describe the constitutive behavior of cyclic loading and unloading.Firstly,a coupled damage variable was derived,which contains two parts,i.e.,the compaction-induced damage and the cracking-induced damage.The compaction-induced damage variable was derived from a nonlinear stress–strain relation of the initial compaction stage,and the cracking-induced damage variable was established based on the statistical damage theory.Secondly,based on the total damage variable,a damage constitutive equation was proposed to describe the constitutive relation of rock under the monotonic uniaxial compression conditions,whereafter,the application of this model is extended to cyclic loading and unloading conditions.To validate the proposed monotonic and cyclic constitutive equations,a series of mechanical tests for marble specimens were carried out,which contained the monotonic uniaxial compression(MUC)experiment,cyclic uniaxial compression experiments under the variable amplitude(CUC-VA)and constant amplitude(CUC-CA)conditions.The results show that the proposed total damage variable comprehensively reflects the damage evolution characteristic,i.e.,the damage variable firstly decreases,then increases no matter under the conditions of MUC,CUC-VA or CUC-CA.Then a reasonable consistency is observed between the experimental and theoretical curves.The proposed cyclic constitutive equations can simulate the whole cyclic loading and unloading behaviors,such as the initial compaction,the strain hardening and the strain softening.Furthermore,the shapes of the theoretical curves are controlled by the modified coefficient,compaction sensitivity coefficient and two Weibull distributed parameters.

Stability of coal pillar in gob-side entry driving under unstable overlying strata and its coupling support control technique

Considering the situation that it is difficult to control the stability of narrow coal pillar in gob-side entry driving under unstable overlying strata, the finite difference numerical simulation method was adopted to analyze the inner stress distribution and its evolution regularity, as well as the deformation characteristics of narrow coal pillar in gob-side entry driving, in the whole process from entry driving of last working face to the present working face mining. A new method of narrow coal pillar control based on the triune coupling support technique (TCST), which includes that high-strength prestressed thread steel bolt is used to strain the coal on the goaf side, and that short bolt to control the integrity of global displacement zone in coal pillar on the entry side, and that long grouting cable to fix anchor point to constrain the bed separation between global displacement zone and fixed zone, is thereby generated and applied to the field production. The result indicates that after entry excavating along the gob under unstable overlying strata, the supporting structure left on the gob side of narrow coal pillar is basically invalid to maintain the coal-pillar stability, and the large deformation of the pillar on the gob side is evident. Except for the significant dynamic pressure appearing in the coal mining of last working face and overlying strata stabilizing process, the stress variation inside the coal pillar in other stages are rather steady, however, the stress expansion is obvious and the coal pillar continues to deform. Once the gob-side entry driving is completed, a global displacement zone on the entry side appears in the shallow part of the pillar, whereas, a relatively steady fixed zone staying almost still in gob-side entry driving and present working face mining is found in the deep part of the pillar. The application of TCST can not only avoid the failure of pillar supporting structure, but exert the supporting capacity of the bolting structure left in the pillar of last sublevel entry, thus to jointly maintain the stability of coal pillar.

Continuum and Discrete Element Coupling Approach to Analyzing Seismic Responses of a Slope Covered by Deposits

Numerical analyses of earthquake effects on the deformation,stability,and load transfer of a slope covered by deposits are traditionally based on the assumption that the slope is a continuum.It would be problematic,however,to extend these approaches to the simulation of the slide,collapse and disintegration of the deposits under seismic loading.Contrary to this,a discrete element method(DEM) provides a means to consider large displacement and rotation of the non-continuum.To take the advantages of both methods of continuum and noncontinuum analyses,seismic responses of a slope covered by deposits are studied by coupling a twodimensional(2-D) finite difference method and a 2-D DEM,with the bedrock being modelled by the finite difference grids and the deposits being represented by disks.A smooth transition across the boundaries of the continuous/discontinuous domains is obtained by imposing the compatibility condition and equilibrium condition along their interfaces.In the course of computation,the same time-step value is chosen for both continuous and discontinuous domains.The free-field boundaries are adopted for lateral grids of bedrock domain to eliminate the radiation damping effect.When the static equilibrium under gravity load is obtained,dynamic calculation begins under excitation of the seismic wave input from the continuum model bottom.In this way,responses to the earthquake of a slope covered by deposits are analyzed dynamically.Combined with field monitoring data,deformation and stability of the slope are discussed.The effects of the relevant parameters of spectrum characteristic,duration,and peak acceleration of seismic waves are further investigated and explained from the simulations.

Coupled hydro-mechanical effect of a fractured rock mass under high water pressure

To explore the variation of permeability and deformation behaviors of a fractured rock mass in high water pressure,a high pressure permeability test（HPPT）,including measuring sensors of pore water pressure and displacement of the rock mass,was designed according to the hydrogeological condition of Heimifeng pumped storage power station.With the assumption of radial water flow pattern in the rock mass during the HPPT,a theoretical formula was presented to estimate the coefficient of permeability of the rock mass using water pressures in injection and measuring boreholes.The variation in permeability of the rock mass with the injected water pressure was studied according to the suggested formula.By fitting the relationship between the coefficient of permeability and the injected water pressure,a mathematical expression was obtained and used in the numerical simulations.For a better understanding of the relationship between the pore water pressure and the displacement of the rock mass,a 3D numerical method based on a coupled hydro-mechanical theory was employed to simulate the response of the rock mass during the test.By comparison of the calculated and measured data of pore water pressure and displacement,the deformation behaviors of the rock mass were analyzed.It is shown that the variation of displacement in the fractured rock mass is caused by water flow passing through it under high water pressure,and the rock deformation during the test could be calculated by using the coupled hydro-mechanical model.