International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences最新文献

Tensile strength is one of the most critical design factors in many rock engineering projects. However, despite many available testing techniques, an accurate estimation of the true tensile strength of quasi-brittle rock-like materials is yet a controversial problem since it can vary by the shape and size of a test specimen, the adopted test method, and applied loading conditions. Different studies have tried to address this issue by providing (mainly empirical) laws for determining variations of rock tensile strength as a function of a particular test parameter such as specimen size. In this study, however, a new general approach is presented that can decipher the tensile strength variations of rock under various testing conditions. Using coupled Finite Fracture Mechanics (FFM), it is first proved that the length of the Fracture Process Zone (FPZ) can be determined with accuracy and ease using the energy criterion of coupled FFM. Then, the length of FPZ is used in the stress criterion of coupled FFM to determine rock tensile strength. The failure stress of a material is then proved to be mainly a function of the FPZ length following a power law originated from the Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM). The results assist in deciphering variations of rock tensile strength related to the sample size and test method.

Weak interlayers (WI) are common in sedimentary rock masses in deep coal mines. The qualitative effect of the WI on rockbursts is widely acknowledged; however, its influence mechanism still needs further investigation. In the present study, true triaxial unloading rockburst tests of sandstone with WI and calcite veins (CV) were conducted to explore their influence mechanisms. To explore the impact of WI, the rockburst stress, failure modes, acoustic emission (AE) parameters (energy, entropy, and b-value), and spatial energy characteristics of AE events were analyzed. The influence of the area ratio of WI and their distribution patterns (centralization and dispersion) on rockburst were further investigated. The results indicate that the rockburst stress (peak of maximum principal stress) decreased by 4 % for every 1 % increase in the sandstone's dispersion WI area ratio (1.9%–9.3 %). Namely, rockburst is more likely to occur when there is appropriate WI distributed in the sandstone because WI exacerbates the microcrack activities and energy release. The CV will reduce the weakening effect of WI on rockburst stress and can enhance the rockburst intensity, especially in samples with dispersion WI. Moreover, the more considerable AE energy is released around CV for the sandstone with dispersion WI. The interface between WI and matrix is prone to rockburst for the sandstone with centralized WI because of the concentrated energy release. The results of this paper can provide a reference for the prevention and control of rockbursts in mine sedimentary rocks containing WI and CV.

In the field of tunnelling applications, it is often found that the rock masses exhibit anisotropy and rheological properties. To optimize the utilization of underground space, the use of noncircular tunnels is often preferred. However, it is important to note that these noncircular tunnels can lead to high-stress concentrations and significant displacements.

This article presents a thorough analytical study on the time-dependent ground responses induced by the excavation of noncircular tunnels in transversely isotropic viscoelastic rock masses. The study considers a comprehensive set of engineering factors, including the viscoelastic characteristics of the surrounding rock, any anisotropic angle, and arbitrary tunnel shapes.

Using the generalized corresponding principle of anisotropic elasticity and anisotropic viscoelasticity, an analytical model is introduced. This model can accurately and swiftly address the problem of deformation and stresses around noncircular tunnels in anisotropic rheological rock masses. The analytical solutions are verified by their good agreement with the Finite Element Method (FEM) results under identical assumptions. Moreover, the qualitative agreement between the analytical solutions and field data further validates the practical application of the analytical solution.

A parametric analysis is then performed to investigate the effects of anisotropy ratio, anisotropy angle, and coefficient of lateral pressure on stresses and displacements.

The proposed analytical solutions can help reveal the particular mechanical mechanism of the time-dependent ground responses due to the combination of rock anisotropy and rheology. Furthermore, they can provide a more accurate prediction of the ground response, which may be useful to optimize the design of tunnel excavation in anisotropic rheological rock masses.

Recognizing and quantifying the elasto-plastic nature of underground formations is critical for various subsurface operations such as drilling, stimulation, production, injection, and storage. In the case of geological CO2 storage, for instance, it is key to identify storage sites characteristics and pumping parameters that lead to safe and perennial CO2 trapping. In this work, we investigate different rock hardening/softening behaviors with the Drucker-Prager model: cohesion hardening/softening, friction hardening/softening, and their combination, jointed hardening/softening. Our focus is to solve the elasto-plastic deformation analytically in the vicinity of a wellbore. The three hardening/softening formulations predict different mechanical responses and stress-paths for solving the same wellbore problem with excavation. The analytical solutions for 2D axisymmetric problems with different hardening laws are provided in this study and verified with corresponding numerical results. This approach can be used to interpret field observations and calibrate experimental data with more comprehensive models. These new laws are implemented and benchmarked in GEOS, an open-source advanced numerical simulator of subsurface formations. This study enhances our understanding of subsurface rock's elasto-plastic behavior and offer analytical references for interpretating experimental measurements and developing numerical simulations for solving wellbore problems.

Deep mine rock mass is in high static stress and dynamic disturbance coupling conditions, its mechanical properties and failure mode is different from the shallow rock mass, which leads to low rock blasting efficiency and engineering geology hazards. In-depth research on the dynamic response of rock blasting under in-situ stress will help to optimize the blasting design, improve the blasting efficiency and safety of blasting operations, and provide theoretical support for rock blasting in deep mines. In this study, the blasting experiment was conducted on granite specimens under different biaxial static stress conditions. Meanwhile, the dynamic response of rock blasting was monitored, collected, and analyzed using a high-speed digital image correlation (DIC) measurement system, a strain wave acquisition system, and an acoustic emission (AE) system. The results show that small and medium pre-static loads inhibit blast crack propagation, at which time the cumulative AE hits from dynamic loads (CAEC_d) are more than those from pre-static loads (CAEC_s), but large pre-static loads promote crack propagation, at which time CAEC_s are more than CAEC_d. Secondly, as pre-static load increases, the specimen's maximum strain (ε_max) decreases first and then increases, but as lateral pressure coefficient (K) increases, the ε_max in the direction of lower static stress decreases gradually and the ε_max in the direction of higher static stress remains constant. In addition, the confining pressure magnitude and K affect the area and shape of the failure zone of the specimen, as well as the size and propagation direction of the radial crack. Especially when the confining pressure is high, the specimen will undergo shear failure, and the smaller K is the more serious the shear failure. Finally, the failure criterion of rock under dynamic-static coupling conditions is proposed based on the energy index, and different failure types of rock are discussed.

The disturbance wave caused by excavation or blasting of underground surrounding rock causes fatigue degradation effect of rock and eventually leads to disasters. However, the fatigue damage characteristics and fatigue models of rock under true triaxial disturbance are scare. Therefore, a series of true triaxial disturbance tests were conducted to investigate the rock fatigue deformation, strength and damage behaviors under different conditions. The evolutions of static damage and fatigue damage are separated and investigated respectively. Fatigue deformation and damage of rock under true triaxial stress undergoes three stages: attenuation, constant velocity and acceleration stage. The crack initiation stress can be as the initial condition of the fatigue deformation; the fatigue critical stress σ_dc of rock entering the acceleration failure stage was proposed and explored, with increasing frequency, σ_dc increase slightly and with increasing σ₂, σ_dc increase obviously. Then, a novel fractional fatigue mechanical model considering the fatigue damage and intermediate principal stress effects of rock under true triaxial disturbance was proposed. The theoretical results of the model agree well with the results of the tests. Finally, the sensitivity analysis of stresses and model parameters and the model predictions under other untesting conditions were carried out to improve the understanding and prediction level of fatigue failure in underground engineering.

During deep shale gas production, flowing water-based working fluid inevitably cools shale reservoirs around boreholes and some fractures, and possible extraction methods induce dynamic stresses. To understand the dynamic tensile behavior of deep anisotropic shale reservoir after water-based working fluid cooling, a split Hopkinson pressure bar was used for performing the dynamic Brazilian tests on shale samples with bedding angles of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° after reservoir temperature realization (25–200 °C) and water cooling. The results illustrate that dynamic tensile strength of shale samples decreases gradually as reservoir temperature increases under the loading rates 100–1000 GPa/s. From room temperature to 200 °C the most strength deterioration appears on samples with the bedding angle of 90°. A dynamic tensile strength deterioration model for deep shale reservoirs after water-based working fluid cooling is proposed considering the influence of loading rate and bedding angle. Geometrical trajectories of the main failure cracks are separated into three types, i.e., fully central tensile failure, tensile-shear failure and fully shear failure (sliding of bedding planes). For samples with bedding angles of 30°, 45° and 60°, increasing reservoir temperature encourages tensile failure to change into shear failure. The roles that bedding planes play in interacting with failure crack growth are summarized as IP mode (intersecting propagation), TP mode (turning propagation) and PP mode (promoting propagation). Anisotropic dynamic tensile strength responses are systematically discussed by using thermal stress simulation in ABAQUS, microstructure analyses, crack interaction conditions and the one-dimensional stress wave propagation theory. Based on experimental observations, field implications in borehole stability and fracturing of deep shale reservoirs are proposed under medium and high loading rates. This work is instrumental in providing valuable information and technology assistance for real deep shale gas production projects.

A methodology is presented for the back-analysis of convergence measurements in deep tunnels to determine the constitutive parameters of the surrounding rock mass. Since increasing deformations and stresses with time are due to both the face advance and the time-dependent behavior of the ground, the two effects must be considered during the excavations. To that end, an analytical solution assuming an unlined circular tunnel excavated in a homogeneous isotropic ground under an initial isotropic stress field and assuming a fractional viscoelastic plastic behavior is developed. A second closed-form solution is also derived assuming an instantaneous excavation. Additionally, combining the developed analytical solution that takes into account the progressive face advance and an empirical approach, convergences are back-analyzed based on a least-squares optimization method to calibrate the constitutive parameters of the ground. The presented methodology aims to characterize the long-term behavior of tunnels and offers the advantage of being directly applicable during the excavation phase as soon as convergence measurements are available. Finally, the method is illustrated by two case studies related to the Fréjus road tunnel and the Saint-Martin-la-Porte access gallery (SMP2).

The significance of improving the drilling productivity and reducing the cost and non-productive time of drilling process, substantially relies on the efficiency of drilling performance. This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of drilling process, aiming to predict drilling performance and investigate drilling parameters using a validated finite element (FE) model. Experimental validation of the FE model was achieved through testing on a laboratory drilling rig, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the numerical simulations. To accurately capture the nonlinear characteristics of bit-rock interaction, the Riedel–Hiermaier–Thoma model was adopted as a material model, and its parameters were identified through a series of carefully conducted experimental tests. The numerical results obtained from the FE rock failure model during the compressive and tensile tests demonstrated a robust correlation with the experimental data. The verified material model was then employed into another FE drilling model to simulate rock breaking in an actual drilling scenario. This analysis sheds light on the impact of drill-bit interaction with the rock formation, providing valuable insights into its behaviour during drilling operations. The FE drilling model was further utilised in a parametric study to predict the effects of critical drilling parameters, like loading rate and rotary speed, on the weight on the bit, torque on the bit, and rate of penetration. Both the FE drilling and experimental results provided a significant consistency when the drilling parameters were compared, and nonlinear dynamic phenomena, such as stick–slip and bit-bouncing, were observed. By investigating these effects, this study contributes to optimising drilling operations, enabling better control of premature vibrations and enhancing drilling efficiency.

Analysis of compressive wellbore failure, or breakouts, is one of the primary methods of constraining the maximum horizontal stress in deep boreholes. To estimate stress using the observation of breakouts, one needs to measure the breakout width from image logs and use a failure theory to predict the stress that led to the development of the measured breakout. Most commonly, Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion has been used which disregards the influence of intermediate stress on strength. Hence, various polyaxial criteria have been proposed to include this effect. Here, we first review some selected polyaxial criteria: Drucker–Prager, Mogi, Modified Wiebols–Cook, and Modified Lade, and we conclude that their application in breakout analysis may be cumbersome and often unreliable. One reason for these problems is that the criteria are defined using stress invariants, while the stress estimation is most easily performed and analyzed in the principal stress space. Therefore, an alternative is to define the polyaxial criterion as a simple relation between maximum and intermediate stresses. We propose to define such an empirical criterion as a second order polynomial which fits trends observed in polyaxial laboratory strength data. Such approach allows to limit strength overestimation, often associated with the use of previous polyaxial criteria, and to easily relate uncertainties in strength estimation to uncertainty in maximum horizontal stress prediction.