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Post-peak Stress–Strain Curves of Brittle Rocks Under Axial- and Lateral-Strain-Controlled Loadings

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Abstract

To systematically study the influence of axial- and lateral-strain-controlled loadings on the strength and post-peak deformation behaviors of brittle rocks, four types of rocks (marble, sandstone, granite, and basalt) are tested under uniaxial and triaxial compressions, using a brittle hard rock testing system named Stiffman with high loading system stiffness. The test results show that the post-peak stress–strain curves of rock specimens under axial-strain-controlled loading are Class I, while those under lateral-strain-controlled loading are mostly Class II when the confining pressure is low. As confining pressure increases, the stress–strain curves change to Class I. Compared with that under lateral-strain-controlled loading, the failure of rock under axial-strain-controlled loading is more intense, the peak strength is higher, and the residual strength is lower. It is demonstrated that Class II post-peak stress–strain curves obtained by lateral-strain-controlled loading are caused by the unloading of the actuator in response to the servo-control system to keep the lateral strain rate constant. In the post-peak deformation stage, large dilation occurs, which leads to a sudden increase of the lateral strain rate; in order to keep the lateral strain rate at the set value under lateral-strain-controlled loading, the servo-control system must force the actuator to unload. When rock dilation occurs in the pre-peak deformation stage, unloading can occur before the peak strength, resulting in a decrease of peak strength compared with the peak strength obtained by axial-strain-controlled loading. It is found that the more brittle and dilatant a rock, the earlier the unloading of the actuator is, and the larger the peak strength decreases and the more obvious the Class II curve is.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant no. 51974061, 42177169, the Liao Ning Revitalization Talents Program (XLYC1801002), the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC0407006), the 111 project under Grant no. B17009, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (N2001003, N2001001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education on Safe Mining of Deep Metal Mines, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, People’s Republic of China

    P. Y. Hou, M. Cai, X. W. Zhang & X. T. Feng

  2. Bharti School of Engineering, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada

    M. Cai

  3. MIRARCO, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada

    M. Cai

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Correspondence to M. Cai.

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Appendix

Appendix

The mechanical properties of marble, sandstone, granite, and basalt with axial- and lateral-strain-controlled loadings under different confining pressures are shown in Tables 4 and 5, respectively.

Table 4 Rock mechanical properties under different confining pressures (axial-strain-controlled loading)
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Table 5 Rock mechanical properties under different confining pressures (lateral-strain-controlled loading)
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Hou, P.Y., Cai, M., Zhang, X.W. et al. Post-peak Stress–Strain Curves of Brittle Rocks Under Axial- and Lateral-Strain-Controlled Loadings. Rock Mech Rock Eng 55, 855–884 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02684-9

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