Abstract
The strength and failure of rock masses remain ambiguous owing to their complex structure. Investigating the strength and failure of jointed rock mass is a continuing concern within rock engineering. In this study, effects of joint intensity and joint connectivity on the strength of rock-like material with complex discrete joints were investigated using a combined approach of laboratory experiments and numerical methods. Rock-like material with complex discrete joints are firstly developed using three-dimensional printing and then tested under uniaxial compression. Cracking behavior of rock-like material was monitored via acoustic emission and digital image correlation technologies. Laboratory test results indicate that the strength of the rock-like material is not negatively correlated with their joint intensity when the joint intensity was low. Subsequently, numerical simulation results show that the strength of rock-like material is significantly affected by the joint connectivity when their joint intensity is low. However, the effect of the joint connectivity on their strength becomes less significant as the joint intensity increases. The relationship between the strength and joint intensity of rock-like material reflects a negative linear function when the joint intensity is high. The ratio of the crack initiation stress to the strength of the rock-like material is 0.53–0.63, and the ratio of crack damage stress to the strength of the rock-like material is 0.78–0.85. The effect of joint intensity on the ratio of crack initiation stress, crack damage stress, and strength of the rock-like material is insignificant.
Highlights
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Rock-like material with complex joints are developed via three-dimensional printing.
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Effects of joint intensity and joint connectivity on the strength of rock-like material with complex discrete joints are clarified.
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The progressive failure and crack coalescence of rock-like material with complex joints are investigated via digital image correlation technology.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- F n :
-
Normal force of micro-contact
- F s :
-
Shear force of micro-contact
- K n :
-
Normal stiffness of micro-contact
- K s :
-
Shear stiffness of micro-contact
- \(\Delta U_{\text{n}}\) :
-
Normal displacement of micro-contact
- \(\Delta U_{\text{s}}\) :
-
Shear displacement of micro-contact
- \(\sigma_{\text{t}}\) :
-
Tensile strength
- \(P_{{\text{max}}}\) :
-
Maximum axial force
- P 21 :
-
Joint intensity
- UCS:
-
Uniaxial compressive strength
- DIC:
-
Digital image correlation
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Funding
This work was supported by the Policy-Guided Planning Projects of Xuzhou City [grant number: KC23104]; and National Key Research and Development Program of China [grant number: 2017YFC0603001].
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WX and QT contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by QT, SJ and ZS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by QT and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Tang, Q., **e, W., **g, S. et al. Experimental and Numerical Investigation on the Mechanical Behavior of Rock-Like Material with Complex Discrete Joints. Rock Mech Rock Eng 57, 4493–4511 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-024-03784-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-024-03784-y