A Nonlinear Creep Damage Coupled Model for Rock Considering the Effect of Initial Damage

The experimental results show that initial damage has a clear effect on the creep behavior of rock. However, among the current creep models for rock, few consider the effect of the initial damage state. In the present study, a new nonlinear creep damage model for rock is proposed based on multi-loading creep tests of sandstone with different initial damage levels. The new model is composed of four components, a Hooke body, a Kelvin body, an improved viscous element, and a new nonlinear visco-plastic damage component. The creep damage model can not only describe the three typical creep stages (primary creep, secondary creep and tertiary creep) but also show the effect of initial damage on the creep failure stress. The parameters of the nonlinear creep damage model are obtained using the nonlinear least squares method. A unified set of creep parameters is proposed to predict the creep behavior of sandstone in different initial damage states. The agreement between the experimental data and numerical prediction demonstrates the applicability of the proposed model.