Micro-mechanism of brittle creep in saturated sandstone and its mechanical behavior after creep damage

Understanding the micro-mechanism of brittle creep in saturated rocks and studying their mechanical behaviors after creep damage are of great significance to the design of rock engineering and the prediction of the long-term evolution of the Earth's crust. In this study, we first performed a series of uniaxial creep tests with different creep stage cut-offs on saturated intact sandstones. The brittle creep mechanism of the specimens was explored microscopically by analyzing P-wave velocity, acoustic emission (AE), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. Then, specimens with different degrees of creep damage were subjected to a secondary shortterm loading test or creep test, and their short- and long-term mechanical behaviors, together with AE monitoring, were systematically investigated. The experimental results show that (1) the anisotropy of the specimens increases significantly during creep, with the axial and lateral P-wave velocities exhibiting a difference of 30% at the onset of tertiary creep. (2) The tensile cracks dominate the transient creep stage and the early part of the steady creep stage, while the shear cracks dominate thereafter. (3) The porosities of the specimens increase with the loading stages, and the porosity increments corresponding to small pores are greater than those corresponding to large pores, for all creep stages. (4) Specimens with different degrees of creep damage show greater deformability, and their short-term and creep mechanical parameters, except for uniaxial strength, change dramatically. (5) The AE characteristics of creep-damaged specimens differ significantly from those of intact specimens, and the Kaiser stress memory effect was observed during reloading, with the memory stress being the previous creep stress.

Automated summary

The study found that the anisotropy of specimens significantly increases during creep, with a 30% difference in axial and lateral P-wave velocities at the onset of tertiary creep. Tensile cracks dominate the transient creep stage and the early part of the steady creep stage, while shear cracks dominate thereafter. The porosities of specimens increase with loading stages, with greater increments in porosity corresponding to small pores than those corresponding to large pores for all creep stages. Specimens with different degrees of creep damage exhibit greater deformability, with significant changes in short-term and creep mechanical parameters, except for uniaxial strength.