Mechanical behavior of rock-like specimen containing hole-joint combined flaw under uniaxial loading: findings from DIC and AE monitoring

Holes and joints are widespread and coexisting flaws in natural rock. The spatial distribution of combined flaw significantly affects the instability process of fractured rock. To study the influence of ligament length and joint angle on failure characteristics, uniaxial compression experiments are carried out on specimens containing hole-joint combined flaw assisted by acoustic emission (AE) and digital image correlation (DIC) technologies. As the ligament length increases, the mechanical parameter curves decrease first and then rise, showing a U-shape or V-shape. DIC results show that the hole performs a strong inhibition on the crack propagation from the inner joint tips, which will be weakened with the increase of ligament length. The driving displacement field of wing cracks and the type of cracks outside the joint are affected by joint angle variation. The cracks in rock bridge area are generally tensile-shear or shear type. According to AE analysis, the proportion of tensile signals decreased from the pre-peak failure stage to the post-peak stage, and the tensile signal is lower than 50% in the late loading stage, indicating that the shear crack dominates the final failure of specimens.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The influence of ligament length and joint angle on failure characteristics of fractured rock is studied using uniaxial compression experiments. It is found that the mechanical parameter curves exhibit a U-shape or V-shape as the ligament length increases. The type of cracks and the driving displacement field of wing cracks are affected by joint angle variation.