Damage evolution of rock salt under cyclic loading in unixial tests

Cyclic loading tests of rock salt were performed to investigate the characteristics of damage evolution of the surrounding rock in gas caverns. In this experiment, the cyclic loading process was carried out on seven stress levels from 20 to 86 % of the uniaxial compressive strength. The sine wave with a frequency of 1 Hz was adopted in the cyclic loading test. Experimental results show that at the first stress level, the damage evolution is rather limited or negligible under cyclic loading, which is controlled within the elastic limit. With the increase in stress level, the damage evolution becomes more evident. An increasing tendency of damage variable can be observed if the stress level surpasses 40 % of the uniaxial compressive strength. A maximum damage value of around 0.95 is recorded when the stress level is over 85 % of the uniaxial strength. In this paper, a damage evolution equation is also introduced and good agreement is obtained with the experimental data. Based on the experimental data, it is shown that the design practice of gas cavern concerning the degree of strength utilization of the surrounding rock is rather conservative considering the reducing effect of the minimal gas pressure on the damage evolution.