ANALYSIS OF POROSITY, PERMEABILITY, AND ANISOTROPY OF SANDSTONE IN FREEZE-THAW ENVIRONMENTS USING COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND FRACTAL THEORY

An in-depth understanding of the deterioration characteristics of porous rock materials in freeze-thaw (F-T) environments is very important for rock mass engineering in cold regions. However, quantitative descriptions of key rock indicators such as porosity, permeability, and anisotropy are lacking. In this paper, computed tomography (CT) was used to study saturated intact sandstone, saturated fractured sandstone, and ice-filled fractured sandstone under various F-T cycles and stress states. Meso-structural parameters were obtained by reconstructing the three-dimensional fracture networks from CT images. Then, based on fractal geometry theory, the fractal dimension (DF), tortuosity fractal dimension (DT), and anisotropic two-dimensional fractal dimension (DA) of the sandstone samples were analyzed quantitatively. The DF gradually increased during the F-T process, while DT gradually decreased. Compared with DF, DT was found to describe changes in the absolute permeability of rocks under F-T cycling more accurately. Anisotropy in sandstone was enhanced by F-T cycling. After uniaxial compression, the DA value was the greatest in ice-filled fractured sandstone. In addition, the tree-like fracture structure produced by F-T cycling expanded the range of self-similarity, which enhanced the fractal characteristics of sandstone. However, due to the large frost heave pressure of ice-filled sandstone, fracture expansion accelerated in the later period of F-T cycling, which destroyed the self-similarity. These results assist in understanding the F-T characteristics of porous rock materials. The method described provides a new way to better evaluate and predict F-T-related engineering disasters.

Automated summary

This study utilized CT technology to investigate the fractal parameters of different sandstone samples in freeze-thaw environments. The research revealed that the anisotropy of sandstone was enhanced during the freeze-thaw process, and changes in the fractal characteristics of sandstone were influenced by the variation of fracture structures, providing a better understanding of the freeze-thaw characteristics of sandstone materials.