Coupled seepage-damage effect in fractured rock masses: model development and a case study

The stability of rock engineering is generally dominated by existing seepage, particularly the seepage evolution due to the rock masses damage. However, the current research generally overlooks the seepage-damage coupling when studying the hydraulic-mechanical coupling effect in rock masses. This study aims to propose a dualmedium model, including equivalent continuous and discrete fracture media to study the coupled seepagedamage effect in fractured rock masses. The dual-medium seepage model considers the substantial water storage of the fracture network and the high conductivity of major large-scale fractures. Also, the seepage evolution is constructed to be a function of stress, seepage pressure and length of crack propagation in the rock mass. To illustrate the new model's application, a case of high-pressure water injection in a coal seam has been investigated to reveal the damage evolution in the coal seam. The results indicate that during the initial stage of the water injection, the seepage pressure in the discrete fracture medium increases faster than that in the equivalent continuous medium. Moreover, the seepage pressure difference between the two media gradually decreases with the increase of the seepage time, eventually forming a stable seepage field in the coal seam. Notably, the highpressure water injection in the coal seam significantly affects the distribution of the coal seam's stress field, resulting in the effective minimum principle stress changing from compression to tension states. Also, during coal seam water injection, the damage zone and major fracture apertures in the coal seam gradually increase with increasing injection time.

Automated summary

This study proposes a dual-medium model to study the coupled seepage-damage effect in fractured rock masses, focusing on the impact of high-pressure water injection in a coal seam. The results show that the seepage pressure increases faster in the discrete fracture medium during the initial stage of water injection, eventually forming a stable seepage field in the coal seam. Additionally, the high-pressure water injection significantly affects the stress field distribution and damage evolution in the coal seam.