ANALYSIS OF STRESS AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SANDSTONE USING CT SCANNING AND FRACTAL THEORY

The pores and fissures in loaded rock masses are the main channels for underground flow, and may cause serious accidents during the development of groundwater resources. This work presents an efficient method for analyzing the microstructure of the loaded rock mass using fractal theory and computed tomography (CT) scanning. A relation between the microstructure features of the sandstone porosity, fractal dimension, and loading stress is developed using an image identification technique. The results demonstrate that the distribution trends of sandstone samples' slice porosities in the xz- and yz-directions are nearly identical, and the distribution in the xy-direction differs significantly from those in xz- and yz-directions. The total and connected porosities increase with the increase of stress, and the change can be fitted to straight lines. The fractal dimensions of the pores change significantly with stress or loading stress in the xy-direction.

Automated summary

This study presents an efficient method for analyzing the microstructure of loaded rock masses using fractal theory and computed tomography scanning. The results show that the distribution trends of sandstone pore features in different directions are significantly different. The total and connected porosities increase with the increase of stress, and the fractal dimensions of the pores change significantly with stress in the xy-direction.