Abstract
Both surface and underground rocks in nature often undergo repeated drying and wetting. The dry-wet cycle is a weathering effect that includes physical and chemical processes, which has varying degrees of degradation effects on the physical and mechanical properties of rocks. This paper analyzes and discusses this kind of rock degradation based on the existing literature data. First, the deterioration degree of various physical and mechanical properties (including density, P-wave velocity, porosity, static and dynamic compressive/tensile strength, and fracture toughness) is summarized as the number of dry-wet cycles increases. Secondly, the possible degradation mechanism of the dry-wet cycle is explained in terms of clay mineral swelling, solute migration, and microcrack evolution. Then, the damage constitutive model of the rock after cyclic dry-wet treatment is introduced. Finally, the issues that need to be studied in the future are put forward.
Highlights
Rock is the most common geological material in projects such as oil and gas development, coal mining, and hydroelectric power generation
All of the results shown that with the increase of the number of dry and wet cycles, the uniaxial compressive strength and triaxial compressive strength of the rock sample decreased to varying degrees
Hu et al [85] analyzed the degradation mechanism of the rock during the dry-wet cycle by considering the temperature-induced stress, load, and fluid effect, that is, temperature-induced stress and applied load cause tensile stress inside the rock sample and compressive stress on the surface; when the stress generated by the temperature and the overburden load is greater than the tensile strength of the rock sample, the internal cracks begin to expand, providing a channel for the action of water, and the contact area between water and rock is increasing; under the action of hydraulic fracturing and weakening, the fractures are connected and the width of the fractures increases, which eventually leads to failure
Summary
Rock is the most common geological material in projects such as oil and gas development, coal mining, and hydroelectric power generation. The experiment of Loubser [28] found that water saturation does not seem to be the main factor affecting the degree of rock deterioration, and the influence of the number of wet and dry cycles is more significant. The dry-wet cycle itself is a weathering mechanism, and the properties of weathered substances are affected by the way of wetting [29] In response to this problem, different scholars have adopted different cyclic dry-wet treatment methods (see Table 1). We mainly reviewed the rock degradation after cyclic dry-wet treatment from three aspects, namely, quantitative characterization of degradation degree, degradation mechanism, and degradation constitutive model
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