Dynamic shear behaviours of granite under coupled static and high-rate loadings

Abstract

Understanding dynamic shear behaviours of rock under quasi-static confinement and dynamic loads is not only of great importance in underground engineering structures, but also beneficial to reveal earthquake mechanics regarding pre-stressed rocks fracturing from initial intact to rapid shear sliding. Here we propose a dynamic shear test setup and present full-field observations of stressed rock failure at high shear rate (up to γ˙ = 220 s−1) and sliding at high slip velocity over 10 m/s in the order of coseismic slip, with the integration of a novel triaxial Hopkinson bar (Tri-HB) and high-speed three-dimensional Digital Image Correlation (3D-DIC) techniques. Dynamic shear strength and friction coefficient are determined during the dynamic shear test under confinement, with different shear strain rates and pre-stresses. The dynamic shearing process can be divided into three stages, i.e. shear deformation, fracture degradation and dynamic frictional sliding. The high energy density of shear fracture band is observed, the rate and stress state dependences of rock shear strength and dynamic frictional coefficient are revealed. The dynamic shear strength of granite follows the Mohr-Coulomb criteria under varying pre-stresses and strain rates. The gouge materials with size of 1∼10 μm are generated within the high-rate shearing zone, and this appears to control the frictional resistance. The results could help determination of rock shear strength and post-shear failure, as well as explain the shear rupture and the resistance to slip mechanism of rock faults and strong near-surface earthquake events.