Effect of initial minimum principal stress and unloading rate on the spalling and rockburst of marble: a true triaxial experiment investigation

Abstract

Hard rock often performs as brittle failures, such as cracking, spalling, and rockburst, induced by excavation in deep underground engineering. To understand the effect of the minimum principal stress and unloading rate on the spalling and rockburst of marble, unloading experiments were carried out by using true triaxial equipment combined with a high-speed camera, acoustic emission instrumentation, and scanning electron microscope. The experimental results showed that the failure process of marble specimens was more stable and less inclined to exhibit dynamic ejection with a low strain energy release per unit time under a low unloading rate. At the same time, the initial minimum principal stress controlled the marble’s failure mode by changing its mode from predominantly shear failure to shear-tension failure as the minimum principal stress decreased, similar to the spalling behaviors of surrounding rock observed in the underground tunnel. What’s more, the dynamic rockburst of the marble specimen was simulated under the condition with a high unloading rate, high initial minimum principal, and free face on the specimen. Based on these experimental investigations, a flowchart was also presented to estimate the possible failure mode of marble specimens under different initial minimum principal stress and unloading rate conditions, which would be conducive to the disaster prevention of hard rock in deep underground engineering.