Experimental Study on the Influence of Temperature on Shale Mechanical Properties under Conventional Triaxial Compression

Abstract

High temperature conventional triaxial compression test of shale are carried out by the MTS815 servo-controlled testing machine, based on the experimental results, the relationships between temperature and shale peak strength, elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio, cohesion, internal friction angle are investigated. Although the experimental results are discrete comparatively, the general law is obvious. When the confining pressure imposed on shale is constant and the temperature changes form 25°C to 120°C, with the increasing of the temperature, the triaxial compression strength, shear strength gradually increase, while average elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio has a slightly decrease. The thermal stress generated by the high temperature plays a role to accommodate the deformation and the function of preventing crack propagation, thus the bearing capacity of shale samples are strengthened. But the influence of temperature on shale mechanical properties mutates when the temperature is at 80°C. Shale peak strength dramatically decreased, average elastic modulus decreased slightly, and Poisson's ratio also increased slightly, which indicated that at 80°C, different thermal expansivity of mineral particles of shale may cause cross-grain boundary thermal expansion incongruous, creating additional thermal stress, thus the sample’s bearing capacity decreased.