Localization of deformation and stress–strain relation for mesoscopic heterogeneous brittle rock materials under unloading

Abstract

Stress redistribution induced by excavation of underground engineering and slope engineering results in the unloading zone in parts of surrounding rock masses. The mechanical behaviors of crack-weakened rock masses under unloading are different from those of crack-weakened rock masses under loading. A micromechanics-based model has been proposed for brittle rock material undergoing irreversible changes of their microscopic structures due to microcrack growth when axial stress is held constant while lateral confinement is reduced. The basic idea of the present model is to classify the constitution relation of rock material into four stages including some of the stages of linear elasticity, pre-peak nonlinear hardening, rapid stress drop, and strain softening, and to investigate their corresponding micromechanical damage mechanisms individually. Special attention is paid to the transition from structure rearrangements on microscale to the macroscopic inelastic strain, to the transition from distribution damage to localization of damage and the transition from homogeneous deformation to localization of deformation. The closed-form explicit expression for the complete stress–strain relation of rock materials containing cracks under unloading is obtained. The results show that the complete stress–strain relation and the strength of rock materials under unloading depend on the crack spacing, the fracture toughness of rock materials, orientation of the cracks, the crack half-length and the crack density parameter.