Microscopic damage and dynamic mechanical properties of rock under freeze–thaw environment

Abstract

For understanding the rock microscopic damage and dynamic mechanical properties subjected to recurrent freeze–thaw cycles, experiments for five groups of homogeneous sandstone under different freeze–thaw cycles were conducted. After freeze– thaw, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests and impact loading tests were carried out, from which microscopic damage characteristics of sandstone and dynamic mechanical parameters were obtained. The results indicate that the porosity increases with the increase of cycle number, the rate of porosity growth descends at the beginning of freeze–thaw, yet accelerates after a certain number of cycles. The proportion of pores with different sizes changes dynamically and the multi-scale distribution of pores tends to develop on pore structure with the continuing impact of freeze–thaw and thawing. Dynamic compressive stress–strain curve of sandstone undergoing freeze–thaw can be divided into four phases, and the phase of compaction is inconspicuous compared with the static curve. Elastic modulus and dynamic peak intensity of sandstone gradually decrease with freeze–thaw cycles, while peak strain increases. The higher the porosity is, the more serious the degradation of dynamic intensity is. The porosity is of a polynomial relationship with the dynamic peak intensity.