Progressive Damage Mechanism of Rocks Subjected to Cyclic Loading

This thesis investigates the effect of cyclic loading conditions on the strength and deformation behaviour of rock materials under uniaxial compression. Two microstructurally and mineralogically different rocks are considered in this experimental investigation. Variations in loading stress level, stress amplitude and frequency are considered to derive novel conclusions on the damage mechanism and fatigue strength. The investigation revealed the greater susceptibility of hard rocks to cyclic loading compared to soft rocks

A modified empirical criterion for strength of transversely anisotropic rocks with metamorphic origin

A modified empirical criterion is proposed to determine the strength of transversely anisotropic rocks. In this regard, mechanical properties of intact anisotropic slate obtained from three different districts of Iran were taken into consideration. Afterward, triaxial rock strength criterion introduced by Rafiai was modified for transversely anisotropic rocks. The criterion was modified by adding a new parameter α for taking the influence of strength anisotropy into consideration. The results obtained have shown that the parameter α can be considered as the strength reduction parameter due to rock anisotropy. The modified criterion was compared to the modified Hoek–Brown (Saroglou and Tsiambaos) and Ramamurthy criteria for different anisotropic rocks. It was concluded that the criterion proposed in this paper is a more accurate and precise criterion in predicting the strength of anisotropic rocks